98-1076
____________________________________
PETITIONER, :
: ORDER
Petitioner, :
: Appeal No.
98-1076
v. : Account No. #####1
:
CUSTOMER
SERVICE DIVISION OF : Tax Type: Miscellaneous
THE UTAH STATE
TAX )
COMMISSION, : Presiding: Phan
:
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
Presiding:
Jane Phan,
Administrative Law Judge
Appearances:
For Petitioner: PETITIONER
For
Respondent: Rodger
Burge, Law Clerk Attorney General's Office
Michelle Bush, Assistant Attorney General
Julie Halvorson, Assistant Director Motor Vehicle Customer
Service
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for an Initial Hearing
pursuant to the provisions of Utah Code Ann. §59-1-502.5, on August 31, 1998.
Petitioner
is requesting a refund of approximately $$$$$ which she was required to pay to
COMPANY, in order to retrieve her car
from impound. CITY Police had impounded
the vehicle as an abandoned vehicle on April 24, 1998. It was Petitioner's opinion that the vehicle
should never have been impounded because she had reported it stolen and had a
case number on file with the police.
She felt the police should have given her a phone call and allowed her
to pick up the vehicle.
Petitioner
also had concerns about the car dealer who had originally sold her the vehicle
and misrepresentations that were made to her at the time of the sale. She had made these complaints to the Motor
Vehicle Enforcement Division and these issues were beyond the scope of this
hearing.
Respondent's
representatives indicated that the law allowed the police to impound a car that
appears to have been abandoned or on the suspicion that the car had been
stolen. For this reason the action of
the CITY Police in impounding the car was within their authority, even though
the vehicle had been reported stolen.
Further, the Tax Commission has no supervisory authority over the
police, nor has the Utah Legislature given the Commission authority to order a
private motor vehicle towing and storage business to refund the towing and
storage fees.
APPLICABLE LAW
The
division or any peace officer, without a warrant, may seize and take possession
of any vehicle that the division or peace officer has reason to believe has
been stolen or that has been abandoned on the public highways. A vehicle seized under this section shall be
moved by a peace officer or by a tow truck that meets standards established by
the Department of Public Safety. (Utah
Code Ann. §41-1a-1101.)
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing the Tax Commission denies Petitioner's request for refund of
towing and storage fees.
This
decision does not limit a party's right to a Formal Hearing. However, this Decision and Order will become
the Final Decision and Order of the Commission unless any party to this case
files a written request within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision to
proceed to a Formal Hearing. Such a
request shall be mailed to the address listed below and must include the
Petitioner's name, address, and appeal number:
Utah State Tax Commission
Appeals Division
210 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84134
Failure
to request a Formal Hearing will preclude any further appeal rights in this
matter.
DATED
this 11 day of September, 1998.
____________________________________
Jane Phan
Administrative Law
Judge
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
The Commission has reviewed this case and the
undersigned concur in this decision.
DATED this 11 day of September, 1998.
Joe B.
Pacheco Richard
B. McKeown
Commissioner Commissioner
Pam
Hendrickson
Commissioner
^^