Item B: Ordinance Concerning Used Merchandise Dealers

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Of the 70+ used merchandise dealers affected by the ordinance and invited to participate in the meetings relating to the Used Merchandise Dealer Ordinance, only representatives from six stores expressed opposition to the implementation of the ordinance. The three primary concerns voiced by secondhand dealers opposed to the ordinance, and the use of BWI as the automated reporting system vendor, were the expense of automated reporting and who pays for the automated reporting, the use of a Canadian company as the automated reporting vendor, and the privacy of individual store business and customer records. The Funding Model for Automated Reporting -- The funding model originally required that individual stores pay for the cost of automated reporting in the form of a transaction fee for every pawn, repawn, consignment, recycle or purchase that the store makes from the public. The ordinance would have allowed the individual stores to recover the cost of automated reporting from the customer selling property to the store. However, following extensive discussion with store owners on this model, the vendor developed an alternative model for a set annual fee based upon the history of annual store transactions. Eugene explored this option and after analyzing the funding currently available for the program and factoring the potential savings in staff time, found that this would be a viable option. Store owners who had been opposed to the transaction-fee funding model found the annual set fee model more viable and withdrew most objections to the proposed ordinance. The Use of a Canadian Automated Reporting Company -- Business Watch International’s (BWI) automated reporting system was chosen for the pilot project because they had a product that was successfully operating in other jurisdictions and one that met the needs of Eugene, Springfield and Lane County law enforcement. Additionally, during the pilot project BWI has continued to improve and refine their product to meet the needs of local law enforcement and the pawn/secondhand dealer industry while reducing their operational costs. Although BWI is a Canadian-based company they are licensed in the United States and have business operations in other U.S. cities. Privacy of Business and Customer Records -- The information obtained through automated reporting includes the same information that law enforcement is currently collecting from used merchandise dealers and is already categorized as a public record. The difference is that the information is being submitted via a secure internet connection. Business Watch International acts as a warehousing/storage company that releases reportable information only to law enforcement. Any and all business records that pawn/secondhand stores submit are the sole property of the individual store and none of that information can be released without the consent of the individual store. Additionally, BWI has a desktop application available that retains the business records in the individual store and only reportable data is transmitted to BWI which in turn is accessible only to law enforcement.