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High fees get the boot?

By Nicole Papageorge

COLLIER COUNTY - People in Collier are outraged. They say their cars are being booted for no reason and its costing them $200. Now, county commissioners are looking at lowering the cost of having boots removed.

Last week, Julie Brown parked her car at her friend's home in the local community, The Reserve.
When she returned 20 minutes later her car had been booted.

"With a sticker on my window saying I had to pay $200 cash," says Brown.

Brown admits she didn't know she needed a guest parking sticker, but says the cost is outrageous.

"There's no reason for that except to rip people off," says Brown.

The Reserve says booting is the best way to keep the community safe.

"I feel bad for those people who feel they've been victimized, but I'm 100% confident we notified the residents about the rules," says The Reserve association president Patrick Bishop.

County Commissioners have received so many complaints from people like Brown they may lower the cost of booting fees from $200 to just $25.

"We have some aggressive towing companies," says Commissioner Tom Henning.

Jim Wessels works for The Whitestone Group who's contracted to boot cars.

"We're very in support of it," says Wessels. " We want to see stricter rules and regulations and we're glad to work with the commissioners and the county."

Brown says she's still recovering from sticker shock.

"It's very extreme and its not right it shouldn't be legal and we need to change that," says Brown.

County Commissioners will review the booting policy at their next board meeting later this month.


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