Also during the November 13 meeting, the council introduced an amendment to the taxicab ordinance to allow taxi owners to transfer their licenses for a fee of $1,”000.##M:[more]##
The drafted amendment came after negotiations with the taxi association, where an agreement was “reached painfully,” said Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman, who was involved in the negotiations, along with Councilman Charles Morgan. She said both sides had to compromise on the complicated and sensitive issue, and that neither side walked away with everything it wanted.
The amendment would allow taxicab drivers to pay the township a fee of $1,”000 to transfer their licenses to another person, which was not permitted by the previous ordinance.
Morgan and Kleinman explained that because there is a limited number of licenses available to taxicab owners in the first place, those licenses have become a valuable commodity to those wishing to operate a business in the township. In a letter the council received, Kleinman reported, one taxicab driver was urging the township to pass the amendment and mentioned he was going to sell the license for $80,”000 to another person.
Morgan and Kleinman said both sides grasped with the idea of fairness in discussing whether or not to permit transfers, establishing a fee for doing so, and for how much, but ultimately came to the compromise of a $1,”000 fee.
There is one exemption to the fee. When a taxicab owner wants to transfer his or her business to an immediate family member, there is no $1,”000 fee, but the person would have to prove — in writing, through a deed or will — that they have transferred the business to that family member. Owners must live in New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania to hold a license in the township.
Some council members questioned the definition of a family member, and after discussion about it, decided to alter it to clarify that it applies to living spouses, children, grandparents, domestic partners, and a family member delineated through blood or adoption, which means that a license can be transferred down generations to great-grand children, but that it cannot be transferred to a family member such as a cousin or in-law.
As a result of the change, the council directed the township attorney to discuss that definition with the taxicab association’s representatives. Villate Castor, the association’s president, thanked council members for introducing the amendment.
