Council votes to end Kingston and Area Taxi Commission

The City will take over taxi licensing and oversight in September 2026.

Next year, the Kingston and Area Taxi Commission (KATC) will be no more.

There was a debate Tuesday at City Council on whether to dissolve KATC.

Council voted 9-4 in favour of the staff recommendation and have the City take over the licensing and oversight of taxi services starting in Sept. 2026.

The decision comes two months after Council agreed to renew the service agreement with KATC.

One of the nine who supported the motion was Kingscourt-Rideau Cllr. Brandon Tozzo who recently resigned from the commission over a lack of transparency in financial reporting.

He says he respects the work KATC was doing but believes it was time to move on.

3 members of the commission appeared as delegations urging Council to defer the vote instead.

Recently appointed chair Steve Fraser told Council that the delay in the reporting is due to the conversion of their financial records to digital.

He said the commission recently was able to deliver their 2022 audited financial statement to the city and were on track to have the 2023 and 2024 statements by next year.

Tozzo, however, says it still doesn't explain why it is taking so long to have the financial statements audited.

The delegation seemed to take aim at Tozzo over his resignation and questioned his involvement in KATC.

Tozzo didn't take offense to the remarks but was surprised by what he heard.

Fraser expressed disappointment after the vote but declined to comment on it.

There was some concerns about the future of the accessible taxi program if the commission were to dissolve.

But Tozzo ensures that will not be ending once the city takes over.

Story by Ken Hashizume