City of Winnipeg claims company billed more than $1 million for tows that didn't happen
The City of Winnipeg was billed for more than $1 million worth of tows that it says never happened.
But a report to the Mayor’s Executive Policy Committee (EPC) is recommending City Council approve a legal settlement with Tartan Towing for $446,250, less than half of the total.
Under the agreement, Tartan would pay $15,000 per month to start, with a promise to repay the settlement amount in two years.
The report says Tartan was providing courtesy tows based on three contracts between 2016 and 2021. The company was paid by the city on a per-tow basis, and employees or subcontractors were required to track each tow.
In January 2022, the Public Works Department launched a review of courtesy tows, done during the residential snow parking ban, to determine how the initial use of the automated license plate reading technology was working. That review found an “unreasonable discrepancy” between the number of parking tickets and tows. A subsequent probe of the contract work back to 2016 found a significant number of tows were invalid, and the city overpaid by $1.1 million.
Councillor Janice Lukes, a member of EPC, wants to know why the city is not going after all of the money.
“Furious, nonsense, it’s ridiculous,” said Lukes. “In my opinion, if you did a million dollars in illegal tows, you should be paying the million dollars back.”
The report says if council does not approve this the city can sue Tartan. It says if this goes to trial, it would cost the city money and time to litigate the case.
Lukes also wants to know why Tartan has not been suspended from doing business with the city in light of this, and why better oversight was not in place.
“We shouldn’t be hiring them again, really, we should be banning them,” said Lukes.
The report says Tartan provides the city with ongoing services. “The Public Service wishes to maintain a working relationship,” states the report.
It goes on to say Tartan let go of some of the drivers involved while others were cautioned.
“Tartan has issued a strong warning, to all current and future operators, of consequences as a result of any misuse or false reporting…” states the report.
The report also says the EPC has requested no subcontractors involved in the overbilling be used in the future and that Tartan explain steps it has taken to ensure subcontractors are not submitting false claims.
It also says there is now a system in place where Tartan sends a report on tows to the city, and the city now does reviews after courtesy tows are done.
According to a statement from the city, no claim that Tartan knowingly over-charged the city has been made.
It also notes the company will not be banned from bidding on city contracts in the future.
The EPC meets on Monday to discuss and vote on the settlement.
CTV News has reached out to Tartan Towing for comment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prime Minister Trudeau meets Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday evening to meet with U.S.-president elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, sources confirm to CTV News.
'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!': Details emerge in Boeing 737 incident at Montreal airport
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
Hit man offered $100,000 to kill Montreal crime reporter covering his trial
Political leaders and press freedom groups on Friday were left shell-shocked after Montreal news outlet La Presse revealed that a hit man had offered $100,000 to have one of its crime reporters assassinated.
Questrade lays off undisclosed number of employees
Questrade Financial Group Inc. says it has laid off an undisclosed number of employees to better fit its business strategy.
Cucumbers sold in Ontario, other provinces recalled over possible salmonella contamination
A U.S. company is recalling cucumbers sold in Ontario and other Canadian provinces due to possible salmonella contamination.
Billboard apologizes to Taylor Swift for video snafu
Billboard put together a video of some of Swift's achievements and used a clip from Kanye West's music video for the song 'Famous.'
Musk joins Trump and family for Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago
Elon Musk had a seat at the family table for Thanksgiving dinner at Mar-a-Lago, joining President-elect Donald Trump, Melania Trump and their 18-year-old son.
John Herdman resigns as head coach of Toronto FC
John Herdman, embroiled in the drone-spying scandal that has dogged Canada Soccer, has resigned as coach of Toronto FC.
Weekend weather: Parts of Canada could see up to 50 centimetres of snow, wind chills of -40
Winter is less than a month away, but parts of Canada are already projected to see winter-like weather.