Salt Lake City is looking to crack down on booters.

The pesky folks who swoop in and lock tire immobilizers on illegally parked cars are in Mayor Rocky Anderson's cross hairs, and this time the City Council may be on board as well.

Not surprisingly, booting companies aren't thrilled.

While some aspects of Anderson's proposal may be agreeable to booting companies, one provision that sets a maximum booting charge at $50 is making waves. Currently, booters charge $80 — a figure they say is needed for them to stay in the booting business.

If the price is reduced, they say it will lead to less booting and more towing, which will be bad for the public because the minimum amount people pay when their cars are towed is $110, and it's usually much more than that.

"What it's going to do is induce more towing," said Jesse Clark, owner of A-Plus Parking, which contracts with parking lot owners for booting and towing services. "It's going to do more harm than good."

At the mayor's office, Gwen Springmeyer agrees the $50 fee will lead to more towing but says the mayor remains in favor of the lower fee. The city arrived at the $50 mark after examining ordinances in other Wasatch Front cities, which set booting limits near $50.

"That's not a positive" to have less booting, Springmeyer said. "Property owners will have cars towed."

Springmeyer maintains booting "really is a kinder experience than having your car towed."

Still, she admits the general public doesn't see it that way. While the mayor's office rarely gets complaints about towing it has regularly received complaints about booting, although complaints have decreased of late.

"The booting just seemed to be almost like a slap in the face to people," she said.

Anderson tried to launch a booting crackdown last year but was thwarted by the City Council, who said there were problems with the mayor's methods. Now, 10 months later Anderson's administration has revised its booting plan, making it more palatable to once-skeptical council members.

Chief among original detractors was councilwoman Nancy Saxton, who says the mayor's second try looks much better.

Seeing cars get booted "makes me kind of sick inside," Saxton said. "It feels kind of like an invasion."

The new ordinance, which the council will officially get their first look at tonight, requires booting companies to make sure employees wear a company shirt or name tag, take credit and debit cards for payment, charge no more than $50, get a Salt Lake City business license, carry a minimum of $25,000 insurance coverage, have employees undergo Salt Lake City Police Department background checks, keep the boot on the car a minimum of two hours before towing and other restrictions.

The law would also require businesses that use booting companies to put up signs warning people that the parking lot is private and their cars may be booted. It was that signage that Saxton had worried about before since some private lot owners might not want ugly warning signs on their property.

Now the signs can be smaller and have more friendly designs — a change that Saxton says alleviates her concerns.

Clark maintains many aspects of the ordinance are not necessary and only came about after some politically influential people had their cars booted last year.

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