Troy’s Towing Fees Do Not Add Up

January 12, 2025

Over the past few months, we have received a substantial number of complaints from Troy residents and visitors whose cars were towed after being parked downtown overnight. Many of those people readily conceded that they deserved a ticket, but felt that towing was a bit drastic for their first and only parking violation. We question not only whether towing downtown has been done sensibly but whether it has been done legally.

§273-1 of the City Code authorizes the towing of vehicles on which there are outstanding traffic warrants or fines for parking violations in excess of $50 while §273-4 sets the towing fee at $125 (or $155 during a declared snow emergency). In almost all of the emails that we have received to date, vehicles were towed for parking violations equaling $50. While the towing fee in these receipts is sometimes $125, it is more often $145.

Additionally, receipts show that residents and visitors paid sales taxes on their towing fees. Towing services for parking violations are not supposed to be taxable.

Once he’s settled in, it may be prudent for Troy’s new comptroller to take a close look at towing fees in 2024 to see how many Troy residents and visitors were improperly punished with fees and taxes totaling more than twice the cost of their actual parking violations — to say nothing of travel costs, time off work, and unnecessary panic.

We also encourage the Mantello administration to ponder how localized and arbitrary towing might be received by downtown visitors, residents, and businesses that are also being subjected to a crackdown on outdoor music, and whether these practices are likely to help the county reach Troy’s ambitious sales tax projections in 2025. We should all remember that Mayor Mantello represents the City of Troy, not the Town of Footloose.

We encourage anybody whose car was towed downtown to please email their receipts, tickets, and stories to info@timbercorp.org.