Sec. 158.203. - Availability of ground certificates; current certificate holders.

Ground certificates shall be issued for ground transportation ambulance services and shall become available as follows: (a) All persons or entities who, on November 26, 1997, hold certificates of public convenience and necessity for ground transportation shall be entitled to apply for and be issued a certificate under the following conditions: (1) Application must be filed within 60 days of November 26, 1997. (2) Applicants must meet all of the qualifications set forth in this Chapter at the time of filing the application. (3) Applicants have been in continuous operation over the last 180 days. (b) After certificates available pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section are granted, a ground transportation certificate shall become available at any time the total number of valid, outstanding certificates falls below four, not including the certificate issued to the Fire and Rescue Department, which number is based on a current ratio of one certificate per 200,000 people or fraction thereof residing in Duval County as determined by the Director. This ratio and requirement shall be subject to modification by the Council. Certificates for air transportation shall not be limited although the Council may at any time limit their number. (c) When certificate(s) becomes available pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section, the Director shall advertise that fact and set a deadline for filing applications. From the applicants judged by the Director to be preliminarily qualified, the Director will publicly choose, by merit, as determined by the Director, one application, for each certificate, to be forwarded to the Council for further review and approval. (d) The limitation set forth in this Section does not apply to not for profit medical facilities who have contracts with the City of Jacksonville to provide indigent care and provide those services in facilities owned by the City of Jacksonville. (Ord. 97-450-E, § 1; Ord. 2024-628-E , § 1)