The struggling taxi medallion industry is about to get some relief.
Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday the Taxi and Limousine Commission will no longer collect $1,100 license renewal fees from the city’s 9,384 yellow cab medallion owners are required to pay every two years. That accounts for nearly $10 million in collective savings for the industry, which rakes in a third less money than it did six years ago and is reckoning with the impacts of years of predatory lending practices.
The de Blasio administration in October announced it would waive the fees for many drivers on a case-by-case basis — the city has collected just over $2 million in fees since then, according to the TLC. This week’s move applies the exemption to all drivers.
The relief isn’t permanent, but a bill sponsored by Councilman Mark Levine (D-Manhattan) that’s working its way through the City Council would codify it into law for at least two years.
Drivers will also soon get some in-person help — the TLC will make good on a law passed last year requiring the agency to create brick-and-mortar “driver assistance centers.”
TLC officials said they plan to open a center in the next year, which will aim to connect drivers to services like financial counseling and SNAP benefits.
De Blasio called both steps “just one piece of the equation” to aide the crisis-ridden industry — nine New York City taxi drivers have committed suicide over the past year and a half as take-home pay and medallion values have plummeted.
Eliminating the fee is a drop in the bucket for medallion owners who are stuck paying off bloated medallion loan, but officials say it’s the least they can do.
“I can’t tell you how often I hear from medallion owners who are struggling to make the most basic payments,” said Acting TLC Commissioner Bill Heinzen. “Whether they own one medallion or two, this will make a big difference.”
Levine said he hopes his bill will pass in City Council by September, when the next round of licence fees are due.
“The big picture here is that we need to help support these drivers who have had their lives overturned by the medallion mortgage crisis,” said Levine. “The city owes them a great moral debt. The city has contributed to the damage and also made $850 million in the process through medallion sales during the bubble years of the medallion market.”
