In the next few weeks, the St. Paul City Council will consider a new chapter for the city code to regulate "transportation network companies," the car services that use smartphone apps to connect riders with drivers who use their own cars.

St. Paul's proposal, which was introduced Wednesday, is nearly identical to the one passed in July by the Minneapolis City Council.

Like the Minneapolis ordinance, it would require St. Paul transportation network drivers to get a special license and have their cars inspected, regulate their insurance, and allow the city to charge the companies an annual fee of $35,000 to do business in the city. It also would require background checks for drivers and allow payments based on a flat prearranged fare.

Ricardo Cervantes, St. Paul's safety and inspections director, said the city worked with Minneapolis to craft common language for the respective regulations.

But while Minneapolis' ordinance legalized the business there, St. Paul had never prohibited the car services by such companies as Lyft and UberX. If a vehicle in St. Paul doesn't have a meter, it isn't classified as a cab and therefore needs no licensing.

Cervantes said St. Paul officials now plan to take a closer look at the city's taxi regulations, which many cabbies say put them at a competitive disadvantage. "We have agreed to meet with the taxicab industry and begin to address what they believe are some of the inequities in the language now," he said.

The St. Paul ordinance would protect at least one prerogative of cabbies: They alone would have the right to pick up fares hailing them from the street. Riders using the network companies must arrange in advance for their trips.

Lyft arrived in St. Paul a year ago, when the San Fransisco-based company sent representatives to inspect vehicles and interview drivers. Cervantes said his department plans to add a staffer to monitor the app-based companies and audit their compliance.

In other action Wednesday, the City Council:

• Approved a maximum 2015 property tax levy of $103.6 million, a hike of 2.4 percent over this year's tax levy. .

• Approved a $95,000 settlement with Thomas B. Nelson, Little Canada, who sought damages from the city after St. Paul police allegedly beat him during a chase in January 2012.

Kevin Duchschere • 651-925-5035