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Towing fees: How high is too high?

By Staff | Jan 7, 2014

It’s easy to understand the frustration on the part of motorists who had their cars towed from Nashua’s streets on Thursday night.

With a snowstorm barreling down on the region, city officials declared a weather emergency that included an overnight parking ban to allow snowplows clear access to clean up the city’s streets.

City officials said about two dozen cars were towed, which is about average for such storms; the city has towed as many as 40 vehicles during previous storms.

Residents who left their cars curbside when they went to sleep woke up to find them gone, requiring a visit to the city landfill to get them back – for a price.

Some people think the $295 return fee is too high, given that it might only cost about $120 for a car to get towed from most private lots.

Mike Cummings, who had his car towed, said the cost is more than many people can afford.

“I think it’s way too steep,” Cummings told The Telegraph. “Especially the people they’re towing – (they) can’t afford that. You know, you’re taking money away from people that need it to feed their families.”

The city shouldn’t be in the business of making money on the backs of those who choose to ignore parking bans, but the fee to get a car back should be high enough so that nobody’s going to want to pay it twice.

We suspect the city has accomplished that.

The city also shouldn’t be in the business of losing money, and time is most definitely money when the city has plow drivers on the clock, waiting for cars to be moved. The longer it takes the city to clear the streets, the more it costs taxpayers. Those who ignore parking bans and leave cars on the street gum up the works and cost taxpayers money. We don’t have a lot of sympathy for them, especially when the city allows them to park for free in one of the city-owned parking garages during a snow emergency.

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