CLEARWATER — County commissioners deliberated over amending towing rates in heated debate July 21 that resulted in the narrow passage of a piecemeal ordinance in which legislation was pulled apart and redrafted at the dais.
Staff presented commissioners with an all-encompassing towing ordinance that would have raised a series of towing rates, and regulated after-hours fees charged by towing companies, along with offering drivers a fuel surcharge, a cost of living increase.
However, Commissioner Kathleen Peters was adamant that at an earlier meeting there was consensus to immediately provide towing companies with promised fuel surcharge relief. She balked at a suggestion by County Administrator Barry Burton to delay a vote on an entire ordinance until a court case challenging a $250 state lien fee was resolved.
Throughout the intense discussion, the elephant in the room was a new Florida statute allowing towing companies to charge an additional $250 lien release fee, separate from county regulated rates, that could hike the total cost to retrieve a vehicle in excess of $450.
Burton agreed that while the commission was primarily interested in the fuel surcharge provision, “there are a lot of other fees that the towing companies asked the county to review.”
Burton recommended the commission wait until adjudication of the $250 lien fee plays out in appellate court, “because our recommendations may vary based on the outcome of that.”
A Hillsborough County Circuit Court judge is deciding whether towing companies can charge a $250 “lien release” administrative fee, if a vehicle is picked up from the tow yard before a county-mandated waiting period.
Under the state law, towing companies are allowed to charge up to $250 for administrative lien fees. However, Hillsborough County passed a resolution stating that this $250 lien release fee cannot be charged until a 48-hour waiting period has elapsed. The case stems from a plaintiff alleging a company charged a fee immediately.
A representative of the towing industry said in Pinellas the $250 lien is placed on any vehicle illegally parked and towed, not breakdown calls.
Commissioner Brian Scott noted, “I am very, very concerned with the additional (lien) fee, I would rather see this play out in court, because it is the totality of the effect to the consumer that I’m very, very concerned about; I think the recommendations are going to change depending on that specific outcome.”
Scott added he is not opposed to the increase in fees that towers are asking for, but thinks “right now is not the time to do it.”
Commissioner Chris Scherer said he too would wait until the judge’s adjudication. However, he suggested adding “a couple of other items to the discussion,” such as mandated photos or videos of illegally parked vehicles, in the more encompassing ordinance, should be made available to the vehicle owner, and not just police.
Scherer added “if it’s found out that the towing service took a vehicle in error then the towing company should owe the driver for their time and effort. It’s fair play, you took my car, you shouldn’t have, you should owe me something for it, or at least send me pictures and don’t charge me for it.”
He added while talking about raising rates he would “like to see something about how our constituents are treated when they go to pick up the cars.”
He showed commissioners photos of a towing yard with no visible address, no available parking for those coming to pick up a car, no accommodation for handicapped persons, no lighting, and no sidewalks, leaving a person to maneuver along a grassy area when searching for the front door.
“If we’re going to…redo the ordinance then some level of service for the people who’ve had their cars towed should be incorporated into the ordinance. There should be a minimum standard,“ he told commissioners.
Peters voiced vehement displeasure with the proposed ordinance, stating she thought the commission was just voting on a couple of items – the fuel surcharge and the electric cars previously discussed, and not the whole package.
“What you have here is the whole shebang, but we said we needed to do something in the meantime to make them whole, because fuel was so high…What you have in front of us is not what we said,” she said. “We said we wanted to add a couple of things and it was the fuel surcharge, so this is confusing; What you presented to us in this package is very confusing.”
She passionately explained, “They are a regulated industry, they can’t just raise the rates…They are not like any other free enterprise business.”
“If there are bad actors out there it’s because we created them, because they couldn’t raise their rates on their own,” Peters suggested
Burton said staff presented the entire ordinance because the tow truck companies told the county “they want these other fees.” He told Peters she can vote on a fuel surcharge today, but she took the county administrator to task again, stating he presented an ordinance they didn’t agree to.
Burton replied, “We get people all the time who come in and are furious, because they follow the tow truck there, and they get the tow fee… and then they get a $250 fee, so they are getting a $450 plus tow for a six-minute hold — and that’s a consumer protection issue.”
County Consumer Protection reported the county has seen a significant increase in consumer complaints driven by the lien fee, with 318 specific complaints since its inception in July 2024 through May 2026. The $250 lien fee accounts for 83% of all towing complaints from January 2025 through May 2026 with the first five months of 2026 reaching 94% of total complaints.
Peters made a motion to just vote on:
• A fuel surcharge to allow for a $1 per mile adjustment in the event of a temporary surge in fuel pricing If pricing surges to $5.50 per gallon, Consumer Protection will initiate and post a temporary surcharge for 30 days and continuing until pricing indicators drop below the threshold
•A new electronic vehicle towing fee of $35 per 15 minutes on scene with a maximum of $70 to offset costs of storing and handling of electric vehicles.
•A Consumer Price Index rate adjustment to base tow rates with a 3% cap for the next five years, and a requirement to post informational signage.
Chairman Dave Eggers said, “I think the $250 charge is creating a lot of the concerns…I don’t really want to run rampant on this thing....I want to make sure they’re taken care of, but at the same time protecting our residents; and they’re getting $250 on top of whatever we’re giving them now…I think we’ve ought to be careful until that is taken care of. “
Eggers said he could vote for Peters’ request to adopt the surcharge, EV towing fee, consumer information signage and then bring the rest of the ordinance back.
County legal staff advised under the partial ordinance the county will have no late night gate fee regulation, which would allow towing companies to charge any amount to open their gates for people they’ve towed after hours.
After more debate, the partial towing ordinance Peters intensely lobbied for narrowly passed 4-3. The rest of the ordinance will come back to the commission at a later date.