A Bowling Green city towing ordinance is the basis of a lawsuit filed Monday in Warren Circuit Court by Alan Simpson, the attorney who represents Fountain Square Towing owner Brian “Slim” Nash.

City officials planned to discuss at a Tuesday city commission meeting amending the current ordinance to lower the maximum amounts that towing companies can charge for towing and booting vehicles parked on privately owned lots.

A copy of the suit was obtained by the Daily News. It claims that state law does not permit local governments to regulate the prices associated with towing services.

” … the City’s enactment of (the) Ordinance is a restriction on free enterprise and therefore constitutes a taking of property and/or a violation of due process,” the suit states.

The suit states that regulation of towing costs is an “arbitrary interference with the free flow of commerce” and seeks a judgment that the current towing ordinance “is void, unconstitutional, a nullity, and an unauthorized use of the City’s power to regulate.”

City officials and Fountain Square Towing have been at odds in recent years over towing, primarily in the downtown area.

The current ordinance allows towing companies to charge up to $175 for vehicle retrieval, along with a $25 after-hours fee. For boot removal, the ordinance permits a $100 maximum charge and a $10 processing fee for card payments.

Under the latest proposal, the maximum retrieval fee would be lowered to $75, the after-hours fee would be eliminated, the boot removal cost would be capped at $50 and the card payment fee would be limited to $5.

The changes would only apply to vehicles being towed off of private property. For other towing needs, a towing company’s standard rates would still apply.

City Attorney Hillary Hightower told the Daily News Monday afternoon she had not seen the suit and declined to comment.

Bowling Green’s current towing ordinance was initially adopted in 2014, passing unanimously on both readings. Then-Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson said before the first vote that the ordinance sought to protect both the rights of private property owners and the rights of those being towed.

In the years since, many private lot owners, especially in the downtown area, began charging for parking with tow companies patrolling lots.

The fee for vehicle retrieval in the original ordinance stood at a maximum of $125. No changes to the ordinance were made for six years until 2020, when a provision over booting was implemented.

The ordinance was amended again in 2022 to raise the maximum retrieval fee from $125 to $175. The $25 after-hours fee was also implemented at this time. Both readings passed unanimously

Hightower said then that the increase was done to help towing companies keep up with rising operating costs.

“We felt like, based upon inflation, that these were fair recommendations without it being super difficult for someone to get their car out,” Hightower said then.

Officials have discussed taking further action on the ordinance in recent years. In early 2025 the city discussed amending the ordinance again, but instead held off. Hightower said then that an amendment to the ordinance would only come up “if it becomes necessary.”

“Right now, they’re working on other things, and that’s not a primary concern,” she said last year.

Changes were discussed again this past January with the city looking to reduce the fees companies could charge. City Manager Jeff Meisel said then that the current towing situation has become “like a hunting game.”

“When you’re charging an exorbitant amount for towing, it’s a lucrative business.”