LAWSUIT TARGETS CITY SEWER FEE.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer A North Hollywood activist filed a lawsuit Friday to block city officials from using $34 million of sewer SEWER. Properly a trench artificially made for the purpose of carrying water into the sea, river, or some other place of reception. Public sewers are, in general, made at the public expense. Crabb, R. P. Sec. 113. service charges paid by Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. residents to help balance the general fund budget. Ivan Shinkle filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court challenging the decision of the mayor and City Council in 1996 to impose a franchise fee on the sewer system Noun 1. sewer system - facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage sewage system, sewage works facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the , which Shinkle charges violates Proposition 218's requirement that voters approve new fees. Mayoral spokesman Deane Leavenworth said Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. has not seen the lawsuit and therefore would not comment. Attorney Richard Fine, who is also handling Shinkle's class-action lawsuit challenging the formula for setting sewer service charges, said the City Council acted improperly im·prop·er adj. 1. Not suited to circumstances or needs; unsuitable: improper shoes for a hike; improper medical treatment. 2. when it enacted a franchise fee to take $15 million per year from the sewer fund, which is supposed to be spent on sewer construction and operation. The franchise fee was used by the council to help balance the city's general fund budget, Fine and Shinkle said. Fine said the franchise fee ``is nothing more than a hidden tax. The money is transferred into the city's general fund and not used in the sewer system.'' About $14 million has been collected from the franchise fee since 1996 and an additional $20 million is scheduled to be collected this year. The lawsuit by Shinkle also seeks reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. to sewer customers of an unidentified amount of sewer funds that might not have been spent if the city had done an audit ordered by the City Council in 1993. The Daily News reported April 6 that the audit was never done because of concern by the City Attorney's Office that it might assist other cities that were challenging what they paid to Los Angeles for sewer service. |
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