Travis County Commissioners Court
June 9, 2009,
Item 17
17.
consider and take appropriate action on a policy to reimburse recognized emission repair facilities for repairs made through the low income vehicle repair, retrofit and replacement assistance program.
>> good morning.
>> for the record, my name is aid del noel, Travis County air quality project manager.
this item will establish a procedure in order to pay the repair facilities as established in our contract through the lirap program.
i have a quick question, I will wait until mr.
reeferseed asks his.
>> thank you, Commissioner Eckhardt, this is ronnie reeferseed again.
i just wanted to see -- my only question is it the city only or does it apply to the -- could it apply to the county as well or only a city concern.
>> I'm not sure what your question is.
this is for a policy to repay repair facilities that have repaired vehicles that have gone through the lirrrap program for repairs already done.
>> all Travis County residents who qualify income-wise are eligible.
>> that was my basic question.
it's not just city people, it's the whole --
>> Travis County.
>> okay, great, thank you so much.
>> the big issue here is that some people get the repairs, go back for the second test and still don't pass it.
>> that's true.
that can occur.
this procedure was established to make sure that there's not a repair facility that's taking in vehicles just to repair up to the $600 and they still can't pass.
to make sure there's not a pattern in place.
we have not seen that pattern.
when a vehicle does not pass the second time around, they have to go to d.p.s.
and get a waiver or take a chance on getting a ticket.
it's up to the individual owner to do that.
i mean to get the ticket -- I mean to get the waiver to make sure that they don't receive a ticket.
>> so we want you to pass the test or get the one year waiver if you cannot.
i guess after one year we expect you to be able to pass the test or get a new car.
>> correct.
>> we can do repairs that will fix the problem a second time around, but the first time we're only allowed through our contract to pay up to $600 and sometimes the -- the repairs could be 1200 and the individual cannot afford to pay that and d.p.s.
looks at this and will then get them a waiver.
>> and the state really has authorized --
>> yes.
>> sort of tweaking the law, looks like.
>> yes.
tceq has already said that they do not have a problem with us paying for these repairs.
>> let me ask you just as far as our procedure goes.
of course, everyone knows $600 is not a lot towards a major repair.
it's understandable that sometimes you spend 600 and still haven't quite fixed what it was that was making your emissions too high.
i don't have a problem with the policy.
i'm wondering procedurally it sounds like we have the kind of database and oversight necessary to identify in the program, I'm hearing, what I'm hearing from you is we have not yet identified such a pattern.
if we were to identify a pattern where we had an unacceptably high percentage of preapprovals has ended up not passing, too we have -- do we have the capacity in our procedure to identify that?
>> yes, we do.
and if we do see a pattern where there is a shop that is doing this, then we will not -- we will take action and we will not have to pay them and we will report this to d.p.s.
who could take away their -- the status symbol to be recognizing emission repair facility that could be taken away from them.
>> great, thank you.
>> so the initial limit is $600.
>> correct.
>> so if you -- if you need additional repairs, is there like a second limit?
how much additional repair costs can be covered?
>> there is no additional repair costs.
it would have come to out of the individual's pocket.
between January and the end of may, the average repair bill for a vehicle that went through this program was $537.
>> okay.
>> anything else?
move approval.
>> second.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you very much.
>> thank you.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 2:41 PM