Despite protests from business owners, the council approved the measure 6-1, making Oakland the first city in the nation to force eateries, food and liquor stores to chip in to clean up litter, industry officials say. Businesses will be assessed between $230 and $3,815 annually, depending on their size. More than three-quarters of the affected businesses would only pay the minimum fee, which amounts to 63 cents a day.
Businesses say the city should educate the public and enforce littering laws. Some say they already pay employees to pick up trash in their neighborhoods.
The fast food industry maintains the proposed measure is really an indirect tax on its customers.
Keeping the streets clean is key to revitalizing a city often seen as inferior to its more glamorous neighbor across the bay - San Francisco. Last year, Oakland went so far as to sue the state Department of Transportation for failing to clean up and prevent dumping along freeway corridors in the city.
