VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — In discussing ways to possibly regulate Virginia Beach’s growing e-scooter craze, city leadership revealed so far all the headache hasn’t been countered with any tax benefit.
“We don’t have a franchise agreement, therefore we don’t have taxation,” said City Manager Dave Hansen to Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday. “The commissioner of revenue is trying to get them to declare the revenue they are generating.”
E-scooters are still relatively new to Hampton Roads. They originally arrived in both the resort city and Norfolk last year unannounced.
Anyone can find and “unlock” a scooter through a mobile app and start riding for a fee. They are considered dockless and are supposed to be riden in roadways and parked on sidewalks, without blocking the public right of way.
Council learned that 128,340 individual rides have been taken on Bird Scooters in the city in the month of July. In the first two weeks that Lime Scooters operated in the city, 11,000 rides were taken.
Brian Solis, assistant to the City Manager, said both numbers were provided by the respective companies and touted as being “a lot.”
A member of the city attorney’s office spoke up to say that tax rules require the property to be in the city Jan. 1 to be eligible for personal property tax.
However, a franchise agreement could include a revenue-sharing agreement. Norfolk recently entered into an exclusive one with Lime, and now Virginia Beach is pursuing a similar goal.
“We do believe that…we will have safer shared use environment for mobility in the city,” Solis said in laying out his plan for eventually awarding franchise licenses by the end of the year.
An agreement could require the companies to provide the city with data sets detailing scooter usage, funding for rule signage and expenses for police and public works.
Before specific language is crafted, Solis is working to have surveys distributed asking residents the following:
- Where do you think motorized scooters should be prohibited?
- Where do you think motorized scooters could and should be permitted?
- What other measures can motorized scooter companies do to ensure safe rider behavior?
- What other regulations should the City consider adopting to ensure safer motorized scooter use?
“We want to address it comprehensively once. We want to get it right the first time,” Solis said.
Some council members want action now. Police have said the scooters are responsible for a phenomenal number of crashes and many scooter riders disregard where they aren’t supposed to be.
Vice Mayor Jim Wood said, “I don’t think we should wait until the end of the year. People are getting hurt. It’s taking an inordinate amount of time from the police department and we just have to do something with it.”
Councilwoman Sabrina Wooten, Centerville District, still had a bone to pick with the way Lime dropped off the scooters without informing the council.
“It’s like mayhem, wake up one morning and they are everywhere,” Wooten said. “Makes me a little bit more hesitant to co-sign on this because of the way Lime deployed…no courtesy, no communication.”
While Councilman Rouse and Berlucchi agreed, they also said they have heard positive feedback from both tourists and residents.