Owe tax on your car? Beware if you're towed

The scenario unfolds: You overlooked a fire hydrant while parking, and the city has towed your car. You count the money in your wallet – there’s just enough for the towing fee. You breathe a sigh of relief.

But that may be only a small part of what’s due when you arrive at the city’s impound lot.

Now, if you owe personal property tax on the vehicle, this too must be paid in full before you can retrieve your car.

In a new partnership, the City Treasurer’s Office and the Norfolk Towing Division are collaborating to collect delinquent personal property tax.

Lawrence Keefe, towing operations manager, envisioned the program after reading a Virginian-Pilot article about an auction firm helping Portsmouth recover its tax money.

Keefe’s wheels started turning.

“We’re already in the streets towing vehicles anyway,” he said. “I bet a lot of them have liens on them.”

Keefe pitched the partnership to the Treasurer’s Office. “We could help each other out a bit,” he said.

Already in place was a partnership that forced owners to pay outstanding parking tickets before retrieving their cars. Adding tax liens to the mix made sense, he said.

Bob Batcher, city spokesman, called it “part of a strategic approach to collect what’s due to the city.” He said the total amount of uncollected personal property tax across the city has not been tallied because of pending appeals.

The towing division began assisting the treasurer with the collection of property tax liens on vehicles that are towed for other violations July 19.

Currently, the treasurer can garnish wages and bank accounts, and withhold state vehicle registration renewal with the Division of Motor Vehicles, among other methods to collect delinquent tax.

The towing division is not yet actively scouring the streets for vehicles with delinquent taxes but plans to do so in the future.

“We still have a lot of rough edges,” Keefe said.

For now, towed vehicles are identified and included in a list that is faxed daily to the treasurer’s office.

The list is reviewed for liens and sent back to the Towing Division.

If money is owed, the division informs the owner while the vehicle is impounded.

“We tell you to settle up with the tax office,” Keefe said.

Vehicle owners then must pay their personal property taxes through the City Treasurer’s Office by phone, online or in person at City Hall.

Plans are under way to streamline the process, Keefe said, with the towing division collecting money where vehicles are retrieved, at 1195A Lance Road.

In addition to the tax owed, owners must pay: about $135 in towing charges, $30 per day for storage, and a $75 administrative fee if the vehicle is left more than 72 hours.

Keefe plans to expand the program in the future, perhaps with license plate scanners to identify cars belonging to delinquent property tax payers. “We’re going to get smarter at it,” he said.

Stacy Parker, 222-5432, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com