(1) Each county shall have the power to frame and adopt a charter for its own self-government, which shall establish the county executive, administrative, and legislative structure and organization, including, but not limited to, the method of appointment or election of officials, their duties, responsibilities, and compensation, and the terms of their office.

(2) Each county shall have the power to provide for and regulate the marking and lighting of all buildings and other structures that may be obstructions or hazards to aerial navigation, so far as may be necessary or proper for the protection and safeguarding of life, health, and property.

(3) Each county shall have the power to enforce all claims on behalf of the county and approve all lawful claims against the county, but shall be prohibited from entering into, granting, or making in any manner any contract, authorization, allowance payment, or liability contrary to the provisions of any county charter or general law.

(4) Each county shall have the power to make contracts and to do all things necessary and proper to carry into execution all powers vested in the county or any county officer.

(5) Each county shall have the power to maintain channels, whether natural or artificial, including their exits to the ocean, in suitable condition to carry off storm waters; and to remove from the channels, and from the shores and beaches, any debris that is likely to create an unsanitary condition or become a public nuisance; provided that, to the extent any of the foregoing work is a private responsibility, the responsibility may be enforced by the county in lieu of the work being done at public expense. Counties also shall have the power to construct, acquire by gift, purchase, or by the exercise of eminent domain, reconstruct, improve, better, extend, and maintain projects or undertakings for the control of and protection against floods and flood waters, including the power to drain and rehabilitate lands already flooded, and to enact zoning ordinances providing that lands deemed subject to seasonable, periodic, or occasional flooding shall not be used for residence or other purposes in a manner as to endanger the health or safety of the occupants thereof, as required by the Federal Flood Insurance Act of 1956 (chapter 1025, Public Law 1016).

(6) Each county shall have the power to exercise the power of condemnation by eminent domain when it is in the public interest to do so.

(7) Each county shall have the power to exercise regulatory powers over business activity as are assigned to them by chapter 445 or other general law.

(8) Each county shall have the power to fix the fees and charges for all official services not otherwise provided for.

(9) Each county shall have the power to provide by ordinance for the improvement or maintenance assessments of districts within the county.

(10) Except as otherwise provided, no county shall have the power to give or loan credit to, or in aid of, any person or corporation, directly or indirectly, except for a public purpose.

(11) Where not within the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission, each county shall have the power to regulate by ordinance the operation of motor vehicle common carriers transporting passengers within the county and adopt and amend rules the county deems necessary for the public convenience and necessity.

(12) Each county shall have the power to enact and enforce ordinances necessary to prevent or summarily remove public nuisances and to compel the clearing or removal of any public nuisance, refuse, and uncultivated undergrowth from streets, sidewalks, public places, and unoccupied lots, and in these connections, to impose and enforce liens upon the property for the cost to the county of removing and completing the necessary work where the owners fail, after reasonable notice, to comply with the ordinances. The authority provided by this paragraph shall not be self-executing, but shall become fully effective within a county only upon the enactment or adoption by the county of appropriate and particular laws, ordinances, or rules defining "public nuisances" with respect to each county's respective circumstances. The counties shall provide the property owner with the opportunity to contest the summary action and to recover the owner's property.

(13) Each county shall have the power to enact ordinances deemed necessary to protect health, life, and property, and to preserve the order and security of the county and its inhabitants on any subject or matter not inconsistent with, or tending to defeat, the intent of any state statute, provided also that the statute does not disclose an express or implied intent that the statute shall be exclusive or uniform throughout the State.

(14) Each county shall have the power to make and enforce within the limits of the county all necessary ordinances covering: all local police matters; all matters of sanitation; all matters of inspection of buildings; all matters of condemnation of unsafe structures, plumbing, sewers, dairies, milk, fish, and morgues; all matters of the collection and disposition of rubbish and garbage; and to provide exemptions for homeless facilities and any other program for the homeless authorized by chapter 201G, for all matters under this paragraph; and to appoint county physicians and sanitary and other inspectors as necessary to carry into effect ordinances made under this paragraph, who shall have the same power as given by law to agents of the department of health, subject only to limitations placed on them by the terms and conditions of their appointments; and to fix a penalty for the violation of any ordinance, which penalty may be a misdemeanor, petty misdemeanor, or violation as defined by general law.

(15) Each county shall have the power to provide public pounds, to regulate the impounding of stray animals and fowl, and their disposition, and to provide for the appointment, powers, duties, and fees of animal control officers.

(16) Each county shall have the power to purchase and otherwise acquire, lease, and hold real and personal property within the defined boundaries of the county and to dispose of the real and personal property as the interests of the inhabitants of the county may require, except that: any property held for school purposes may not be disposed of without the consent of the superintendent of education; no property bordering the ocean shall be sold or otherwise disposed of; and all proceeds from the sale of park lands shall be expended only for the acquisition of property for park or recreational purposes.

