Scranton is considering creating its own storage yard for abandoned and towed vehicles, but tow truck operators fear it would hurt their businesses.
The mayor and council have placed in the proposed 2013 city budget $300,000 in revenue from establishing a city-owned towing storage lot behind the police headquarters.
Under the current system, 15 tow truck operators who pay to be on a rotating list to receive city towing jobs from accidents, arrests and abandoned vehicles, store towed vehicles on their own properties and get to collect storage fees from vehicle owners.
If the city opens its own storage lot, the towers would have to transport vehicles to that lot and the city would collect the storage fees, officials said.
This would cut into the towing firms' bottom lines by nearly 50 percent, said Jim Morell of Jim Morell's Towing Inc. on Birch Street.
"This could really put us all out of business. You want to stomp on 15 businesses, this is the way to do it," said Mr. Morell, a second-generation owner who has been in the towing business for 40 years and hopes to pass the firm on to his son.
City officials say they do not want to harm local businesses but the financially-strapped city needs to raise revenue to avoid offset tax hikes. The towing jobs apparently are lucrative enough that towing firms are complaining, but they would still get "a piece of the pie" if the city opens its own storage yard, said Councilman Jack Loscombe.
"There's been some complaints, I guess, from towers and stuff like that, that we are taking their business away," Mr. Loscombe said during Thursday's council meeting when the issue arose. "They apparently get their fair share because they're a little upset over this."
Just storage
Councilman Pat Rogan asked if the intent is to have only one towing firm handle both towing and storage.
Mr. Loscombe, council President Janet Evans and Councilman Frank Joyce said no, the towing would remain the same with the list of 15 operators dispatched by police on a rotating basis, and the only change would be that the city would store the vehicles and thus collect the storage fees.
"We're not taking over towing, we're just taking over the storage," Mr. Loscombe said. "If they (towing firms) want to make noise, they could make noise if we took over everything (towing and storage). There's still a piece of the pie out there for businesses."
Mrs. Evans said the idea is that police would be responsible for the operation of a storage yard and it would not require any overtime or additional hires, and the $300,000 is "a very reasonable, conservative estimate" of how much the city could generate in new revenue next year.
"It has been the desire of the Scranton Police Department for many years to establish a storage yard in the city of Scranton, as is done in many other municipalities and is highly successful," Mrs. Evans said.
For Mr. Rogan, the issue involves increasing the role, size and scope of government at the expense of local, small family businesses.
"I do have some concerns about making government bigger," Mr. Rogan said. "On the face of it, it's not something that I agree with but I'll definitely hear everyone out."
Three rotating lists
Under a city ordinance, the city has three rotating towing lists: regular towing, for accidents and arrests; heavy duty, for larger vehicles such as tractor trailers; and salvage, for abandoned vehicles. The firms pay $2,000 a year to be on one of the lists, $2,500 a year to be on two and $3,000 a year to be on all three lists. They get dispatched by police for work on a rotating basis.
A tow request by the city results in a charge of $125 to the vehicle owner, a storage charge of $45 a day and a gate (administration) fee of $45. Scene cleanup and winching fees, if needed, each are $50. Heavy-duty towing fees are different but are not specified in the ordinance.
If the city opens its own storage yard, the towing firms would lose the $45-a-day storage fee and $45 gate fee, or roughly half of the income they now receive, Mr. Morell said. The towing firms need the storage and gate fees to make their businesses viable, and the city's plan likely would result in layoffs or closures, Mr. Morell said.
So, in anticipation of annual towing contracts expiring at the end of this year, the towing firms have proposed paying to the city five years or more of their annual list fees in advance, in exchange for the city maintaining the status quo, Mr. Morell said.
"They need the income and we need our jobs," Mr. Morell said. "I support four employees. I can't support them if they take my income away and I'm basically doing the same operation except instead of bringing a car here, I'm bringing it there. They want to take half of it (income) off of us. We're saying, 'Don't do it. Don't hurt us.'"
Despite the storage yard revenue being included in the city's 2013 budget, city officials say the matter remains unresolved.
"We're still in negotiations with the towers," Mayor Chris Doherty said.
Not a done deal
Acting Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano added, "It's too early to say we're taking over storage. It's something on the table to create revenue, but is subject to negotiation of all parties involved."
Mr. Morell also disputed the notion that a city storage yard would be a simple undertaking with no overhead. He cited myriad issues, such as having to store abandoned vehicles for long periods while obtaining approval to dispose of them; maintaining security of the lot; and ensuring that vehicles impounded in investigations are kept indoors, since the city lot has no garage.
"Council's operating as if there's no expense involved and (is saying) 'We'll just park cars and collect money,'" Mr. Morell said. "They should be in the parking lot business because the Scranton Parking Authority didn't do too well."
Mr. Loscombe noted that the lot already is fenced and under surveillance, and has a controlled access.
The lot is owned by the Scranton Parking Authority and is mostly vacant, said Chief Graziano. There has been talk within the police department for many years about Scranton doing its own towing and storage, like Philadelphia and other big cities do.
However, "this isn't something that can be done tomorrow. There are some logistical hurdles," the chief said.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com