(a) Each applicant awarded a permit for e-scooter rental or sharing services shall execute a permit agreement, including all required attachments, in the form prescribed by the City Manager or his or her designee.
(b) All permit agreements shall impose an affirmative obligation on each person or entity seeking a permit to cause all persons operating or using its e-scooters within the City to be insured under a policy of insurance against loss from liability imposed by law for damages arising out of the e-scooters' use and operation, which policy shall be issued by an insurance carrier licensed to do business in the state of Ohio and acceptable to the City, and which policy shall provide coverage of no less than the following specified limits:
(1) Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident.
(c) In connection with the execution of a permit agreement, each person or entity seeking a permit shall submit the required permit fees and documentation to the City, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) An annual fee of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for the administrative costs of oversight of the permit, which fee shall be due and payable on the commencement date of the permit and on each anniversary of the commencement date during the term of the permit agreement.
(2) Monthly permit fees as compensation for the rights and benefits granted by the permit, including, but not limited to, the right to operate an e-scooter rental or sharing business in the City. The permit fee shall be equal to twenty-five cents ($0.25) per trip or activation of an e-scooter (which shall equal the total number of trips or activations of an e-scooter within a calendar month multiplied by twenty-five cents ($0.25) for each e-scooter maintained by the person or entity seeking a permit within the City. A trip shall mean anytime a person activates or uses the e-scooter and pays a fee for such use. The person or entity seeking a permit shall submit its monthly permit fee payments to the City no later than five (5) business days after the end of each month.
(3) A statement of the person or entity seeking a permit's total number of trips in the City that accompanies each monthly person or entity seeking a permit fee payment, which statement shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the City Manager or his or her designee. The statement shall include the number of e-scooters deployed or available in the City and the amount of trips and fees per day for each e-scooter. Statements and remittances shall be accepted as timely if postmarked within five (5) days after the end of the month; if the fifth day falls upon a Saturday, Sunday, or federal or state holiday, statements and remittances shall be accepted as timely if postmarked on the next business day. Payments not received by the due date shall be assessed (1) an administrative fee to reimburse the City for the reasonable administrative costs associated with collecting such monies; and (2) interest for each day of delinquency at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum or the maximum allowed by law, whichever is less, for each day of delinquency, until the total unpaid amount due and owing is paid in full. The administrative fee shall be equal to six percent (6%) of the amount owed by the person or entity seeking a permit to the City or fifteen dollars ($15.00), whichever is greater.
(4) An annual report concerning the person or entity seeking a permit's total trips for the year. This annual report shall be examined by an independent reviewer, who shall confirm that the person or entity seeking a permit's computations concerning trips and permit fees were performed in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. The report of the reviewer shall state that its examination of the person or entity seeking a permit's records was performed in accordance with professional standards. Each person or entity seeking a permit shall notify the City of the date its fiscal year ends. Each person or entity seeking a permit shall file the auditor's report with the City within one hundred twenty (120) days after the end of the person or entity seeking a permit's fiscal year. Person or entity seeking a permit shall be solely responsible for retaining the independent auditor and paying for his or her services.
(5) A certificate evidencing insurance coverage for the following types of insurance coverage and specified limits of coverage is in effect for the same term as the permit agreement, and naming the City as an additional insured (except with regard to the workers compensation and employers liability insurances), issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the state of Ohio, acceptable to the City, and as required and set forth in greater specificity in the permit agreement:
A. Comprehensive general liability insurance with a limit of a one million dollar ($1,000,000) per occurrence and a two million dollar ($2,000,000) general aggregate. This policy must include the following coverages: premises and operations liability, independent contractors, products and completed operations, personal injury, contractual liability, and fire damage;
B. Automotive liability insurance coverage providing a combined single limit of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence. This policy must include the following coverages: bodily injury and property damage including premises and operations;
C. Workers compensation insurance shall be provided for all of person or entity seeking a permit's employees as required under Ohio law; and
D. Employer's liability insurance providing a single limit of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000), bodily injury by each accident, and providing a single limit of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000), bodily injury disease per each employee, and providing a single limit of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) bodily injury by disease policy limit.
(6) A bond in the amount of twenty percent (20%) of the person or entity seeking a permit's gross revenues for the quarter immediately preceding the execution date of the permit agreement. For person or entity seeking a permit who did not hold a permit in the quarter immediately preceding the execution date of the permit agreement, the bond shall be in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). The bond shall conform with the requirements of the City Engineer.
(7) Documentation acceptable to the City demonstrating the person or entity seeking a permit's compliance with the requirements of Section 775.04(b), which documentation shall be made available at any time upon the City's request.
(d) All amounts paid by the person or entity seeking a permit shall be subject to confirmation and re-computation by the City. An acceptance of payment shall not be construed as an accord that the amount paid is the correct amount, nor shall acceptance of payment be construed as a release of any claim the City may have for further or additional sums payable.
(e) Billing methods that have the effect of reducing or avoiding the payment of permit fees are prohibited and will be cause for termination of the permit. Any person who uses false, misleading, or fraudulent billing methods for the purpose of reducing or avoiding the payment of permit fees may be subject to the penalties provided by this chapter.
(f) Payment of the permit fee shall not exempt the person or entity seeking a permit from the payment of any other fee, tax, or charge on the business, occupation, property, or income of the person or entity seeking a permit that may be imposed by the City, the county, the state, or the federal government.
(g) The person or entity seeking a permit shall notify the City in writing by registered or certified mail thirty (30) days in advance of any cancellation, intent not to renew, or any other changes in the insurance coverage required by this section. Upon the cancellation or lapse of any policy of insurance required by this chapter or the permit agreement, the person or entity seeking a permit's license to operate as a person or entity seeking a permit in the City under its permit agreement shall be deemed to be immediately revoked unless, before the expiration date of the policy of insurance, another policy of insurance containing all the requirements of the original policy of insurance is obtained and a new certificate is provided to the City.
(h) The bond required by this section shall be used to ensure the person or entity seeking a permit's performance under this chapter and the permit agreement. Among other things, the bond shall be used to ensure the person or entity seeking a permit's payment of permit fees and other sums that are due and owing to the City. The bond shall also be used to indemnify the city from any damages that may be suffered by the City in any manner as a result of the City's award of a permit to the applicant, including, but not limited to, damages resulting from the person or entity seeking a permit's performance or nonperformance of the conditions and requirements of the permit agreement, the person or entity seeking a permit's use of the City's streets, the failure of the person or entity seeking a permit to conform with applicable laws, and any negligent, reckless, or intentional wrongful act or omission of the person or entity seeking a permit or the person or entity seeking a permit's employees, agents, officers, or representatives. The bond shall be kept in full force at all times during the term of the permit. The bond shall be released by the City within one year following the expiration or termination of the permit agreement.
(i) A person or entity seeking a permit's failure to remit fees and documentation required by this chapter shall be grounds for the suspension or revocation of the permit.
(j) The City may seek judicial relief to recover all fees, costs, and interest due and owing by a person or entity seeking a permit. The person or entity seeking a permit shall pay the City's court costs, reasonable attorney fees, accounting and auditing costs, and other collection costs incurred by the City as a result of person or entity seeking a permit's failure to remit the fees and documentation required by this chapter and the permit agreement.
(Ord. 2022-71. Passed 8-8-22.)