‘Unenforceable’ taxi tip law set for repeal

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000 | 10:19 a.m.

A proposal that would make a currently illegal taxi tipping practice lawful passed a procedural hurdle Monday without any public comment.

The Las Vegas City Council's two-person recommending committee voted to pass the ordinance on to the full board for a Sept. 6 vote.

Mayor Oscar Goodman's proposal stems from a meeting he had with Olympic Garden owner Pete Eliades, who claimed he didn't want to break a law by tipping cabbies who brought customers to his adult nightclub.

Goodman was sympathetic and proposed repealing the city code that prohibits certain businesses from tipping taxi drivers.

In a public hearing Monday, the committee members agreed.

"If it's not enforceable, why have it?" asked City Councilman Michael Mack.

Deputy City Attorney Val Steed said the city's code -- although unenforced -- is only one law against the practice. Nevada Revised Statutes and the Nevada Administrative Code both have measures barring the tipping of cabbies by adult nightclubs.

"I don't know if the Taxicab Authority enforces it," Steed said.

Cabbies earn anywhere from $10 to $25 payments from the clubs for each customer they bring. Double-parked cabs queue up outside Crazy Horse Too, Cheetahs and Olympic Garden each night as drivers run inside for their "tips."

Some argue the practice is akin to a kickback. Others claimed cabbies would divert customers to the strip club that paid them the highest toke.

And that's what prompted Eliades to propose the ordinance to Goodman.

"Everybody's doing it," Eliades said in a recent interview. "If I don't do it, I can't keep up."