HAMPTON, Va. — Some towing companies in the city of Hampton are asking the city for a rate increase and they said, as of Tuesday, if they didn’t get it soon a strike could happen.
Ashlee Abbott said towing companies in Hampton are long overdue for a raise.
“We have not had a raise since the year 2000," Abbott explained.
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She owns one of the towing companies pushing for the increase and is vice chair of Hampton’s Towing Advisory Board. The companies are the ones the police department calls when they need a car towed.
“That can consist of accidents, felony stops, things of that nature," said Abbott.
How much the companies get paid is set by City Council.
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At the September 9 City Council work session, a Hampton police officer, who is also on the Towing Advisory Board, presented Council with the new rate proposal the Board had come up with.
Abbott said she was going to give the proposal but believed it was supposed to happen at the City Council meeting later in the day, so she wasn’t at the work session.
At the work session, Council members expressed concerns about the proposal.
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“This is highway robbery and people will lose their cars," said Councilmember Randy Bowman, Sr.
“I want us to be sensitive to citizens have to pay gas and wear and tear on their vehicles, and fuel and all that," Vice Mayor Steve Brown said.
Abbott has since made a Facebook post about the rates and in it says the towing companies could go on strike. When I asked about this, though, she didn’t say exactly when a strike would happen.
“It’s definitely not a hollow threat. There are several other municipalities on the Southside that have threatened this as well, and it worked out well for them," said Abbott. "The threshold is coming. The threshold is coming. I don’t have a definitive timeline, but based upon my discussions with my colleagues it’s coming."
Hampton Mayor Jimmy Gray told News 3 Tuesday he was in favor of an increase and was confident a strike could be avoided.
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“Staff is giving us some information, what the rates are in other communities. Certainly we don’t want to have, and I don’t know if any other locality wants to have, the reputation of having the highest tow rates around," Gray said. "Certainly, we do look at where we are in the region and how our current rates compare and how the recommended rate compares to what’s already in place as well.”
As of Tuesday, when all that information would be presented and discussed and when new rates could be set was to be determined.
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