Florida Supreme Court rules against Tampa taxi companies

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected arguments by Tampa-area taxi companies that a 2017 decision by the Legislature led to an unconstitutional “taking” of their property.

The 2017 law dissolved the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, which had long regulated the taxi industry, and sent regulatory authority to Hillsborough County, according to Thursday’s opinion.

Under the commission, taxi companies had to obtain permits and certificates that could be transferred or sold.

After the 2017 law passed, Hillsborough County did not recognize the permits and certificates that had been issued by the commission, Thursday’s opinion said.

Taxi companies filed a lawsuit alleging that the result was a taking of their property without compensation.

But the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal that backed the state.

The opinion, written by Chief Justice Carlos Muniz, said the Supreme Court concluded that the “Legislature retained the discretion to revoke any property rights that it conveyed” in an earlier law involving the commission.

“Our state’s longstanding tradition tells us that permission to engage in the taxicab business is a revocable privilege,” Muniz wrote. “That has been true regardless of the legal label or form attached to the permission slip.”

Muniz’s opinion was joined by Justices Charles Canady, Jorge Labarga, Jamie Grosshans, Renatha Francis and Meredith Sasso.

Justice John Couriel wrote a concurring opinion that was joined by Grosshans and Sasso.