Arlington’s Trespassing Towing Advisory Board (TTAB) thinks “booting” illegally parked vehicles might, in some cases, be preferable to towing them.
County Board members appear to disagree.
Despite a unanimous recommendation of TTAB members, elected officials do not plan on changing the county code to give towing companies a greater financial inducement to immobilize — or boot — vehicles instead of towing them.
Currently, “there’s no incentive to boot, there’s an incentive to tow,” said David Kennedy, TTAB’s chair and its community representative, at the Oct. 19 County Board meeting.
The reason? The current county code caps the charge for boots at $25, compared to a $135 fee (likely to increase soon) for a tow.
“That’s just unreasonable,” said Al Leach of Al’s Towing & Storage Inc., the industry representative on TTAB.
Leach was speaking at that body’s Oct. 3 meeting, where he, Kennedy and the body’s third member, Detective James Tuomey of the Arlington County Police Department, voted unanimously to ask elected leaders to increase the maximum rate for boots.
But sometime between the Oct. 3 TTAB meeting and Oct. 19 County Board meeting, County Attorney MinhChou Corr told elected officials her office interprets state code as limiting localities to setting boot fees at no more than $25.
From the relevant Code of Virginia section (§46.2-1231):
“The charge for the removal of any device used to immobilize a trespassing vehicle shall not exceed $25 or such other limit as the governing body of the county, city or town may set by ordinance.”
Corr appears to read that language as setting an absolute upper limit of $25. That’s not the conclusion neighboring Fairfax County has come to; it allows towing companies to collect $75 plus a state-mandated surcharge to remove boots, apparently reading the state-code language as allowing localities to set the charge at whatever they deem reasonable.
Matt de Ferranti, who is County Board’s liaison to the Trespass Towing Advisory Board, told ARLnow that Arlington officials did reach out to counterparts in Fairfax County to understand their interpretation of the law.
Asked if the county government had made inquiries of either the State Corporation Commission (SCC) or office of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, which have some authority in interpreting state code, de Ferranti said it had not.
“The Board is not interested in reaching out to the SCC or Attorney General,” he said. “The Board is comfortable with the guidance provided to us by our own counsel.”
As a result, County Board members did not include TTAB’s request for an increase in the booting fee when it advertised a Nov. 16 public hearing on revisions to local towing regulations.
That was a disappointment to Kennedy, whose role on TTAB is to represent the interests of the public. He told Board members that allowing towing operators to charge a higher cost for booting would actually help consumers.
“I’d rather get the boot on my back wheel or front wheel rather than getting towed,” he told Board members.
At the Oct. 3 meeting, Tuomey said he too believed booting as an alternative to towing would be beneficial for consumers. It will be easier to determine whether the immobilization was appropriate, he said, as the vehicle has not been moved from the scene.
“I think it’s actually going to reduce” predatory behavior by towing companies, Tuomey said.
While booting may not be coming to Arlington’s streets in the near future, towing companies who contract to enforce parking regulations at the Pentagon have plenty of opportunities there.
“We boot colonels all day long,” said Leach.
To get the boot removed, those in Pentagon lots have to pay $115, he said.
