Dallas City Council seeks bids to privatize police auto pound, may sell site
11:32 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010
City officials are looking for a firm that can take over the Dallas police auto pound, an idea long on the cash-strapped city’s list of potential ways to generate more money.
At the bustling 24-hour impound lot, tow-truck drivers bring in more than 100 vehicles a day. Some are wrecked. Others are stolen vehicles found by the police. Still others have been impounded after their drivers were arrested.
Vehicle owners must pay the city $20 for each day the vehicle is in the pound. These fees, along with related towing and auto-auction revenues, bring in a net profit of about $3.2 million a year after covering the city’s lot operation costs of about $9 million.
Officials hope the auto pound could make more money for the city in the hands of a private contractor.
“We don’t know whether it’ll make financial sense yet, that’s part of why we’re putting out” the request for bids on a contract, said Mark Duebner, a civilian who oversees the Police Department’s financial and contract management division.
The city also is considering the sale of the 50-acre site where the impound lot now sits, at 1955 Vilbig Road.
The site is in an industrial area of West Dallas being eyed by