CARMEL – For the first time, Putnam County lawmakers have agreed it’s time to regulate the expanding county taxicab industry.
During the past decade, legislators have debated the issue with some in favor and others opposed to creating a taxi commission; yet during a recent rules committee meeting, the consensus was some form of county taxicab oversight was needed.
Currently, local towns and villages have home rule regarding the regulation of taxicabs and limousines.
Only the Village of Brewster has a taxi commission and when queries were made to the county’s other municipalities in the past, no interest was expressed by town and village officials to create an overseer of the industry.
In 2012, the county legislature approved a resolution calling for the creation of a taxi commission. The matter was authorized by the state legislature but vetoed by then Governor George Pataki who felt that such a commission was not needed by his fellow Putnam residents.
At the recent committee session, Ruth Ayala-Quezada, proprietor of Carmel Taxi, called for the creation of a countywide commission. “Let the towns have their control but if a community does not desire to implement such a commission, the county would be able to step in and regulate the industry.”
Ayala-Quezada said due to the new Green Light law that went into effect last December allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain a drivers license, she discovered that people were able to obtain a Class E license needed for operating a vehicle for hire. “When granting individuals the Class E license, no background checks are conducted by the DMV or insurance companies prior to allowing these individuals the ability to transport the public.”
Ayala-Quezada charged that new taxi companies were springing up every week throughout the county. “Currently, 18 companies manning 80 cabs are operating without regulations. These are numbers aside from those which are operating illegally with regular passenger plates.”
Ayala-Quezada said the “time was now to revise the need for taxi regulations from Carmel to Cold Spring. Every company should be registered while obtaining a basic permit and providing a business certificate, IRS federal number, address and ownership identification.”
County Clerk Michael Bartolotti told committee members “new law has opened this up. If an applicant passes his written and driving test and gets insurance, the individual may apply for livery plates.”
Ayala-Quezada said, “The county must regulate who is driving the public around.”
