After failing to pay a $500 fee to pay the city of Park Ridge on time for a license to operate its livery business, Pink Taxi will now have to fork over an additional $250 to the municipality after officials voted Monday to levy the fine for the tardy payment.
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The penalty was approved Feb. 6 as part of the consent agenda at the Park Ridge City Council meeting.
Aldermen meeting as part of a committee of the whole meeting held Jan. 23 supported the penalty as a means of recouping of some of the costs the city incurred as a result of the late payment.
Acting City Manager Joe Gilmore told aldermen during the Jan. 23 meeting that the city had received the $500 fee from Pink Taxi for the certificate of operation on Jan. 20. He said aldermen had the option to revoke the company’s license to operate, impose a fine or do nothing as a result of the late payment. He recommended elected officials opt to impose the $250 fine to partially cover legal expenses incurred in the city’s effort to exact payment from the taxi company.
According to a city memo, an invoice for the payment was sent to the company in late November of last year with a due date of Jan. 1. A notice was emailed to the taxi company on Jan. 3 to remind the business that the payment was overdue, according to the memo. Staff members called the company on Jan. 5 and were told by Mike Kowal, Pink Taxi’s chief operating officer according to the business’ website, that he would come to city hall with the payment in hand the following day, the memo states. Kowal never showed, according to the memo. A legal notice regarding a potential revocation of the business’ license to operate was published in the Park Ridge Herald Advocate on Jan. 12 and police delivered the notice to Kowal on Jan. 10, according to the memo.
According to the city’s memo, the company has operated in Park Ridge since February 2012 and was previously issued a certificate of operation for a four-year term with an associated fee of $200. That certificate expired last February and the city approved a new certificate of operation for the company in March, the memo states. All Park Ridge taxicab companies are required to pay a $500 fee annually to cover administrative costs, according to the memo.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Pink Taxi officials had not responded to a request for comment.
At its meeting Monday night, the council also approved an ordinance aimed at closing a loophole for the city’s taxicab companies and drivers. As a result of the ordinance amendment, Park Ridge officials can now refuse to issue a livery license if the applicant owes any outstanding debts to the city, according to a city memo. The city code already stipulates that companies that owe outstanding fees or fines to the city may be disqualified from receiving a business license, said Jim Brown, director of community preservation and development for Park Ridge, in an interview last week.
Because rules and regulations regarding livery companies are codified in a separate section of city code, applicants for livery licenses previously may have qualified to receive the licenses despite owing outstanding debt to the city, he said. Brown said the purpose of the ordinance amendment is to close that loophole by giving the city the right to refuse a license to any applicant that owes money to the city.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.