09/26/2011 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • AGENDA ITEM 4B STAFF ORIGINATOR: John E. Swenson, Chief of Police COUNCIL MEETING DATE: September 26, 2011 TOPIC: Consider 1st Reading of Ordinance No. 20 -11, Amending Chapter 213.07 regarding Unclaimed Property ACTION REQUIRED: Simple Majority BACKGROUND: The City sells property /equipment which is no longer needed for City use, is not claimed, or is forfeited through legal proceedings. The current ordinance (213.07 Disposal) only affords the City the ability to sell property through public auction. This current practice does not allow the City to leverage technology to maximize revenues for the City. Furthermore, the requirement of a public auction creates a stockpile of property at the City's public works facility which has generated complaints from neighbors. ANALYSIS If these changes are adopted the City will benefit in the following areas: 1. Increased revenue from the sale of the property. Currently we sell city property at an auction with multiple government entities; therefore there is a surplus of like equipment being sold on the same day in a fixed time frame. This creates a saturated market which drives the price paid for items down, which decreases the revenue to the City. Other cities have experienced an increase in revenues by making these types of proposed changes. 2. The current auction schedule is two per year. This creates storage /crowding issues at the Public Works facility. If the proposed changes are adopted property can be sold as soon as it becomes available. This would relieve some of the storage problems currently experienced at the Public Works facility. 3. The proposed change would also give the City options in the manner in which the public is notified of the sale of public property. Currently, all notification must be published in the newspaper. This requirement creates an expense to the City and limits the scope of the notification. If the proposed changes are adopted, the City would have other notification options available, such as use of the City's website as its avenue to notify the public. P41