(17) Each county shall have the power to provide by charter for the prosecution of all offenses and to prosecute for offenses against the laws of the State under the authority of the attorney general of the State.

(18) Each county shall have the power to make appropriations in amounts deemed appropriate from any moneys in the treasury, for the purpose of community promotion and public celebrations, the entertainment of distinguished persons as may from time to time visit the county, for the entertainment of other distinguished persons as well as public officials when deemed to be in the best interest of the community, and the rendering of civic tribute to individuals who, by virtue of their accomplishments and community service, merit civic commendations, recognition, or remembrance.

(19) Each county shall have the power to:

(20) Each county shall have the power to regulate the renting, subletting, and rental conditions of property for places of abode by ordinance.

(21) Unless otherwise provided by law, each county shall have the power to establish by ordinance the order of succession of county officials in the event of a military or civil disaster.

(22) Each county shall have the power to sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(23) Each county shall have the power to establish and maintain waterworks and sewer works; to collect rates for water supplied to consumers and for the use of sewers; to install water meters whenever deemed expedient; provided that owners of premises having vested water rights under existing laws appurtenant to the premises shall not be charged for the installation or use of the water meters on the premises; to take over from the State existing waterworks systems, including water rights, pipelines, and other appurtenances belonging thereto, and sewer systems, and to enlarge, develop, and improve the same.

(25) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, any county mayor may exempt by executive order donors, provider agencies, homeless facilities, and any other program for the homeless under chapter 201G from real property taxes, water and sewer development fees, rates collected for water supplied to consumers and for use of sewers, and any other county taxes, charges, or fees; provided that any county may enact ordinances to regulate and grant the exemptions granted by this paragraph.

[[](26)[]]Any county may establish a captive insurance company pursuant to article 19, chapter 431.

(27) Each county shall have the power to enact and enforce ordinances regulating towing operations."

(1) Charge not more than $55 for a tow, or $65 for a tow using a dolly, plus a mileage charge of $6.50 per mile towed and [$15] $20 per day or fraction thereof for storage for the first seven days and [$10] $15 per day thereafter. When the tow occurs between the hours of six o'clock p.m. and six o'clock a.m., from Monday through Thursday and from Friday six o'clock p.m. to Monday six o'clock a.m., the towing company shall be entitled to an overtime charge of $15. If the vehicle is in the process of being hooked up to the tow truck and the owner appears on the scene before the vehicle has been moved by the tow truck, the towing company shall unhook the vehicle upon payment by the owner of an "unhooking" fee of not more than $50. If the owner is unwilling or unable to pay the "unhooking" fee, the vehicle may be towed. In the case of a difficult hookup, meaning an above or below ground hookup in a multilevel facility, a towing surcharge of $30 shall be applicable;

(2) Determine the name of the legal owner and the registered owner of the vehicle from the department of transportation or the county department of finance. The legal owner and the registered owner shall be notified in writing at the address on record with the department of transportation or with the county department of finance by registered or certified mail of the location of the vehicle, together with a description of the vehicle, within a reasonable period not to exceed twenty days following the tow. The notice shall state:

Where the owners have not been so notified, then the owner may recover the owner's car from the towing company without paying tow or storage fees; provided that the notice need not be sent to a legal or registered owner or any person with an unrecorded interest in the vehicle whose name or address cannot be determined. Absent evidence to the contrary, a notice shall be deemed received by the legal or registered owner five days after the mailing. A person, including but not limited to the owner's or driver's insurer, who has been charged in excess of the charges permitted under this section may sue for damages sustained and, if the judgment is for the plaintiff, the court shall award the plaintiff a sum not to exceed the amount of the damages and reasonable attorney's fees together with the cost of suit;

(3) Provide, when a vehicle is recovered by the owner before written notice is sent by registered or certified mail, the owner with a receipt stating:

(4) Accommodate payment by the owner for charges under paragraph (1) by cash and by either credit card or automated teller machine located on the premises.

(1) Permanently affix on each door of the truck a sign with the name and telephone number of the tow business. The letters and numbers used in the sign shall be no less than two inches in height; and

(2) Maintain insurance coverage sufficient to protect owners of towed vehicles in the event of vehicle loss or damage due to towing. If a tow operator fails to comply with the insurance requirements of this section, no charges, including storage charges, may be collected by the tow operator as a result of the tow or as a condition of the release of the towed vehicle. Any person, including the registered owner, lien holder, or insurer of the vehicle, who has been injured by the tow operator's failure to comply with this section is entitled to sue for damages sustained. If a judgment is obtained by the plaintiff, the court shall award the plaintiff a sum of not less than $1,000 or threefold damages sustained by the plaintiff, whichever sum is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

(1) The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by law;

(2) The telephone number of the county finance department that arranged for or authorized the tow; and

(3) That if the vehicle is not recovered within thirty days after the mailing of the notice, the vehicle shall be deemed abandoned and will be sold or disposed of as junk.