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The issue: After Pittsburgh drivers complained about aggressive tactics used by tow-truck drivers earlier this year, highlighted during the winter’s heavy snowfall, Pittsburgh officials took steps to rein them in. Under a new ordinance, tow companies and their drivers must pay new annual licensing fees. They must also notify police about every car they tow; auto storage lots must be open 24 hours and take credit cards. Towing companies have complied, but have a gripe of their own: Under a previously existing city law, tow companies are permitted to charge a maximum of $110 to tow a car from a parking space where it does not belong. That rate hasn’t changed since 1992, and towing companies say a change is overdue

What the companies want: Mark Travis, owner of Travis Towing, says city council’s regulations helped “legitimize” the towing business. “I think council honestly wanted to better the conditions that we operate under … and they did a great job,” Travis says. At the same time, “We should also be making a legitimate wage. We get demonized for what we do, but we are legitimate business owners with families to support and all we’re asking for is a reasonable cost-of-living increase.” Travis says he would like to see an increase that kept pace with inflation — which he estimates would raise towing fees to about $171 per car towed. “[T]ires, gas, equipment and permit fees cost a lot more than they did in 1992,” he says. “We’re not asking for an arm and a leg.”

The likelihood that they’ll get it: City Councilor Doug Shields, who sponsored the towing reforms, says tow company owners are entitled to the public hearing. He says he initially left a rate increase out of his legislation because a lot of companies were already charging over the amount set by law, but no one was enforcing the cost regulations. Shields says he invited the tow-truck companies to lobby council for a rate increase. Shields says he’s neutral on the increase, though he adds “it’s more prudent to operate for a year under the new law to see if it has solved the problems,” before discussing new rates. In any case, Shields says $171 seems too high: “I wouldn’t accept that at all. … They’d need to open the books and show us a breakdown of the costs.”

What’s next: Travis submitted a citizen’s petition for a public hearing on a fee increase. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. on Thu., Dec. 18 in council chambers on the fifth floor of the City-County Building, 414 Grant St., Downtown. Public comment will be taken.