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Council postpones towing‑fee ordinance after hours debate on storage and after‑hours pickup fees
Summary
Council introduced an ordinance updating Title 15 (police‑initiated towing and impound rules), considered three amendments and heard extensive testimony from tow operators; council postponed the ordinance to Dec. 17 to allow staff and police to refine business‑hour and after‑hours fee language.
Assistant City Attorney Anadina Kasemanian and Bloomington Police Department Sergeant Jacob Hunter presented Ordinance 2025‑19 to update Title 15 (removal and impound of vehicles) and align towing‑related fees with current market and operational costs. Staff said existing maximums no longer reflect expenses for equipment, insurance, storage security and staffing.
Council considered packet amendments (clarifying typos and moving a heavy‑tow surcharge into the appropriate code sections). Many tow companies testified that while they provide 24/7 service, they do not staff release facilities 24 hours a day and that after‑hours pickup requires overtime or on‑call staff; operators supported a defined after‑hours pickup fee to avoid uncompensated labor costs. Council members discussed returning a storage‑start time to 24 hours (from a proposed 12 hours) and whether to codify a $75 after‑hours pickup maximum.
Rather than decide tonight, council moved to postpone Ordinance 2025‑19 to Dec. 17 to allow staff and the police department to incorporate clearer business‑hour definitions and related contract language for tow rotation providers and to preserve alignment between Title 4 (private towing) and Title 15 (police‑initiated tows).
Next steps: staff (Police/Legal) will draft contract and code language to define business hours and after‑hours pickup policy and return the revised ordinance for council consideration on Dec. 17.
