Justices of the peace advanced an ordinance Monday authorizing wreckers on the Garland County Sheriff's Department's call list to charge higher fees.

The Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee of the Garland County Quorum Court endorsed an amendment to the rates and charges section of the 2016 ordinance that established policies and standards for towing companies on the rotational call list.

The new rate schedule the full quorum court will consider Aug. 8 raises the fee for a routine tow and debris removal from $100 to $125 and the administrative fee from $25 to $50. A subsequent tow from the sheriff's department's impound lot would increase from $50 to $75, and the per mile rate from the scene to the towing destination would increase from $2 to $3.

Winching or rollover with a snatch block, excluding loading, would increase from $65 to $80.

"On average, it's about a 25% increase," County Judge Darryl Mahoney, who owned a towing company for more than 20 years, said of the new rates. "If you take the (Consumer Price Index) from 2016 through this year, you'll wind up at about a 24.2% increase. We all know the cost of business has gone up dramatically over the past two years."

Undersheriff Jason Lawrence told JPs the towing advisory committee the 2016 ordinance established has been working on the new rate schedule since March. The five-person panel comprising two sheriff's department representatives, two towing company representatives and a citizen can suspend or revoke tow list privileges.

Mahoney said towing companies he talked to initially requested a $175 fee for routine tows. He said fees in the ordinance JPs advanced to the full quorum court are reasonable.

"I think it's a fair request," he said. "I do now that most of our contracts we set up with individuals across the county we try to do with a CPI, so that we can at least try to keep them making a fair rate. If you go back and add the CPI through what is anticipated this year, you're going to wind up about where you're at right there.

"I don't know if we have a contract anywhere right now for anyone we do business with that does not have some type of surcharge, fuel surcharge or their rate has gone up according to the CPI."

The new schedule added several fees, including $60 for oil dry and disposal of spills.

"They're going to start doing more cleanup, and the sheriff's office is going to make sure that they clean up when they're there," Mahoney told JPs.

The 2016 ordinance requires companies on the call list to remove debris from accident scenes, but Lawrence said deputies and volunteer firefighters occasionally assist.

"It makes it go faster if we do," he said. "If we can expedite, pick up some debris and other stuff, we're going to try and get that road open."

A $75 winch only fee, plus $3 per mile to the scene, was added, as was a $25 letter fee. The state transportation code allows towed vehicles and their contents to be held as security for payment of towing and storage fees, giving towing companies a first priority lien. Notice has to be sent to the owner and other lienholders. Arkansas Towing and Recovery Board rules allow towing companies to charge up to $25 per notification letter.

The fee to release a vehicle outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. would increase from $35 to $50, and daily storage fees for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less would increase from $35 to $45.

The per hour fee for a small wrecker, including a flatbed truck, that has to remain at the scene would increase from $45 to $65.

JPs also advanced an ordinance clarifying where county noise regulations are enforceable. The noise ordinance the county adopted in 2005 applies to those areas of the county that "are unincorporated."

New language advanced Monday said the regulations "apply to all areas of Garland County that are not within the limits of an incorporated city or incorporated town."

Mahoney told JPs the Hot Springs Village Police Department uses the ordinance to write noise citations. A defendant in district court recently argued the regulations aren't enforceable in the Village, telling the court the gated community is an incorporated area.

"Technically Hot Springs Village is a private, nonprofit corporation," County Attorney John Howard told JPs. "That was used as a defense in a case in district court. We're fixing that to make sure it clearly applies to all the unincorporated areas. In my opinion it's still completely enforceable as written. It's just that they didn't want to run into that difficulty in court."

The 2005 ordinance prohibited loud and disturbing noises from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. A 2008 amendment shortened the period of enforceability to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Print Headline: JPs endorse higher towing fees

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