San Bernardino, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

290 imposes two duties directly on tow companies operating in San Bernardino. Under division (A), any tow company that tows and impounds a vehicle from private property under the California Vehicle Code must complete and submit a private party tow report form to the Police Department, by fax or e-mail, by the end of the business day following the tow. Under division (B), the vehicle owner or other responsible person must pay a city fee, set by resolution of the Mayor and City Council, to reimburse the city for processing and recording the tow's notices and reports; the tow company collects that fee at the same time it collects its own towing and storage charges.

The tow company must then remit the collected fees to the city each month, within ten days after the close of the calendar month in which the fee was collected. Alongside payment, each towing company must submit a monthly summary report of every impound and fee collected, in the form and detail the Chief of Police specifies, and must make its underlying records available to the city on request to verify the report. The section does not set a dollar figure for the fee itself; that amount is fixed separately by City Council resolution rather than in the Municipal Code text, so the current fee schedule must be confirmed with the Police Department's records unit or the resolution on file with the City Clerk.