Towing Fee Increases Approved in State College

Getting your vehicle towed in State College will now be a little more costly.

Borough Council on Monday approved hikes to seven fees charged by companies licensed for towing vehicles from public streets or property at the request of the borough.

The changes include:

– Non-accident towing (less than 3/4 ton vehicle weight), from $150 to $175

– Non-accident towing (larger than 3/4 ton but not exceeding 11,000 pounds, or with dual rear wheels), from $155 to $175

– Accident/crash towing base rate, from $250 to $300

– Winching, from $85 to $100

– Drop fee, from $90 to $100

– Overnight release fee, from $50 to $75

– Storage fee after 24 hours, from $40 to $45.

Licenses are required for any company that tows vehicles at the request of the borough from streets and public property and fees related to towing, storage and return are set by ordinance. That ordinance is typically reviewed every two or three years to determine if changes are warranted, borough manager Tom Fountaine said. 

The last increase, to a much larger schedule of fees, came in 2017. The new increases came at the request of towing companies, who met with borough staff to negotiate the numbers over the course of several months. Police Chief John Gardner said in October, when council directed staff to draft the ordinance amendment, that the proposed increases were ‘perfectly in line’ with rates elsewhere.

Gardner cited rising operating costs as well as insurance, equipment replacement and wage guarantees as reasons for the requested increases.

Cathy Tennis, of John Tennis Towing, said the companies focused the rate increases on areas that have high administrative costs. 

She said the overnight release fee increase is because people who want to pickup their cars between midnight and 6 a.m. are often ‘not themselves’ and cause a bigger concern for the towing companies.

‘Basically we’re actually looking for more of a deterrent where you don’t have one employee there at risk of there being a problem with somebody who just wants to fight and argue,’ Tennis said. ‘To be honest with you that release fee is less than probably 1 percent of any towing that gets done. If they don’t pick the car up that night, the fee does not increase the next day, because the first 24 hours there is no storage fees.’