Fire & Police Commission approves updated maximum tow and storage fee caps

The Santa Barbara City Fire and Police Commission voted unanimously Jan. 23 to accept staff recommendations to raise the city's maximum caps for light-duty towing and vehicle storage to better align with rates used by the California Highway Patrol and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff.

The commission's vote followed a staff presentation from Officer Ed Casper, the department's tow-compliance investigator, who told commissioners the city currently uses a six-company rotation for on-call tows and that all six yards inspected in January were in compliance with city regulations. Casper said the city's current maximum for light-duty towing is $330 and proposed raising the cap to $360 to match regional practice.

Casper said the department had not updated the fee schedule since 2022 and cited rising costs as a reason to adjust the maximums. "I feel like we should be even with CHP and Santa Barbara County Sheriffs," Officer Casper said. He proposed increasing the light-duty tow cap by $30 (to $360), light-duty daily storage by $25 (to $125), medium daily storage by $10 (to $145) and heavy daily storage by $10 (to $175). He emphasized the schedule sets maximums; tow operators may charge less.

Staff said the rotation is managed per call by dispatch and that companies that fail to meet response-time requirements can be disciplined or removed from the rotation. Casper said the existing response-time language requires a tow company to arrive within 20 minutes during regular hours and 30 minutes during off hours, and that the department is now tracking response times more closely.

Commissioners questioned staff about complaint handling and whether tow operators supported the increases. Staff said citizens can submit fee complaints to the Police Department and that, in the recent operator meeting, tow companies voiced support for bringing Santa Barbara's maximums into the same range as CHP and the county to reflect operating costs.

A motion to accept the staff recommendation carried unanimously. The commission record shows no individual roll-call votes in the transcript; staff said the change is a maximum cap and that operators set actual charges to customers. The fee increase, as a change to the city's maximums, will proceed through the City Council process as required by city ordinance.

The commission also discussed possible changes to the rotation (one-company-per-day vs. per-call rotation). Staff reported the tow operators preferred remaining on a per-call rotation to maintain response capacity and meet dispatched response times.

The commission's action addresses the city's tow rotation program and its maximum fee schedule; staff said the item will return to council for final approval of any administrative fee changes.