Council Considers $25 Fee For Towed Vehicles

Galloway Township Council will consider an amendment to township code concerning towing fees. The ordinance would call for a $25 processing fee for those who need to pick up their vehicles after they are towed, and Township Manager Arch Liston projected the result would be about $25,000 in revenue for the township.

The ordinance was introduced Tuesday night, Oct. 9, and second reading will take place at the Oct. 23 council meeting.

“This is something we’ve considered in the past,” Councilman Tom Bassford said. “I don’t like doing this, but at this time we need the revenue.”

“It’s permitted. I don’t know why we aren’t doing this already,” Deputy Mayor Tony Coppola said. “ … I think $25 is reasonable.”

Councilman John Mooney questioned whether there would be a procedure in place for the process, and Liston said he would make sure there would be a proposal for the process for the second reading.

Earlier this year, the township put in place a fine and processing fee for those who violate the skate park’s rules. The processing fee for confiscated equipment in those instances is $75, and Liston said the township might be able to apply that process to processing fees for towed vehicles.

It was just one of many discussions council held Tuesday night concerning how to deal with the economic situation in the township. Other discussions included the possibility of a reassessment and the refunding revenue losses in the amount of $1.4 million, among others.