Legislative panel ponders limits on limo licenses

Friday, April 16, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A legislative subcommittee Thursday took the first step toward restricting the number of limousines in Clark County to try to address complaints ranging from price gouging and payoffs to the use of unsafe vehicles.

The subcommittee, led by Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, recommended that the Transportation Services Authority establish an allocation system to limit the number of limousines each company can be licensed for.

It suggested the 2005 Legislature authorize the TSA to raise the annual fee of $100 on each limousine to $600 to pay for the increased enforcement of the industry in Southern Nevada.

The subcommittee also suggested the moratorium preventing the TSA from granting additional vehicle licenses should be continued until an allocation system is put into effect.

Ray Chenoweth of Ambassador Limousine told the subcommittee the TSA has little or no regulation of limousine drivers. He said drivers can report to work with alcohol on their breath, abuse a customer or "drive like a nut" and there is no regulation to discipline them.

Yet there are regulations to punish the owners of the limousine services, he said.

"There needs to be controls on the drivers," said Chenoweth. He said drivers are fired by one company for abuses such as "ripping off customers" but end up working for another firm.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, said the "practices in this (limousine) industry have the potential to injure our economic engine in the valley," referring to the gaming industry.

There was other testimony in the 2003 Legislature and before the subcommittee that some limousine drivers overcharge customers, pay off doormen at hotels to steer customers away from cabs and into limousines and that there are safety hazards with some of the vehicles.

The 2003 Legislature imposed a freeze on the number of limousines for existing companies but allowed the TSA to issue permits to new firms for up to two vehicles. That expires in July unless it is renewed by the TSA while it conducts an allocation study.

The subcommittee faced a deadline of April 30 to make a recommendation as to whether there should be an allocation system for limousines, similar to the one on taxicab companies in Southern Nevada. The plan now goes to the Legislative Commission that has to make a decision by May 28. If the commission approves, the recommendation goes to the TSA, which then has until June 15 to decide if it wants to implement an allocation system.

If the TSA decides to go forward with a system to limit limousines, it would have to wait for funding from the 2005 Legislature to enforce its rules.

And there's another potential roadblock. The TSA must find $50,000 to hire an outside consultant to recommend standards for how the allocation system should work. Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas, said he wanted to see a system "with incentives for good actors."

He said the good companies should receive "better allocations."

The subcommittee's lone vote against the allocation system came from Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-North Las Vegas, who said the problems could be addressed by better regulation. She said the TSA doesn't have "the time, money and manpower" to enforce the present regulations.

While she opposed an allocation system, she said she favored raising the fees to pay for more enforcement.