Proposed ordinance could raise tow fees in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- It could soon cost you more to get your car back from a Milwaukee tow lot. 

Right now, it's $105 for a regular tow, and $125 if your car is loaded on a flatbed tow truck. 

The ordinance would raise both of those fees to $150. It costs the city around $110 for a regular tow, meaning it is losing roughly $5 every time a vehicle is hauled away.  Fees haven't been raised since 2012. Tow lot officials hope the price hike will last. 

"One of the reasons why we say $150 is so we're not in front of you two years from now, that this would sustain for quite a while, just like we went 11 years without raising the fees, we're accounting for that cost to continue to go up and there's a lot of reasons for that," said Peter Knox, tow lot manager for the City of Milwaukee. 

The costs go toward staffing drivers and equipment, and those costs with contractors go up every year with inflation. 

The Common Council still needs to approve the change.