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TongMan · 02-17-2011, 07:22 PM

Roseville adopts same "Crash Tax"

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'Crash tax' gets tossed in Roseville
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By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 - 10:01 am
Roseville's City Council unanimously voted Wednesday evening to repeal its "crash tax" - bucking the trend of California cities creating fees for nonresidents involved in traffic accidents.
"We made a mistake," said City Councilman John Allard,who first suggested repealing the tax earlier this month.

Outside the chambers after the vote, the firm hired to collect the fee from nonresidents involved in traffic collisions fumed about not being given a fair shake by the council, being vilified by the media and battling the deep pockets of the insurance industry and the politics it claims are behind the reversal.

Fire Recovery USA, which has an office a block down the street from the council chambers, said it was blindsided by the move to repeal and was railroaded by bad information from insurance companies.

"The taxpayers lost tonight," said Kevin Trost, a company vice president. "The insurance company is laughing all the way to the bank."

He said his firm can collect from insurance companies because insurers are already billing customers.

Trost, a retired Sacramento Fire Department captain, said political ambitions affected the Fire Recovery USA's ability to get a fair shake.

"The council members around this area have political ambitions and to move up they need the backing of the insurance industry," he said.

He made no specific allegations.

Allard is in a crowded field vying for the 4th Assembly District seat that was left open by Ted Gaines' move to the state Senate.

The city staff said the pro- gram didn't generate as much revenue as expected and wasted firefighters' time collecting insurance information.

The program was expected to generate $100,000 annually. In its first 18 months, the new fee brought in $40,000, city officials said.

"It's not about the money," said Mayor Pauline Roccucci.

Councilwoman Carol Garcia said she regretted passing the assessment.

"It just sent the wrong message to our residents and our nonresidents," Garcia said.

Allard said the fee might have caused shoppers to go elsewhere and cost the city more than it collected. The city adopted the "accident cost recovery fee" in February 2009.

The Placer County city was one of the first area entities to adopt the plan and did so to stem the need for cuts to the city's Fire Department, officials said. Somewhere between 60 and 100 cities and fire districts in the state have adopted so-called "crash tax- es."

While Roseville enacted the fee with relatively little hubbub, the city of Sacramento's "crash tax" was met with vitriol.

Business interests said it would dissuade people from spending money in Sacramento. Insurance companies said it would lead to higher rates. And neighboring officials said it would work against regional cooperation.

It doesn't appear the Sacramento program is going to be reversed.

Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Steve Cohn told The Bee they would not re- verse their votes, and other council members who voted for it haven't indicated they would switch.

The state legislation outlawing the practice is awaiting its first public hearing. Senate Bill 49 from Sen. Tony Strickland,R-Moorpark, states "availability and use of emergency response resources throughout the state is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair."

It would not be retroactive and would not invalidate Sacramento's ordinance.

Read more: 'Crash tax' gets tossed in Roseville - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee