City Measures Franchise Fee For Tow Truck Operators

The city of Walnut Creek, based on a recommendation from the police department, is seeking to establish a franchise fee for tow operators, who have retained an attorney to oppose the move, potentially.

The franchise fee would enable the city to better regulate its rotation list of 11 tow operators, according to an agenda report for the City Council prepared by the police department.

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting for 5:45 p.m. today to consider a tow franchise ordinance, with a regular meeting agenda scheduled for 7 p.m. at City Hall on North Main Street.

The city now regulates tow operators to charge $150 per tow for drivers of cars towed from police incidents. The police report recommends raising that to $175 per tow plus an annual franchise fee.

The police department presents Option 1 and Option 2 for franchise fees with different levels of recouping the city's annual staff costs of time of police personnel in tow situations, estimated at $83,000.

Option 1 envisions an estimated annual franchise fee of $7,545 and option 2 pegs it at $3,772 aimed at financing roughly half of the city's annual cost of implementing its towing program.

In the proposed franchise, the city puts conditions on tow operators including:

• availability;
• uniforms and appearance;
• minimum qualifications for drivers;
• tow truck classifications;
• penalty for late arrival;
• courtesy.

The police department report contains a letter from attorney Ronald K. Mullin, representing the Walnut Creek Tow Operators Association. Mullin states, "More information needs to be provided to the tow truck operators regarding the methodology employed by the city in the calculation of the ultimate number which is going to be used by the city to calculate the fee."