Police aim to simplify system, but wrecker services oppose plans
San Marcos police dispatchers called on tow truck operators to haul away more than 3,000 vehicles in 2011, with half a dozen wrecker companies sharing the workload.
But Police Chief Howard Williams said it has become increasingly inefficient for his department to rotate through a list of wreckers each time officers request a vehicle tow. At least once a week, he said, a tow truck operator fails to appear at a wreck or crime scene, and dispatchers must contact the next operator on the list in hopes that he or she will accept the job.
"In the meantime, I've got officers and firefighters standing out there, dodging drunks on I-35," Williams told City Council members Nov. 7. "And citizens are standing on the side of the highway, waiting to get their cars towed, for people who aren't showing up."
Police officials have spent about a year trying to develop a new wrecker policy. On Nov. 7, City Council rejected the most recent proposal by a 5-2 vote, with Mayor Daniel Guerrero and Councilman Jude Prather dissenting, after the planned changes drew vehement opposition from tow truck operators.
The council did amend the wrecker ordinance to remove a $50 "show-up fee"—when wreckers are called out to a tow but do not end up hauling away a vehicle—after determining the fee was not authorized by state law. However, tow companies may continue to charge a $50 "drop fee" when a vehicle owner requests the release of his or her vehicle after the wheels have been lifted and their vehicle is fully prepared for towing.
The police department had asked City Council to scrap the wrecker rotation system in favor of a contract with a single company to provide all police-requested tows, arguing that one operator could plan for the workload and ensure that drivers are always on call, something the smaller tow companies in San Marcos do not promise.
Guerrero said a single wrecker service would also facilitate speedier response times for emergency personnel who are called to accident scenes.
"As opposed to having to administer a rotation service for wreckers, [dispatchers] would be able to concentrate on making sure that a paramedic, a firefighter or a police officer is dispatched to the right place at the right time in as short a period as possible," Guerrero said. "At at the same time, it saves money for our citizens."
The failed amendment would have passed along a significant cost savings to drivers. The low bidder for the contract, Southwest Towing, offered to charge vehicle owners $80 per tow, a little more than half the $150 that wreckers may charge for police-requested tows under the current ordinance.
Opposition from tow truck companies
Some tow truck operators said they would be forced out of business if they are cut off from revenue they receive from police-initiated tows.
"I don't know if [the police] are just fed up with us or don't want to deal with us no more," Tommy Saucedo, owner of Saucedo's Wrecker Service, told council members. "I don't blame them, because it's hard. I'm not putting the police department down. They do a good job, but I think it's wrong to cut people out. There's got to be a better solution."
David Sergi, an attorney representing the companies, said he has asked city officials to hold off on any major changes to the ordinance so the city can hold a workshop and seek public input.
"We're looking for a unified approach to modify the entire wrecker ordinance in San Marcos because we have to deal with a multitude of issues. We don't favor the piecemeal approach that has been adopted by the city at this point," Sergi said. "They need to fix the ordinance, and not change the system and put a lot of small-businessmen out of work."
The cities of Buda, Kyle and New Braunfels also use a wrecker rotation system, while Austin and San Antonio divide their cities into four geographic sectors and contract with a specific tow truck operator for each sector.
Fees elsewhere
Eliminating the wrecker service rotation in San Marcos would not apply to tows from private property such as the heavily trafficked area at the Nelson Center near the Texas State University campus, where wreckers monitor for cars whose owners park and leave for class or other destinations.
Those private property tows are also regulated by city ordinance. Tow truck operators point out that San Marcos' $75 cap on private towing fees is one of the lowest in the area. Buda and Austin both allow wreckers to charge $150 for private towing.
Officially, the city of Kyle limits fees to $57.50 plus $1.15 per mile, but Police Chief Jeff Barnett said those fees are so outdated that they are not being enforced.
Barnett met with representatives from tow truck companies in the summer to discuss their actual rates—they charge about $190 per tow, he said—and he expects to revisit the city ordinance next year.
"We've had really good service from wrecker companies," Barnett said. "I don't know what the future will hold, but we want to present something to council that is more realistic for today's wrecker services."
Tow truck operators have asked the San Marcos City Council to raise the $75 limit on non-consent tows to $125, a suggestion that council members rejected in the spring. Along with their request for a rate increase, Sergi said tow truck operators want to initiate a warning system to spare first-time violators while targeting the people who repeatedly park and leave for long periods.
As a courtesy, he said, wreckers could place a warning sticker on the window of first-timers and enter their license plates into a database to catch them next time.
"Tow truck drivers, like lawyers and a lot of other professions, are not real popular until you actually need them," Sergi said. "And these folks do provide a needed service, and they recognize their services are valuable. They also want to make sure they tow the people who need to be towed. It's a divisive subject, but I think it can result in a benefit for the community if we properly think this through."
