Towing companies that work in Richmond can now charge $125 when they remove vehicles from commercial lots, apartment complexes and other private property.
And, for the first time, those companies also can face criminal charges if their fees exceed those allowed by city code.
The City Council voted 9-0 last night to raise the towing fee, which had been capped at $65 for the past 10 years. It also established that a violation of the city's towing ordinance is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries penalties of up to 12 months in jail and $2,500 in fines.
An investigation by the Richmond Police Department this past summer found that some towing companies had been overcharging customers.
In addition, the ordinance allows towing operators to increase the daily storage fee to $35 from $20 after the first 24-hour period and allows a $30 administrative fee for vehicles not retrieved within 72 hours. It further clarifies what fees apply if the owner of a vehicle arrives when the vehicle has been picked up but not yet towed. In that situation, a towing operator is required to release the vehicle if the owner pays a $30 "drop fee."
The city's Advisory Board for the Assessment of Towing Fees and Storage of Vehicles recommended the increased fees in light of operators' costs for taxes, equipment, gas and insurance.
Silver Persinger, a resident who doesn't own a car, called for limiting the towing fee to $100, saying that towing companies haven't justified the need for $125.
"These towing companies are still doing business today, and it's not because they're not making money," he said.
Councilman Chris A. Hilbert emphasized that city would not be benefiting from the higher fees.
"This is not a tax," he said. "This is a fine for doing something wrong."
In other business, the council designated the entire city as a recovery zone under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.
The declaration clears the way for about $5.9 million in city projects to be financed at lower costs with "recovery zone" economic development bonds. Officials said they intend to use the federally supported bonds to finance projects already identified in the city's capital-improvement plan.
"This is merely a lower-cost way of financing projects in the existing [plan]," said James Duval, the city's debt manager.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.
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