The charges for towing will be increasing in three categories after the Chattanooga Wrecker Board approved the price hikes at their Thursday morning meeting. The increases will now be sent to the Chattanooga City Council for their approval before they go into effect.
The city’s code of ordinances sets the maximum charges for “district wreckers” and it provides for an annual increase each January. That increase is based on the annual inflation increase from the prior month’s data. This year that amount is 3.09 percent.
The three categories this year that will increase are Daytime tows, which are currently $225 that will increase to $232. Tows on nights, weekends and holidays that are now $250 will increase to $258 and Extra Winching which now costs $300 per hour will go up to $309.
Another matter involving the towing industry that is becoming known is the lack of oversight for private towing businesses.
District wreckers are those which are on the city’s rotation list and are called by a city dispatcher on a rotating basis if a city representative requests a wrecker to be sent. This is the case when police call following a wreck. The wrecker board does not regulate towing companies not on that list, which are known as private tows. Additionally, it appears that there is no regulation by the city either. Assistant City Attorney Kathryn McDonald told the board that actions of those wrecker companies are considered to be civil cases.
Kelly Kroll brought her daughter Kendall to the wrecker board meeting to lodge a complaint about the towing company Chattanooga Impound. She said on Feb. 2, a driver from that company was driving through the parking lots of apartment complexes on Gunbarrel Road using a tag reader. Residents, employees and visitors at many apartment complexes must register their vehicles to park in their lots because of limited space. That included the lot at apartments Parc1346 located on Gunbarrel Road.
Ms. Kroll had neglected to register her vehicle with the office and that caused the tag reader to ping and the driver towed the car without notifying the apartment officials, she said. Ms. Kroll was called and told to bring $225 in cash to a Circle K a mile and a half away to get her car back. And when she did, there was $2,000 of damage that had been done to the vehicle, she told the board.
The Krolls asked the Wrecker board to put regulations in place for private tows such as this, but was told nothing could be done by the board and that it would be considered a civil matter. She was told to talk to the City Council representative from the district where she lives for getting regulations established for these companies which now have little or no city oversight.
Mark Shackleford, owner of Shackleford Towing and who has been designated as the spokesperson for the towing industry in Chattanooga, said he believes that state regulations may set standards and he is seeking to find the most recent of those state laws.