Columbus is raising its wrecker fees.
The city council voted unanimously last week to allow an increase in fees under the wrecker ordinance. The proposal, presented by Chief Operations Officer David Armstrong, came after meetings between city officials and wrecker companies.
“We’ve had a lot of issues with wreckers charging way more than the ordinance allows for,” Armstrong told The Dispatch. “We got every wrecker company in Columbus together and had a meeting.”
A wrecker advisory committee, composed of Armstrong, Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor, Mayor Robert Smith and three wrecker representatives, recommended increasing wrecker fees from $125 to $195 for hook-ups. Storage fees will increase from $30 per day to $40 per day, and removal fees to $10 for drivable vehicles and $25 for non-drivable vehicles, and $30 for after-hours removal.
The fee increases are an ordinance change and will go into effect after a 30-day waiting period.
Armstrong said city’s rates have been low, compared to neighboring jurisdictions. Wrecker companies charge $195 hook-up fees for county responses, and about $220 for Mississippi Highway Patrol, according to Bill Cole of Dixie Towing and Jay Burchfield of Burchfield Towing.
“These haven’t been changed since 2008,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong noted the fees only apply to wreckers that are on the rotation list that respond to emergency calls, and only when they’re called in order of the rotation.
Officials use the rotation list to call wrecker companies to incidents involving vehicles in order to avoid favoring certain companies. Thirteen wrecker companies are on the list, with two available for large wrecker services for incidents involving large vehicles such as 18-wheelers. Companies pay $50 per year to be on the rotation list.
Wreckers that respond to an incident outside the rotation list or is requested can charge at their discretion.
Cole said he believes the fees have needed to change for “a long time.”
“We have to put up with so much stuff in the city, paperwork and all, and they didn’t realize the cost of being in the wrecker service,” Cole said. “A wrecker will cost you $70,000 now and it’ll cost you $5,000 for insurance a year.
“The county gets $195, and $35 a day,” he later added. “MHP gets $220 for pickup and they had the city at $125 (for pickup) and $30 a day. That wasn’t close to being in the ballpark.”
Burchfield, like Cole, said he welcomes the increase in charges. He said business costs, from paying personnel to insurance and paying for diesel fuel, are high.
“You’ve got to charge enough to pay for this equipment, and the insurance is real high on it,” Burchfield said. “It just takes a little bit of updating besides the $125 we used to have on it.
“It really is something we needed,” he said. “It costs so much to run them up and down the road–$125 is not even a drop in the bucket to take care of your insurance, fees and all.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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