Falls Township Supervisors Introduce Precious Metals Ordinance

Levittown PA

21 October, 2021

10:44 AM

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FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA ­— As local police departments around the country continue to deal with a rash of missing catalytic converters from the vehicles of area residents, Falls Township is cracking down on the options thieves have when it comes to turning stolen merchandise into cash. Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Dence said he heard of a New Jersey scrap yard accepting catalytic converters, which prompted him to try to prevent it from happening here. In an effort to curb the number of stolen goods — and metals in particular — being resold at salvage yards and pawn shops, the Falls Township Supervisors introduced an ordinance this week to amend part of an existing regulation related to pawn brokers and dealers in precious metals and secondhand goods, township officials announced. Rhodium, platinum, and palladium are the three metals commonly found in catalytic converters. Rhodium, which was worth about $650 per ounce in 2016, surged to about $3,000 per ounce by the end of 2019 and is now worth more than $10,000 per ounce, according to Moneymetals.com, township officials said. Palladium jumped from $500 per ounce in 2016 to more than $2,000 currently, while platinum stayed consistent in value at just over $1,000 per ounce. Dence said that legislation in New Jersey requires pawn shops to hold onto catalytic converters they purchase for several days. He would like to see the same thing happen here as a way of curbing the dealings being done over these precious metals. The ordinance, which will be considered for adoption at an upcoming meeting, would update the definition of a precious metal dealer, township attorney Lauren Gallagher said. The proposed ordinance would also expand the definition of precious metal to include various types, including rhodium, ruthenium, as well as alloys.