Wichita City Council strikes new deal with tow companies, sets up repayment plan
The city of Wichita struck a compromise with three towing companies on Wednesday that avoids rate increases for people whose cars are impounded by police.
The City Council also approved an ordinance that would allow economically disadvantaged people to get their cars out of impound without breaking the bank.
Under the repayment plan, the city would carry the cost — up to $600 — of returning vehicles to their owners. The vehicle owner could then pay back the city $25 a month until the debt is paid off. The plan also offers a one-time waiver of up to $600 for people who are registered with the city as homeless.
Mayor Brandon Whipple, who spearheaded the repayment plan, said the new contract is a “win-win-win” for the city, the tow companies and for vehicle owners who get their cars impounded.
“As someone who grew up in a household I grew up in, my family would have been crushed,” Whipple said. “My mom was a waitress. If on the fly she had to pay $600 to get her car back, that would have dramatically impacted us being able to get to our sporting events, get to school, mom getting to both her jobs. Six hundred dollars may not sound like a lot of money to folks, but the way my life experience has been, there are folks who just don’t have access to $600.”
Last week, the council rejected a contract with nine tow companies that would have increased fees on tow services by anywhere from 14% to 150%. It was the second time the council had rejected the proposal. A lobbyist for the companies said the companies wouldn’t budge on their prices.
Many of the nine companies on the original contract operate from the same location and have the same owners — just different business names.
The council unanimously approved the new contract and payment plan at a special meeting on Wednesday.
All of the city’s police impounds will now run through three towing companies: Arrow Wrecker, Kidd’s Towing and Tow All.
The three companies agreed to keep their prices in place under the contract they negotiated with the city in 2020.
Arrow Wrecker is owned by Chris Burkhart of the Kansas City, Kansas metro area. Tow All and Kidd’s Towing are owned by husband and wife Michael and Robin Kidd.
Mark Ysidro, owner of Tow Services and Reliable Towing, which operate from the same address as Ken’s Auto Tow, owned by Monte Ysidro, said he feels like he and his companies have been cut out of the deal.
“We need them price increases,” Ysidro told the City Council of the higher rates rejected last week. “Now, I understand you have a person that said they’d do it for the old rates. Well, I could do the old rates if I got it all. That’s not what the RFP said. That’s not how we’ve operated within the city.”
“These rates were needed,” Ysidro said. “We didn’t raise them because we’re trying to screw anybody.”
Vice Mayor Becky Tuttle said she supports the payment plan but has problems with the way the bidding process was handled.
“I’m not a big fan of growing government, but I think in this case it can help our most vulnerable, so I’m supporting the payment plan,” Tuttle said. “What I’m struggling with is I understood the rationale for why the tow companies were asking for fee increases. Everything increases, right? . . . The angst that I’m having with this now is we’re going from nine to three (companies) and it seems like — a little bit like — we changed in the middle of the process, so I just worry about the fairness of what we’re doing.”
The city put out a request for proposals for towing, impound and online auction services in December and received two proposals: one combined proposal from eight companies and one from a single company. City staff then began negotiating rates with all nine of the companies.
That negotiation yielded price hikes on almost every fee proposed by the tow companies, from a light tow to hook-up and winch charges. Earlier this month, the council rejected the fee increases and directed staff and council members Tuttle, Maggie Ballard and Mike Hoheisel to approach the tow companies again seeking lower rates.
The companies would not come down on their prices, saying they were already as low as possible, and the higher rates were again rejected last week.
After that vote, the city emailed all nine companies individually and asked them to submit their “best and final” proposal. That’s when Kidd and Burkhart broke from Ysidro and the other tow company owners, offering to do the work for the same price they’re doing it now.
Council member Brandon Johnson said he wants the council to have more of a heads up next time a proposal comes forward that could increase rates for residents.
“To Vice Mayor Tuttle’s point on changing processes, I haven’t always been a fan of that,” Johnson said. “But I think in this case when it came to the contract and fee increases, it was a little much for some of us to take in.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 3:04 PM.