Just a few months after concerns were raised around financial management of the Kingston Area Taxi Commission (KATC), the body overseeing operations of Kingston and Loyalist’s taxi industry has lost its city council representative – and is at risk of being dissolved altogether.
KATC Chair Joseph Dowser was questioned about three straight years of missing financial reports from the KATC at the June 3 Kingston city council meeting, but council renewed the service level agreement with the commission with the expectation of those reports being turned in by staggered checkpoints throughout the year.
On Thursday, Kingscourt-Rideau Councillor Brandon Tozzo released a statement on Facebook, sharing that he had resigned on July 31 after KATC failed to submit 2022 financial reports by the end of July as promised to council.
Tozzo said in his post that in his time serving on the commission, he has faced persistent issues when it comes to governance and transparency, and said it’s time for the commission as a whole to be dissolved.
The councillor said even without the tardy reports, it’s common practice for cities to oversee the industry and Kingston is an anomaly.
“In every other municipality in Ontario, except Kingston Loyalist, the licensing and regulation industry are done by the city,” Tozzo said.
“This is the legacy of the 1980s prior to amalgamation…in every other municipality the city, has the industry pay and it licenses and regulates taxi vehicles. So I just think this city should do that.”
In a report set to go in front of council on Tuesday from Kingston’s Chief Administrative Officer Lanie Hurdle, it is recommended that KATC be served a contract termination notice as of January 1, 2026, and that the City of Kingston is to initiate all required processes in order to transfer oversight from KATC to the city by September 2026.
The recommendation also directs staff to develop a new accessible taxi program, a program that KATC had been applauded for.
Councillor Tozzo said he supports the recommendation, noting that even some money that was earmarked for the accessible transportation wasn’t used there.
And while that’s not money provided by the city of Kingston -it comes from dues paid by Uber drivers in the city- Tozzo said it’s partners still need to be held accountable.
“They will say that this isn’t taxpayer dollars, I don’t care,” Tozzo said.
“It’s still money from an industry that’s supposed to be regulated and should have the appropriate transparency and accountability.”
Tozzo also raised issue with the lack of disclosure by the board’s chair Joseph Dowser about his remuneration.
Dowser took to Facebook to post his own statement, defending the commission and accusing Tozzo’s statement of misrepresenting the facts.
He says there should be proper dialogue on the topic and is asking council to defer the vote to allow for it.
“KATC has made real progress on transparency and accountability, including digitizing finances and committing to complete all outstanding audits by early 2026,” Dowser wrote.
“We’ve invested $310,000 into the accessible taxi program, supporting nearly 1,000 residents. That investment—and recent regulatory improvements—are now at risk due to a proposed decision moving forward without consultation.”
In response, Tozzo said that was misinformation as the city’s plan would include taking over the accessible taxi program.
He added that in September he plans to put forward a motion calling for public disclosure of the governance and financials of all the city’s partners, saying that his experience with the commission has given him cause for concern that there could be other issues within the city.
