Alexandria to hike towing fees 26 percent, citing program costs

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Parking illegally is about to get riskier in Alexandria — the city is raising its towing fees 26 percent starting in July.

“We hadn’t raised those fees in excess of five years,” said Richard Baier, Alexandria’s director of Transportation and Environmental Services.

The raised fees will cover the cost of administering the program as expenses rise, he said.

The city’s towing fee will jump from $135 to $170 July 1, a move the City Council approved last week.

Alexandria’s fees still will be within a $10 range of those charged by neighboring jurisdictions, Baier said.

The city will not raise the additional $30 daily fee it charges for car storage.

Towing fees are not a moneymaker for Alexandria, Baier said. 

The city attempts to recover only the cost of running the tow trucks and the impound lot, he said.

“They don’t quite cover all of the expenditure, but they attempt to cover the majority of it,” Baier said.

Over the past year, Alexandria has towed more than 2,100 cars and paid $368,000 for its towing program.

The city runs the impound lot but hires a contractor to do the towing.

Cars that are abandoned on the lot are auctioned after two months.

Towing fines are not the only car-related fees to rise in Alexandria this year as a gloomy economy and dwindling property tax revenue deplete county coffers.

The city is raising parking meter rates in Old Town by 25 to 50 cents — a change that officials expect to generate $700,000 this year.

Alexandria also established a program in March that prevents drivers with unpaid parking tickets from renewing their car registrations at the Department of Motor Vehicles until they settle their parking debts and pay an extra $20 — a measure that could net the city $625,000 this year.

tluntz@dcexaminer.com

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