A change made to the city's codified ordinances by the Mount Vernon City Council on April 13 put the regulation of taxi cab companies and taxi drivers under the Utilities Commission, but it won't have any control over ridesharing companies.
The change is intended to modernize oversight of local taxi services while clarifying that ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft remain outside municipal regulation. "I'm sure that someone out there is thinking, but what about Uber and Lyft and those types of companies? The state has specifically removed the municipality's ability to regulate the ride-sharing companies, so we can only regulate actual taxicabs," Law Director Rob Broeren told the city council.
Broeren said Mayor Matt Starr recently received an inquiry from someone who bought several old Checker cabs and repainted them to start a taxi service in Mount Vernon. This prompted Broeren and the city administration to review existing legislation on taxicab operations. They considered whether a separate taxicab commission was needed, but decided against it since the public utilities commission already meets monthly. Broeren noted that the last known meeting of the taxicab commission was likely in 2011, and it is unclear if it still has appointed members.
According to Broeren, all regulatory responsibilities will be transferred from the now-defunct taxicab commission to the utilities commission, with licensing duties assigned to a new city inspector. This move aims to update both company and driver licensing procedures. Previously, these tasks were handled by either the police department or a dedicated commission, as reported in the video recording.
Broeren also provided background on local taxi regulation, stating that oversight began in 2009 following issues involving Dad's Taxi, which struggled with compliance before eventually ceasing operations. The original commission was created at that time for registration and licensing purposes, according to the video recording.
Council member John Ruckman made a motion for a third reading of the ordinance amendment before its unanimous approval by all seven council members.
