Just One More Thing to Give Towers a Bad Name..

By Michael Saks

Editor of Towedover

 

I saw this article and was shocked at what this city is doing. The City of Elgin, Illinois makes consumers who are arrested pay a $175 towing fee on top of an “administrative fee” of $500. While the administration fee is for felonies, I think there are some major things wrong with doing this.

1- Using punishment fines disguised as “Fees” violates the civil rights of the accused. They are being fined an amount that will cause financial pain. This is the judges job, not the city.

2- Its not fair to the tower, that a standard tow fee is now part of a bigger “punishment process.” In the mind of the consumer the tower and city are working together and they are being fined $675. This could hurt the business of the tow companies being used if the public views them as corrupt. The tow truck company is a business while the city is not. They have to have a good public image so they can get public business for break downs, lockouts, car starts and the like. This could threaten that

I think the government of Elgin, Illinois needs to rethink the constitutionality of this policy before they get hauled into court and are forced to pay a monstrous “administration fee” when they lose a defamation case.

Image by James Jordan via Flickr

Original article

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110417/news/704179935/