Shortly after the union issued its blueprint for city savings, Local 983 received a call from NYC Independent Budget Office about its proposal to increase revenues by going after scofflaws more rigorously.

The recommendation was part of "We Can Do the Work: How the City Can Save $600 Million without Cutting Services." The 43-page report DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts released May 2 says the city could bring in $20 million more in fines by hiring an additional 100 tow truck operators.

Shortly after the report came out, officials from the nonpartisan Independent Budget Office explored the tow proposal in person and on the phone with Local 983 President and DC 37 Treasurer Mark Rosenthal and Local 983 Vice President Walter Drummond.

"Obviously it's too early to tell where these talks will go, but we are very happy that the budget group is apparently giving our analysis a serious look," Mr. Rosenthal said. "We believe our position is solid, because the workers on the frontlines are in the best position to find savings."

Mr. Drummond presented the IBO with his study of personnel and capital costs, suggestions for scheduling and deploying workers throughout the five boroughs, a formula for determining the net revenue per tow, and a flow chart that tracks fines.

Local 983 estimates that the city has lost $50 million in revenue since 1996, when it moved towing operations from the Dept. of Transportation to the Police Dept.

Before then, Traffic Enforcement Agents Level 3 and Level 4, who are represented by Local 983, worked on boot teams and tracked down scofflaws throughout the city. Now the focus is only on Manhattan, which means the city is ignoring a large pool of potential revenue.

Following the merger, the city contracted out much of the towing and reassigned TEAs to traffic duties.