This is a great point. Obviously a city needs towing, city workers need to be paid, and tow companies need to be paid. There's no problem with that but the fees

This is a great point. Obviously a city needs towing, city workers need to be paid, and tow companies need to be paid. There's no problem with that but the fees are clearly outrageous and a form of hidden taxation, very regressive taxation. The towing company is obviously paying a fee to the city so they get a monopoly on vehicle tows. Those posters calling the author a "douchebag" for complaining should understand that $520 + $100 is a form of regressive hidden taxation. Many workers in the bay area make less than that a week. A $600 surprise will literally break them and their families. These hidden taxes disproportionately affect the poor, especially the working poor, who for example don't have driveways or who might wait a month or two on an inspection sticker.