Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required. Existing staff resources will be used to develop and implement procedures for notice, storage and disposal of the property.
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AMENDED ALTERNATE CHARTER Creating Section 8.44 of the Madison General Ordinances to establish rules for the treatment of lost or abandoned property found on public property.
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DRAFTER'S ANALYSIS: Recent events such as the Boston Marathon bombing have made citizens much more aware of items left in public places. Madison does not have an ordinance setting forth procedures for taking possession and disposing of abandoned property. This ordinance establishes guidelines for such procedures. At least two state statutes establish procedures for treating lost or abandoned property that comes into the possession of public officials. These laws, Wis. Stat. §§ 66.0139 and 170.105, contain contradictory procedures, use procedures for notice and valuation of property that date from many years ago, and make distinctions based on whether property is “lost” or “abandoned”, a distinction that leads public officials into the speculative domain. Nothing in the state statutes suggest they are of statewide concern and uniform application, making them subject to the City’s power to opt out of the statutes by a Charter ordinance.
By this charter ordinance, the City opts out of those statutes and establishes a uniform procedure for treatment of property left on public property. The ordinance requires uniform procedures be adopted within 6 months of adoption, and describes the elements required in any such procedures as to notice, storage and disposal of the property. The ordinance requires one set of rules to be followed City-wide by all covered agencies.
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