Sitka Assembly members Thor Christianson and Scott Saline held a public discussion on Tuesday 20 October 2026 on a draft that would repeal the city’s taxicab chapter and replace it with rules for commercial passenger vehicles. The City and Borough of Sitka records that discussion on its ordinance page, and records that the Assembly postponed the item on 11 August 2026 until 24 November 2026. Commercial passenger vehicle ordinance Ordinance No. 2026-20 is not in force. The city’s timetable, which can still change, lists 24 November for the draft to come back for a first reading and 8 December for a second reading.
The Tourism Commission was due to discuss the draft on 22 October and again on 12 November.
The draft
John Leach, the municipal administrator, set the rewrite out in a memorandum of 6 August 2026. Administrator memorandum on Ordinance 2026-20 Chapter 6.30 of the Sitka General Code is titled Taxicabs. It has stayed largely as it was after major amendments in 1997, with limited updates in 2009.
Three endorsements are proposed. Class A is taxi work at a regulated flat fare by zone. Class B is shuttles, tours and limousines, on set routes, stops and prices. Class C is human-powered vehicles such as pedicabs and bicycle taxis. Class C would run all year, but only in the central business district and only from sunrise to sunset, and the commercial passenger vehicle manager could stop it in snow, ice or other unsafe road conditions.
A Class A operator may not hold another endorsement, so that taxi work stays a dedicated public service. Because a taximeter cannot be certified in Sitka, a Class A fare would be a flat rate fixed by the pickup zone and the drop-off zone, set out in Appendix A and posted in the vehicle. Charter work, a time-based hire with several stops or a longer job, would have its own rate in that appendix. Before a fare is set or changed, the chief of police would have to write to every current Class A licence holder, hold a public hearing, and weigh the cost of running a vehicle, drivers’ wages, the cost of living in Sitka, and the need for an affordable service.
The meeting
KCAW reported the discussion the next day. KCAW report Christianson told the meeting he wants wording flexible enough for one operator to run both tours and taxis. Saline told drivers that the separate entry permits, one for a cab and one for a tour, are what the sponsors want to change.
"They're trying to make it so you got to have a separate entry permit to be a cab and a separate entry permit to be a tour operator. We're trying to make them so you can do both because everybody needs that."
Kealoha Harmon, who owns a local tour company, told the meeting that the draft defines a tour as transport that starts and ends in the same place, and that this does not match many routes. In the morning, operators collect passengers at the dock, run the tour, and drop them at Harrigan Centennial Hall under a Centennial permit. In the afternoon they collect at the hall and return to the dock, so guests can shop and eat.
Christianson described the sponsors’ aim as stopping a bait and switch, in which a taxi operator adds a charge for a tour. People at the meeting were more concerned with the price than with the city’s labels. A passenger should know the full cost before the ride starts, and a change to a tour on the way would have to be asked for in so many words.
"The main point is that at the beginning of the ride, they need to know how much the entire thing is going to cost, and unless they specifically say, 'Can I change it to a tour?' en route — and a lot of people aren't even going to be happy about that — that's what they pay."
Christianson called an app with the rate built in the simplest fix for the fare structure used now. The sponsors invited taxi and tour operators to keep sending comments. Those comments are to be worked into the draft over the coming month, and an updated document is to go on the city website before the 24 November meeting. Written comments to the Assembly go to assembly@cityofsitka.org.
Permits, fines and insurance
A driver who holds a commercial driver’s licence may drive a Class B vehicle without a separate local professional driver’s permit. The FBI fingerprint check would go. A state criminal history and a driving record would be enough. The professional driver’s permit would last two years rather than one. A Class B vehicle already subject to a state safety inspection under Alaska Statute 28 would not need a separate municipal vehicle approval.
Most breaches would become civil infractions, with the amounts in a fine schedule at Appendix B. Only an insurance breach would remain a misdemeanour. Under the present chapter, a breach is a misdemeanour with a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days’ imprisonment. The draft regulations would raise the insurance minimums from $50,000 property damage, $100,000 per person and $200,000 per occurrence to $100,000 property damage, $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence. A Class C vehicle would need commercial general liability cover of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in total.
Driver permits still in force on the day the new chapter takes effect would run to their present expiry. Operator licences in force that day would run until 14 March 2028. A vehicle driven for a transportation network company sits outside the chapter, in line with Alaska Statute 28.23. So does a courtesy vehicle used by a hotel, a tour firm or a repair shop to carry its own customers at no separate charge.
An appeal against a refusal, suspension or revocation would go from the chief of police to the municipal administrator, and from there to the superior court within 30 days. The Assembly would no longer hear those appeals. The memorandum does not expect a material cost to the borough budget. Permit fees are meant to cover the administration, and no new staff post is required.