Alaska city leaders put ride-sharing ban on ballot

KETCHIKAN, Alaska – Voter in an Alaska city are getting the chance to decide whether or not they want ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft to operate in their city.

The Ketchikan City Council voted on Thursday to place a proposed city ban of ride-hailing companies on the upcoming Oct. 3 ballot.

Ketchikan Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/2wv2hbh ) the action comes after Gov. Bill Walker in June signed legislation allowing ride-sharing companies to operate statewide.

Council members and Mayor Lew Williams III are skeptical of ride-sharing because they say companies are not responsible as a whole for collecting or reporting local sales taxes, even though individual driver are required to do so.

The ban proposal was voted on the same day that two of the city’s three taxi services were OK’d to merge.

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Information from: Ketchikan (Alaska) Daily News, http://www.ketchikandailynews.com