Vegas man wins right to operate limos in conjunction with wedding operation

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 11:33 a.m.

Like the storybook weddings, Dan Ryan wants his business to be a part of, the tale of Ilene's Bridal Gowns and Tuxedos and its SuperStretch limousines has a happy ending.

Ryan, owner of the Las Vegas Strip-based Ilene's, won permission from the Transportation Services Authority to operate limousines for hire and for free to store customers.

But to do it, Ryan, in his words, must "take the money out of one pocket and put it in the other," and in so doing will lose another percentage of it to the tax man.

The TSA issued an order that requires separate companies to handle the formal wear side of the business and the transportation side. Currently, Ryan has two companies -- Ilene's Formal Wear Inc., and Ilene's Bridal & Formal Wear Inc. -- but the agency said he'll have to change the name of one of them to more accurately reflect it as a transportation company to avoid public confusion.

"When we had the hearing, there was so much confusion over the names of the two companies that even the applicant was having trouble keeping it straight," said Paul Christensen, chairman of the TSA.

So, within 90 days, Ryan, whose business produces revenues of about $750,000 a year, must file a new name with the TSA.

Meanwhile, other formal wear businesses operating in Las Vegas were waiting to see how the Ilene's matter was resolved to determine how they would start up their own transportation companies, Christensen said.

Ryan's journey over the TSA's regulatory terrain began more than a year ago when he sought permission to expand his fleet of SuperStretch limousines that had been licensed by the TSA and the U.S. Department of Transportation for intrastate and interstate transports, respectively.

Ryan had offered limousine transportation to and from his store at 2435 Las Vegas Blvd. South for customers needing formal attire for weddings and special events in the city. Under state transportation rules, businesses don't need vehicles certified if the place of business is the starting point or ending point of the transport.

But Ryan wanted to maximize use of the limousines and offered them for hire for scenic tours, seeking a TSA certificate to offer the service.

Competitors challenged Ryan's use of vehicles for both free and for-hire service and the TSA interrupted hearings on the licensure to research the law.

What regulators found was that he couldn't use the same vehicles for both purposes.

But the regulators recommended that he instead form a new company that would operate the limousines. That company would charge the formal wear business for its transports -- and the certification of that company includes the tariffs that must be charged.

Ryan said that amounts to keeping a different set of books to account for all transports involving the formal wear store. But because the transportation company has to charge a certain amount for each formal-wear-store job -- about $75 an hour -- the transaction is taxable.

In addition to paying taxes on those transactions, Ryan must establish a separate location for the transportation company. He said he was planning to do that anyway, since the certification approved by the TSA gives him the expansion he originally sought. Under terms of the order, the company can have no more than seven vehicles until Aug. 1, 2001, and no more than 13 vehicles after that.

Ryan said he hasn't calculated how much more it's going to cost him in taxes, additional expenses for the new transportation company's location and the additional record-keeping he'll be required to do.

He said he plans no appeals or legal challenges to the decision, which was reached last week.

"I did what I had to do to satisfy all of the statutes," Ryan said after the TSA vote.

While the decision closes the book on the Ilene's case, a more far-reaching case involving the state's limousine laws is getting closer to a critical court date.

Limousine driver William Clutter, who was fined $5,000 and had his limousine impounded for operating without a TSA certificate, is expected to have his District Court appeal heard this fall.

Clutter and former driver John West, who lost a TSA appeal for licensure in April after initially applying in 1997, are being represented by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice.

The Institute for Justice, which takes on free-market legal cases, is challenging the constitutionality of Nevada's laws regulating limousines. The firm has spent much of the summer in case research, preparing for a trial. The case originally was to be heard in June, but has been postponed several times.

West was turned down for certification because the TSA said he was not financially fit to operate a limousine company. That case was delayed for several months while the TSA sought financial information from West, who was reluctant to give it up because it meant also turning it over to competitors.

The Clutter and West cases have received national attention over alleged monopolistic practices in the limousine industry in Las Vegas. Critics have included Washington-based national columnist George Will.

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