St. Augustine Carriage License Fee Increases Threaten to Put Resident out of Business

St. Augustine city council passed an ordinance in April that would increase the cost of a horse carriage license from $80 to $1,000. The ordinance goes into effect tomorrow, June 1, 2011.

Assistant City Attorney Carlos Mendoza said that although carriage license fees bought in $3,860 revenue each year, the horse carriages cost the city up to $20,000 annually for maintenance service on the streets horse carriages frequent.

According to The Saint Augustine Underground, “Mendoza said that the fee is assessed to ensure the carriage franchises are being held responsible for the adverse effects they have on street conditions, parking availability and overall city cleanliness due to the horses.”

Additionally, the ordinance will limit the number of carriage permits any one owner can carry. The city has in the past issued 46 carriage permits; that number will now be reduced to 30 with individuals or franchises being allowed to purchase only 10. If a franchise held more than 10 permits in the past, they will be allowed to retain 15 of them.

Murphy McDaniel, owner of Avalon Carriage Service and St. Augustine Transfer Company, known in St. Augustine as ‘the carriage king-pin,’ now holds 43 out of the 46 permits issued by the city. With dramatic increases to licensing fees and a dwindling of the amount of carriages he is allowed to operate, McDaniel feels that this ordinance will bring about the end of his business.

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