Ride-hailing service Lyft is coming to Sioux Falls.

City officials celebrated the news Monday that the company has obtained a South Dakota sales tax license and begun to recruit drivers in the metro.

Mayor Mike Huether at a news conference boasted about the potential convenience and economic benefits the service would bring to Sioux Falls.

"It gives you a big city feel when you have a company like Lyft offering its services," Huether said before showing off the company's app on his phone.

The development follows two years of discussions among city, state and company officials over how the service would be taxed and regulated.

The company did not respond to an email Monday. City officials said they hoped service would start soon but did not have a timeline.

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South Dakota has been the last frontier for ride-hailing services such as Lyft, which lets customers arrange and pay for rides using a smartphone app.

The San Francisco-based company claims to have the largest geographic footprint of any ride-hailing firm. In August, the company said it was "fully operational" in 40 states and had drivers in every state but Arkansas and South Dakota.

City Councilor Christine Erickson, who had a lead role in courting the company, said Lyft's decision followed numerous phone calls with company officials.

"In South Dakota we tax all services, and so that's unique," Erickson said. "They needed to understand how that structure works and how it would impact their business."

The Department of Revenue considers ride-hailing to be a service, and Lyft has agreed to be taxed as such, according to a department spokesman. Wade LaRoche said Lyft rides will be taxed the same as taxicab fare and that the company was not offered any special tax incentive to come to the state.

Erickson credited the development to the involvement of a private citizen and the persistence of city and state officials to address Lyft's reservations.

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The company this month began advertising for driver jobs in the Sioux Falls metro, offering sign-up bonuses and up to $35 an hour.

State Rep. Greg Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, said as a city councilor he had been working to convince Uber to come to Sioux Falls and Erickson had worked with Lyft. A deal with one would likely sway the other to reevaluate its policy.

"If Lyft has decided to come given current state laws, it would be difficult for Uber or anyone else to argue that they're unreasonable," Jamison said Monday morning.

Joy Schroeder, an owner of Vintage Occasions Limo Service, said competition from Lyft will certainly affect smaller, independent taxicab operators in the city.

"As the mayor put it, it's going to require everybody to up their game," Schroeder said.

She has unanswered questions, though, about whether Lyft will operate on a level playing field with companies like hers and was unsatisfied with city officials' explanation.

The Sioux Falls City Council passed an ordinance in November 2015 that creates a separate license category for "transportation network companies" like Lyft. Drivers won't be required to obtain individual licenses from the city like traditional cab drivers, but the company will be required to conduct its own background checks before hiring.

Under the city's rules, Lyft will have to submit license numbers of its drivers in monthly reports to the city. At Monday's news conference, Mayor Huether cut off a reporter who asked whether passengers with bad experiences would have recourse from the city.

"Why don't we allow Lyft the opportunity to come in here and do a good job before we start knocking them down," Huether said.

Last month, Uber said it was considering what to do in South Dakota, but hadn’t yet decided.

“Given the recent ruling by the South Dakota Supreme Court prohibiting the state from forcing out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales tax, we are currently weighing our options regarding potential operations in Sioux Falls," the company said Sept. 15.

The Department of Revenue spokesman confirmed Uber hadn’t obtained a sales tax license as of Friday morning.