SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and Police Chief Mike Brown requested that the Salt Lake City Council get rid of a licensing fee to register bicycles.

The proposed changes would also do away with paper registration forms, allowing residents to register their bikes online.

In 2017, the Salt Lake City Police Department reported that officers handled 1,406 bicycle related calls, 1,194 of which were reports of bikes being stolen. Police were only able to return 83 of the bicycles to their rightful owners.

“This proposal encourages more people to license their bicycles and makes it much more likely their bikes can be returned if they are ever stolen,” said Mayor Biskupski. “This is a very effective way to protect our bike-riding residents.”

Both the mayor and Chief Brown said the current process of registering bicycles is in need of an updating. The city collects roughly $2,600 a year from bicycle licensing fees.

“We recognize people spend their hard-earned money on their bikes,” said Chief Brown. “This is a step in the right direction to make sure they get their stolen bicycles back.”

The Salt Lake City Council was set to receive a briefing on the proposed registration change at Tuesday’s city council work session.