Under-Tow

The Richmond City Council may raise the rate towing companies can charge for hauling off improperly parked vehicles, as well as the daily rate for storing vehicles in an impound lot. That's a good idea. The rates haven't been changed in a decade; they're due for a hike. The city's proposal would raise the towing fee from $65 to $125, the maximum allowed by state law.

Now here's another good idea: Repeal the state law.

There's no good reason for a state-imposed Procrustean cap that says towing companies can charge no more in Fairfax than they do in Fluvanna, or vice versa. Localities should be able to decide for themselves what constitutes a fair sanction for the vehicle owner and a fair return for the towing companies.

That doesn't mean private towing companies should be free to charge whatever they want for removing illegally parked vehicles from private property. When they do that, they are essentially acting as delegated law-enforcement authorities -- an inherently problematic arrangement. (Absent such authority, their actions would amount to theft.) Towing companies should not be able to exploit their delegated power to rip off vehicle owners by treating a minor trespassing infraction as a pretext for expropriation.

Virginia's localities should set limits on towing fees. But they don't need the state telling them how to do so.