Committee asks city attorney to update towing and booting rules; sets new fee direction

City staff and private tow operators told the General Policy Committee on Wednesday that Gainesville’s trespass‑towing and vehicle immobilization rules need updating to reflect current costs and to reduce cross‑jurisdiction confusion. The committee directed the city attorney to draft ordinance revisions and approved fee guidance that aligns base towing charges with peer‑city practice while requiring staff to return proposed ordinance language and an updated fee schedule for formal adoption.

Major Jamie Kernick, who oversees towing and immobilization for the Gainesville Police Department, told commissioners the current city tow fees have not been revised in many years and create confusion where city and county boundaries meet. Kernick recommended aligning the city schedules with nearby Alachua County to reduce disputes when a vehicle’s location straddles different jurisdictions.

Monica Jordan, the department’s towing administrator, explained that the city currently regulates only the base trespass tow rates and does not set caps for ancillary charges such as mileage, hourly labor, inside‑ or outside‑storage, and administrative letters. Alachua County’s 2024 schedule sets maximums for those additional fees; staff proposed considering a similar approach to bring clarity and consumer protection.

Operators urged higher towing rates to cover rising operating costs. Kevin Whitaker of Westside/Superior Towing told the committee the last city increase was about a decade and a half ago and argued a market‑based adjustment is overdue. Joseph Mofo of Mofo’s Towing said insurance, equipment and labor costs have risen sharply and urged the city to adopt a comparable regional rate schedule.

Commissioners debated the size of any increase. Some members said they were uncomfortable making a large jump at once given Gainesville’s mix of students and low‑income residents; others urged a substantive increase or a mechanism of regular indexation to avoid long gaps between adjustments. The committee ultimately adopted a compromise motion to refer the towing and immobilization ordinances to the city attorney for recommended modifications and fee language and to return revised ordinances for advertisement and first/second reading. In addition, commissioners set interim guidance to update the base trespass‑tow charges to mirror Tallahassee’s published rates for class A, B and C tows (as discussed on the record), and to set the administrative fee at the level the motion specified; commissioners also reduced the ordinance’s office‑hours requirement so vehicle releases need to be available within one hour of payment but without requiring a downtown office to remain open until 11 p.m.

City staff explained practical definitions: class A covers typical passenger vehicles, class B larger vehicles and class C heavy vehicles such as tractor‑trailers; trespass towing refers to on‑private‑property enforcement requested by property owners or by companies holding posted contracts, while immobilization (a.k.a. booting) leaves the vehicle on site and disables it until the owner pays release fees.

The committee voted unanimously to send the towing and immobilization ordinance language and fee proposals to the city attorney and to return with draft ordinance revisions and advertised fee schedules for April commission meetings.

Votes at a glance: Committee approved referral to the city attorney for ordinance and fee language and interim direction on base rates; motion passed unanimously.