Drafter
Clerk 10/25/2005
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AN ORDINANCE adopting a methodology for the allocation of taxicab license; authorizing the director of the department of executive services to withhold certain taxicab licenses; prohibiting the transfer of new taxicab licenses; and amending Ordinance 10498, Section 89, as amended, and K.C.C. 6.64.700 and Ordinance 10498, Section 90, as amended, and K.C.C. 6.64.710.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 10498, Section 89, and K.C.C. 6.64.700 are hereby amended to read as follows:
Taxicab((.)) - ((M))maximum number.
A. The King County council finds that the safety, reliability and economic viability of privately operated taxi transportation is a matter of county concern and regulation of that type of transportation is an essential government function. The council further finds that the maximum number of taxicab licenses ((in effect as of May 31, 1991, is)) sufficient to provide the public adequate taxicab service is five hundred sixty-one. The council further finds that some previously issued licenses have reverted to the county and that the demand for service has grown to the extent that the issuance of additional taxicab licenses from within the number of reverted licenses may be justified. The council further finds that the escalating cost of a taxicab license as it is transferred between parties may be reflected in higher costs to the customer and may diminish the owner's ability to maintain an upgrade his or her vehicle.
B. The total number of taxicab licenses issued shall not exceed five hundred sixty-one. The director also shall deny issuance of new taxicab licenses from within the number of reverted licenses as specified by this section unless he or she determines that there is demand for additional taxi service.
C. The following methodology shall be used to determine whether to issue new taxicab licenses:
1. The director shall periodically make a determination of the need for additional taxi service in areas served by King County licensed taxicabs. The viability of accessible taxi service at levels established in adopted policy shall be the primary consideration. Other factors to be considered include:
a. coordination with the city of Seattle's taxicab licensing and regulatory framework;
b. growth in population, tourists and other visitors to the area;
c. the quality of existing taxi service as indicated by response times and
customer satisfaction; and
d. other indications of unmet demand;
2. Upon determining that a specific number of new taxicab licenses should be issued, the director may issue all or a portion of those licenses through a request for proposals process designed to test alternatives to the current local taxi industry model. King County should retain the ability to revoke, reallocate or recondition those licenses should the alternative model prove infeasible; and
3. All taxicab licenses not subject to a request for proposals process shall be issued by lot from a pool of qualified applicants as determined by the director.
((C.)) D. The director may issue temporary taxicab licenses to wheelchair accessible taxicab vehicles used to provide transportation to disabled persons who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. The temporary licenses are nontransferable and shall not be included in calculating the maximum number of taxicab licenses allowable pursuant to subsection B. of this section. The transit division shall coordinate a demonstration project to determine the ((economic feasibility of the)) long-term ((issuance)) viability of wheelchair accessible taxicab((s)) service.
((D. The executive shall formulate and forward to the council for its approval a methodology for apportioning taxicab licenses when the total number of taxicab licenses in effect is less than the maximum number allowed. The executive shall submit this information to the council no later than March 1, 2006.))
E. In order to test alternative ways of structuring taxi associations and the terms of taxicab license leases, the director may issue licenses on condition that the licensees make specific commitments or perform specific actions not generally required of other licensees. The director shall establish the special conditions through the administrative rule making process in accordance with K.C.C. chapter 2.98. The director may revise the conditions applied to such licenses or revoke and reissue the licenses upon determining that the conditions have not been met or that they will not achieve the objectives of the alternative being tested.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 10498, Section 90, as amended, and K.C.C. 6.64.710 are amended to read as follows:
Transfer or sale of license.
A. Transfer or sale of a license issued before January 1, 2006, to any other person is authorized, except that temporary wheelchair accessible taxicab licenses and all taxicab licenses issued after January 1, 2006, are nontransferable. Application for transfer of a ((permit)) license to another person shall include the name of the transferee, and the trade name and color scheme under which the vehicle will be operated, the sales price and other information required by the director. The transferee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter. Any transfer of a taxicab license shall be for the transfer of all licenses issued to the vehicle. If the transfer is for one vehicle license only, the remaining taxicab license shall be considered abandoned, nonrenewable or nontransferable.
B. Unless suspended or revoked, taxicab license may be renewed annually
subject to timely payment of license fees and compliance with other relevant provisions of this chapter.
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