The city of Wichita is currently without emergency towing services, after the City Council failed to approve a new contract in two separate votes.
The move would not affect someone who calls a towing company to have their car taken to a dealership or to their home.
After 56 minutes of discussion, the initial proposal failed by a 4-2 vote. Mayor Whipple and Council members Johnson, Hoheisel and Ballard all voted no, with Council members Tuttle and Frye voting yes. Council member Blubaugh was absent. After a short recess and nearly 20 more minutes of discussion, it failed yet again 3-3. Council member Johnson joined the ‘yes’ camp, after proposing to drop the city’s $30 processing fee in hopes of softening the companies' price increases.
Wichita Police can impound and tow vehicles that are deemed a traffic hazard or unsafe to drive, are subject to seizure as evidence, are reported stolen and recovered, or if the driver is taken into custody.
The city contracted with nine different companies in town to provide the service, generally around 1700 tow requests per year. The companies submitted responses to the city's request for proposals back in December. The parties negotiated a proposed agreement in February, which compared to 5 years ago would be a 4 percent increase for both towing fees (from $95 to $120) and for daily storage fees (from $27 to $35), along with some other modest adjustments.
Greg Ferris, who represents most of the towing companies, said they were asked last week about adjusting their proposed rates down. With rising costs for fuel, tires and the like they said no.
It's not clear how the city will handle this responsibility in the short-term. It may take up to a week before city staff can regroup and come up with a new proposal for the council to vote on. New or unfinished business cannot be brought up at next Tuesday's meeting, which is for consent agenda and workshop only. There is no meeting on May 31st, as meetings are not held on the fifth Tuesday of the month. If this item is to be voted on and resolved soon, the Mayor will need to call a special meeting.