After an expedited review, a referendum on Anchorage’s new taxi cab regulation will be on the April ballot. The ballot question asks voters if they want to repeal an ordinance that passed last December, creating more than 100 additional taxi permits in the municipality over the next five years. Sponsors said the measure aims to foster competition in the industry. The ordinance also allows medical-vehicles-for-hire to take Medicaid vouchers and creates a new kind of taxi permit for non-profits that serve people with disabilities.
The ordinance was fiercely opposed by cab drivers and the taxi industry. Drivers say they are already struggling to make a living with the current number of cabs on the road, and that adding more permits unfairly dilutes the money invested in the capped system.
To be on the ballot, referendum sponsors gathered nearly 6 thousand voter signatures. The Clerk’s Office received the petition last Friday. Deputy Clerk Amanda Moser said it took 12 people nine hours to review all the signatures and ensure that it could be included on the April 4th ballot. Otherwise the city would have had to call a special election, which cost about $400,000.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her atahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Annehere.
