SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A San Diego judge on Thursday denied a request to temporarily block the city from collecting new trash fees that thousands of residents will soon begin paying.
Former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, representing more than a dozen taxpayers, had asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the fees. The new charge — roughly $43 a month — will be billed through property taxes by the county assessor and is set to affect about 225,000 city households.
Deadline nears for many San Diego residents to choose new trash bins
Aguirre argued the fee violates the state constitution, calling it a “fraud on the people of San Diego.” He claimed city leaders are improperly using the revenue to help offset a budget deficit after a proposed sales tax increase failed.
“They’re getting the money to build up a surplus so they can use it to pay for the shortfall because they didn’t get the one-cent sales tax,” Aguirre said…