Two rental property owners have filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles over RecycLA, the city’s waste and recycling collection program. The owners are claiming that the program, which was implemented last year, violates a state law that prohibits the imposition of taxes that have not been approved by voters.

The lawsuit alleges that the illegal tax collected by the city via franchise fees is estimated at more than $15 million. The plaintiffs are requesting a refund and damages from the city over this matter.

Los Angeles Daily News has more details:

Two rental property owners filed a class action lawsuit Thursday against the city of Los Angeles over its recycling and trash-hauling program, claiming that changes implemented last year violate a state law that prohibits the imposition of taxes which have not been approved by voters.

The franchise waste-hauling system called RecycLA was approved by the City Council in late 2016 and became operational July 1, 2017, with the goal of expanding recycling opportunities to thousands of businesses and apartment buildings while also cutting down on pollution by reducing the number of trucks on the street and requiring service providers to transition to low-emission trucks.

Under the program, seven companies handle an estimated $3.5 billion in commercial waste hauling in Los Angeles. Each company is assigned as the sole trash hauler for commercial sites and multi-family complexes in one or more of the city’s 11 zones, as opposed the previous system where customers could pick and choose between a variety of companies.

Read the full story here.