Wednesday was supposed to be decision day for Rhino Taxi’s future, but city and other local officials are giving the under-fire firm an apparent second chance.

Members of a Kokomo-Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council committee voted unanimously to table a proposal that would have more than likely decimated Rhino’s business.

Rhino, a Kokomo firm that employs about 40 full- and part-time workers, has been under fire in recent months from coordinating council director Larry Ives.

Last month, Ives said he doesn’t want to renew Rhino’s contract as the city’s sole provider of subsidized taxi rides.

The contract, which pays Rhino $500,000 a year, is the main reason the company receives the vast majority of taxi fares in Kokomo. The subsidy, known as the First City Rider program, is Kokomo’s main form of public transportation.

At least until Wednesday’s vote, Ives was pushing ahead with plans to essentially replace Rhino’s services.

Ives wants to use more than $1 million in federal stimulus money to start what could be the state’s first publicly funded taxi service.

The head of the joint city/county metropolitan planning organization, Ives’ main job is applying for state and federal transportation and transit funding, and planning area transportation projects.

His board is made up of city and county officials, including the presidents of the Howard County and Kokomo Common councils, the president of the Howard County commissioners and the Kokomo mayor.

To implement his plan to start a new taxi service, Ives would first have to win approval from both that board and from the Kokomo Board of Public Works & Safety.

Wednesday, Ives said that after meeting with Kokomo city officials, he’s been asked to hold off on his plan for at least 30 days.

Part of the reason, Ives said, is the First City Rider program is switching to a new dispatch software, which he said should make things easier for Rhino Taxi.

“We want to be as sensitive as we can possibly be, to let [Rhino] show us they can provide the service,” Ives said Wednesday.

The three daughters of late Rhino founder Steve Wisehart attended Wednesday’s meeting of the coordinating council’s technical advisory committee, accompanied by their attorney, Mark Hurt.

Ives’ plan calls for spending about $980,000 in stimulus funds to purchase the old Bureau of Motor Vehicles building on South Union Street, buy new dispatch equipment, and purchase 10 vehicles for about $20,000 apiece.

Wednesday, Ives received permission to submit a plan for purchasing the BMV building to federal authorities for approval.

If Ives’ plan moves forward, the new agency would then hire 12 dispatchers and 15 cab drivers, all part time with no benefits. Wages would be $12 an hour for dispatchers and $13 an hour for cab drivers, Ives said.

Money to run First City Rider comes from an annual Federal Transportation Act funding.

Each year the Coordinating Council receives $800,000 a year from the feds for public transportation. The Coordinating Council chooses how to spend the funds, subject to federal oversight.

Once the cabs are purchased and the new dispatch center is running, Ives said he thinks he can get more out of the annual federal funding than he’s currently getting from Rhino’s.

“Any savings we get I want to pass along to the customers,” he said in August. “The advantage is that we don’t have to turn a profit.”

Ives said First City Rider customers have complained of long wait times and other problems with the Rhino service.

But Hurt said Ives’ plan to “socialize” taxi transportation in Kokomo is ill-conceived, noting that Ives’ proposed service would have substantially fewer vehicles than Rhino now provides.

“In the long term, government-based systems are not as reliable, lack sufficient capacity over time, and then raise taxes,” Hurt wrote in an op-ed piece.

Hurt said a better option would be for Ives to purchase additional vehicles and then lease those vehicles to Rhino. He said the extra vehicles could be devoted exclusively to First City Rider.

Ives said he will lose the $1 million in stimulus money unless the coordinating council policy board approves his business plan by the board’s November meeting.

• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com