BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 318
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
318 (Chau) - As Amended April 14, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes procedures for public transit agencies
(PTAs) to use for disposing of lost property. Specifically, this
bill:
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1)Requires lost property valued at $100 or more found on a
vehicle of public conveyance or on public transit agency
property to be turned into the PTA rather than the local
police or sheriff's department, and requires the PTA to notify
the owner, if ascertainable, that it possesses the property
and where it may be claimed, and authorizes a reasonable
charge to the owner to defray the costs of storage and care of
the property.
2)Establishes rules and procedures for PTAs to handle lost
property, other than bicycles, that mirror longstanding
existing rules for police and sheriff departments.
3)Establishes, until January 1, 2021, a pilot program, as
specified, exclusively for the disposal of lost and unclaimed
bicycles that were found by or turned into a PTA. In part, the
pilot reduces the period for owners to claim lost bicycles
from 90 to 45 days and allows PTAs to donate unclaimed
bicycles to a qualified charitable organization on two
occasions per year. The bill limits the number of donated
bicycles to 25% of the number found over the prior six months.
4)Requires PTAs that donate bicycles under the pilot program to
report specified program results to the Legislature by January
1, 2020.
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FISCAL EFFECT:
Given the reduction, under the pilot program, in the required
holding period for bicycles and the opportunity to donate a
portion of recovered bicycles to nonprofits rather than
disposing through public auction, PTAs should realize
operational savings that should more than offset the revenue
reduction from fewer auction sales.
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. Under existing law, public transit
agencies (PTAs) are required to store and safeguard lost or
misplaced personal property left behind on buses, railcars and
in their facilities for at least 90 days to give the owner
sufficient opportunity to reclaim the property. For most
property that remains unclaimed after 90 days, current law
requires the PTA to prepare the unclaimed property for sale at
public auction and advertise notice of the property in a
newspaper of general circulation.
According to the sponsor, LA County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (LA Metro), in May 2014, it had to construct a
temporary 7,500 square foot facility simply to store bicycles.
The agency reports that, on average, it takes 500 to 600
bicycles into its possession every 90 days. It states: "Despite
this large amount of lost property, more than 80% of bikes
remain unclaimed and thereby sold at auction. The amount of
space and staff time required to store, do inventory, and
auction off the bikes alone has become costly and
unsustainable." LA Metro reports that it receives only about
$30,000 gross from auctioning unclaimed bicycles per year, while
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spending thousands more on storage, thus losing money because
the labor costs alone for running the lost and found facility
and conducting the auctions far exceed that amount of auction
revenue.
This bill is intended to reduce the financial and storage burden
described above. The bill is supported by the California Transit
Association.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081