The search for a stable source of funding for the cash-strapped county solid-waste operation is headed backwards.

The County Council on Tuesday shifted its sights to the expense side of the solid waste ledger on the heels of a newly minted and unexpected legal opinion.

In light of recent court decisions, Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord said parcel fees should be “taken off the table” as a potential source of revenue for the solid-waste operation. The county’s legal team reached an opposite conclusion regarding the legality of such a fee several years ago.

Unlike an excise tax, which, Gaylord noted, can be used to generate solid waste revenue, there is no solid waste-related transaction on which such a “fee” can be attached. Furthermore, he said, there’s no link between the impact a parcel owner has on the operation and the amount each would pay under that one-size-fits-all-type of fee.

In addition, he noted, no county in Washington state has one.

“I’m not aware of another county that does it,” he said.

A fee on developed parcels was among the financing tools recommended by the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. At $48, the committee’s suggested amount, it was expected to generate roughly $450,000 a year in new revenue. The prospects of such a fee had gained traction with a majority of County Council members, though in varying degrees. It was seen as a new and a stable source of funding that the solid-waste division could both bank and borrow upon.

With parcel fees off the table, Councilman Rich Peterson, North San Juan, said a property tax appears to be the only stable financing option left. The council, he said, should find out as soon as possible what it will take to get such a measure before the voters.

“It’s pretty shocking news for all of us,” Peterson said of the latest legal opinion. “We have two elections coming up this year. We need to get something on the soonest ballot we can.”

In the meantime, the council agreed that additional cost-cutting steps should be explored, such as further cuts in service and a possible shutdown of the San Juan and Lopez solid-waste facilities. Such a move, Public Works Director Jon Shannon said, would likely require a switch to mandatory roadside pickup of garbage and recycling on Lopez and San Juan, and the hauling of that refuse to the Orcas facility for processing. The council began its cost-cutting exploration on March 9.

Though perhaps unpopular, Shannon acknowledged that closing two transfer stations would help alleviate an immediate “cash flow” shortage and buy more time to come up with a stable source of funding for an operation financed almost exclusively by tipping fees. He noted the solid-waste division is $700,000 in the hole, mostly in capital spending, and it’s scaled back service at all three facilities to offset a 20 percent drop in the amount of garbage collected over the past 18 months.

“It’s probably not going to get much community support,” Shannon said. “But from a financial point of view, that solves the problem.”

It could create others, however. Administrator Pete Rose said it might create a “big problem” for the town of Friday Harbor, which collects garbage and recycling at the homes and businesses in its boundaries and then uses the facility on Sutton Road to dispose of it. The town is the county’s second largest customer.

Although parcel fees are no longer an option, Shannon cautioned the council about trying to solve solid waste’s funding woes solely by raising rates. Even now, he noted, local tipping fees, the price one pays to dispose of trash, are the state’s highest. There’s a point, he said, at which the county’s larger customers and many islanders will decide it’s more cost effective to take their trash off-island and dispose of it on the mainland.

Shannon encouraged the council to look for a solution that works for the solid waste operation and the community as well.

“There should be more to it than just the dollars and cents,” he said. “It has to be one the community supports.”