Waukesha, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

12(6), Towing Contract, authorizes the Chief of Police or a designee to contract on the City's behalf for removal, storage or immobilization of vehicles under the section's enforcement authority. Any contracted towing company must maintain adequate equipment and facilities and keep personnel available 24 hours a day, and must furnish the City with an indemnification agreement backed by a performance bond and an indemnity bond, or in place of those bonds a certificate of insurance, holding the City harmless from claims over damage to or theft of towed vehicles and any personal property inside them.

That contract sits inside a broader towing framework: parking enforcers may tow an illegally parked vehicle blocking traffic flow or in a posted tow-away zone, and may immobilize or tow a vehicle carrying five or more unpaid nonmoving citations older than 60 days after mailing required notice and waiting at least 24 hours. Vehicle owners get a review before the Chief of Police within 10 days of a request, and if the City finds the tow did not meet the ordinance's requirements it must release the vehicle without charge and refund any fees already paid.

Whoever redeems a towed vehicle, whether from the towing contractor or the Police Department, pays the actual costs of removal, towing and storage, plus any added cost for cleaning hazardous material from the vehicle, all payable before release. 07(3) after 30 days.