Oceanside council candidate says trash deal is a hidden tax
Gary Felien, who is also city treasurer, supported a similar
pact months earlier  “It is coming out of an existing revenue
stream that for years was passed on from ratepayers to Waste
Management,” Weiss said. “Our City Attorney (John Mullen) also
has said that it is not a tax.”  Felien said the real issue is
how the council would spend the revenue. He believes it should
be used to stabilize rates to ward off future increases, or to
be given to residents to offset proposed increases to sewer and
water rates, which the council will consider in November. It is
unclear whether the city can use the franchise fee revenue for
the water and sewer rates, which is serviced by a separate fund.
He opposes the franchise fee going into the general fund, where
he said it could be used to pay for employee pensions.  Wood
said he believes the general fund is the appropriate place for
the money. There, he said, it can be used for paving roads and
other public servic