This website and the documents it makes are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
How SAPD towing and the Growdon impound lot work
Police towing in San Antonio is run through contracts, so the rates are set by contract rather than by the City Code.
General information, not legal advice. The papers you got from the police, the tow company, the storage lot or a state agency control your dates. Agencies change phone numbers and steps, so check the agency's own page too.
Two contracts
Since December 2015 a tow-manager company has dispatched SAPD's tows to five subcontracted towing companies and must answer 98% of calls on time; the City earned a $7 commission per tow. Since October 2017 a separate company has run the City-owned Growdon impound lot: intake, storage, release and the auctions. The City first privatized the lot in 2008.
- Fiscal year 2022: 55,464 tows and 36,856 impounds.
Sources: City Auditor report AU23-030; Ordinance 2008-03-13-0203
What the contract tow costs
The City Auditor listed the contract rates as $175 for a light tow, $293 medium and $345 an hour (two-hour minimum) heavy, rising on October 1, 2023 to $210, $350 and $410 an hour. The City issued a new solicitation for towing and impound management in December 2023, and news reports say a new contract was approved in 2025; we have not found its rates in an official source.
Fees at the lot
The City Code sets a $20 impound fee, $20 a day storage and a $50 notice fee. The notice is mailed by certified mail on the third day after impound.
If no one claims the car
SAPD says a car unclaimed 30 days after the owner is notified can be sold at public auction. In fiscal year 2022 the City received $9.1 million as its 85% share of auction sales.
Sources: SAPD Impounded Vehicles page; City Auditor report AU23-030
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