Council Negotiates with Towing Companies on Fees

Fredericksburg City Council voted to increase the fee to tow a vehicle from private property and the storage fee after the first 24 hours after a 90-minute work session Tuesday night.

Council voted to increase the fee to tow a vehicle from a private lot from $65 to $100 for weekdays and the storage fee from $20 to $30. In negotiation with the towing companies and their hired lobbyist, Matt Benka, council agreed to increase the tow fee to $125 on weekends and holidays, citing the higher operational cost for the towing companies. About 80 percent of city tows for trespassing take place past 5:30 p.m and on weekends.

Virginia Code allows a maximum fee of $125 to tow a trespassing vehicle from private property plus $25 for nights and $25 for weekends and holidays or the locality can choose not to set a maximum fee, such as in Spotsylvania County.

. Councilmen George Solley was absent and Matt Kelly voted against the motion. Councilmen Fred Howe, Brad Ellis, Bea Paolucci and Kerry Devine voted "yes."

Council tabled the issue at its second July meeting to get more information and on Tuesday night members met for a work session where they discussed the towing and storage fee increase, signage on private property and if they should add anything to the ordinance if a vehicle is damaged when towed.

City Attorney Kathleen Dooley said to ease concerns about the signs on some private properties, language was added to the ordinance to allow the police chief or someone he designates to create a more stringent signage plan in special situations. One example used is Eagle Village and its multiple entrances and exits. Until two weeks ago, the private lot did not have proper signage, but Fredericksburg Police Chief David Nye said a total of 10 signs are now on that lot to alert people that their vehicles could get towed if trespassing.

Council agreed that if a vehicle is damaged during a tow, it would be a private matter between the vehicle owner and the towing company and nothing was added to the ordinance.

Originally, it looked as if council was going to go with a flat $100 rate for trespassing tows and a $30 storage fee after the first 24 hours without any weekend or holiday increase, but Benka became increasingly frustrated and a few times interrupted council members to provide input. Benka said the city is the "bottom of the barrel" in the state for these fees and that the towing companies are providing a service and they deserve to make a profit from doing it. He said it would be insulting if City Council voted to do anything less than a $125 tow fee and a $50 storage fee after the first 24 hours.

"We might as well stop doing business in the city," Benka said about the discussed proposal.

"You have that right," responded Howe. "It’s called competition."

The fees haven't been increased since 2003. Towing companies hired Benka to help them craft a proposal to City Council to increase the fees because they said operational costs for salaries, insurance and gasoline have skyrocketed over the past nine years.

Kelly did not support the $25 add-on fee for weekends and holidays, but said the fees needed to increase and that private property owners have the right to tow trespassing vehicles. But he said the higher fee could deter people from coming to the city on weekends and on holidays for special events if they have their vehicles towed from private property because the city has a lack of parking spaces. 

"I think that is really setting the wrong message at this point," Kelly said.

Council will also review the ordinance every two years.

Compare Local Fees:

• Stafford County: $100 + $35/24 hour storage. Dooley also added that Stafford County allows for a $35 surcharge if a vehicle owner comes to get the car at night or on a weekend.
• Spotsylvania County: No local maximum – rates must be prominently posted at the premises, and no charge in excess of maximum posted rate is permitted.
• Fairfax City: Same as Spotsylvania
• City of Alexandria: $75 + $20/24 hour storage
• Falls Church: $100 + $40/24 hour storage
• Manassas: no local maximum

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