Miami Beach Defers Towing Companies Request For Fee Increase

MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – The two tow truck companies which contract with the City of Miami Beach will have to wait a bit longer to find out if they can raise their rates.

On Wednesday, the city's commission deferred their rate increase request until June.

Currently, Tremont Towing and Beach Towing charge more than $200 to return the vehicles to their owners. Oh, it's a cash only business. It breaks down to $115 per tow, plus a $30 administrative fee, $30 after-hours fee, $25 labor fee and $5 per mile fee, adding up to an average tow of $205, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

Those rates have not changed since 2004, but Tremont Towing and Beach Towing say they can't make it anymore at those levels and have asked the city for an average increase of $64 per tow.

According to the paper, Tremont and Beach Towing are believed to make $2.5 million a year handling 14,000 police and parking department tows. Additionally, under the city's law, private condo associations, hotels and businesses can only use Tremont or Beach Towing to remove violators in their lots. For each tow, the city gets $25.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.