Ruling allows TAs to run non-profit taxi service
By Paul Tash
Montana Tavern Times
The Montana Public Service Commission has issued a declaratory ruling that allows non-profit organizations with 501(c) designation to develop their own transportation services without PSC regulation.
The ruling paves the way for local tavern associations to develop their own taxi or shuttle services for patrons who may need a ride home from a tavern. The Cascade County Tavern Association had been working to create such a service, but questions about its legality were raised by regulated taxi companies who pay the additional expenses that come with regulation. The declaratory ruling answered those questions.
“Any non-profit entity is allowed to run a passenger service without regulation by the PSC,” Travis Kavulla, chairman of the Public Service Commission, told the Montana Tavern Times in December.
During a session at the Montana Tavern Association convention in September, Kavulla said preliminary review of state law indicated that non-profit transportation services were likely exempt from PSC regulation.
The declaratory ruling in October essentially affirms that preliminary finding.
“It opens the door” for tavern associations to run their own services, Kavulla said, as long as they are registered 501(c) entities with the Internal Revenue Service.
Kavulla added the services can charge a nominal fee to cover such costs as fuel, driver pay, and other overhead, but no profit can be made.
“We're pleased with the ruling,” said John Hayes, president of the Cascade County Tavern Association. “We just got our (non-profit) paperwork done.”
He said the association was still working on details of its transportation service, and would look for grant money to help with its development.
In the meantime, he said, the local association would again partner with local cabbies to pay 100 percent of fares for any bar patrons wanting rides home on New Year's Eve. Hayes said he and others would be “manning the phones until 3:30 a.m.” on New Year's Eve to make sure rides are available to those who need them.
Kevin Sandberg, founder of the transportation provider Ucallus in Missoula, also is happy with the PSC ruling. His company, which primarily caters to bar patrons, had been issued two citations for operating without PSC authority. Sandberg said he has been in the process of gaining non-profit status since March.
His “designated-driver program” in Missoula has been running for three months with a goal of decreasing the number of DUIs. Its initial success, he said, has gone “beyond all my expectations.”
Sandberg said he is hoping to expand Ucallus services to other parts of the state and is looking for donations to help.