The city of Bridgeport, Connecticut spread holiday cheer with a three days of car seizing operations just five days before Christmas. Using a Bootfinder camera system to search cars parked in private driveways and public streets, the city identified and captured twenty-one private vehicles each worth several thousand dollars. The city's tax database claimed the vehicles' owners owed, on average, $150 in taxes.

Since March, the Bootfinder system has taken 71 cars and generated at least $1.1 million in revenue. State marshals receive a cut of the revenue for every private vehicle they can take for the city.

In addition to the unpaid tax and towing fees, the city charges a $7.50 Bootfinder fee and the marshals get a percentage of the taxes owed, according to Feeney. Delinquent parking ticket payments were also supposed to be added to the Bootfinder system, but have not been, Williams said. Officials are still working on incorporating data on overdue tickets into the system.