A. In all cases were vehicles seized pursuant to this Chapter are forfeited to the City, the vehicles shall be sold or destroyed. The proceeds of sale shall be distributed and appropriated as follows:
1. To the City treasury to reimburse costs paid or incurred by the City Attorney or associated with proceedings instituted under this Chapter. These costs shall include, without limitation, the towing, storage and release, sale, (including any repairs, transportation or storage necessary to facilitate the sale, of any nuisance vehicle seized and forfeited under this Chapter), auction commissions, the costs for publication and mailing of all required notices, and, where necessary, the costs for translation of required notices and pleadings into a foreign language by a court-certified interpreter. Personnel costs shall not be included.
(a) To the bona fide or innocent purchaser, conditional vendor, mortgagee or lien holder of the vehicle, if any, up to the amount of his or her interest in the vehicle only, when the court or City Attorney declaring the forfeiture orders a distribution to that person.
2. Any remaining funds shall be allocated by the City as follows:
(a) For all cases arising under this Chapter:
(1) Fifty percent (50%) to the City Public Works Department, to be maintained by the City in a separate fund for illegal dumping abatement;
(2) Fifty percent (50%) to local law enforcement or governmental entities that participated in the seizure distributed so as to reflect the proportionate contribution to each agency, with distribution to the Police Department to be maintained in a separate fund for local nuisance vehicle abatement.
3. In the event the condition of the vehicle is such that it is not suitable for sale at a public auction or the cost of sale exceeds its fair market value, it may be sold for scrap.
4. A vehicle may be destroyed only if it has been modified in ways that make its sale impracticable or the condition of the vehicle warrants destruction, and there are no lien holders or claimants who did not know that the vehicle was used in violation of this Chapter.
5. A forfeited vehicle shall not be sold to the person who used or drove the vehicle during the commission of the act giving rise to the nuisance under this Chapter.
6. In lieu of forfeiture, a settlement may be negotiated, in which case the proceeds of the settlement shall be distributed in the same manner as a sale.
7. All the funds distributed to the City Public Works Department or to local law enforcement or governmental entities pursuant to this Section shall not supplant any funds that would, in the absence of this Section, be made available to support their abatement efforts, procedures or programs.
8. For budgeting purposes, funds attributable to this Chapter shall not be considered anticipated revenue into the general fund.