SAN DIEGO – With a San Diego City Council public hearing next week and other city fee increases proposed, the public’s attention is riveted on what officials will do to offset a projected $258 million budget deficit.
On Monday, June 9, after public testimony, the City Council is expected to debate and vote to consider collecting the new trash fee through the county’s property tax collections process.
Under the proposed options to be presented to the council, Environmental Services plans to provide all customers with 95-gallon blue recycling and green organic waste recycling bins (one each, with options to purchase additional bins).
For the refuse bin, customers will have the choice of:
- 35-gallon bin for $36.72 per month.
- 65-gallon bin for $42.88 per month.
- 95-gallon bin for $47.59 per month.
If approved by the City Council, the trash fee would allow Environmental Services to recoup only the costs to provide trash and recycling services, which are currently paid primarily through the city’s general fund. The city of San Diego provides waste-collection services to more than 200,000 residential properties in San Diego.
Regarding the new proposed trash fee, Mayor Todd Gloria has said: “Of the property taxes you pay, the City receives about 18 cents per $1. That limited revenue must stretch across all basic services, and that currently includes the approximately $90 million annual cost of City-provided trash collection for single-family homes.
“While San Diegans contribute to the general fund through property and sales tax, the City historically has used it to fund trash services, effectively asking one subset of residents who already pay for private trash collection to subsidize the free collection for others. Voters chose to fix that inequity by supporting Measure B.”
This publication asked residents via social media and email to weigh in on the city’s proposed trash collection fee, whether they felt it was justified or not, and whether they mailed in a protest form. Here’s what they had to say:
“I did not turn in a protest. I probably should have,” said Joe Terry of Bird Rock. “If the city has not already done so, it should provide an accurate comparison between the proposed fees and those paid by residents in neighboring cities. Also, evaluate the pros and cons of having a private firm collect the trash, etc., where the cons might include increased trash in San Diego and a regressive fee/cost structure that would disproportionately affect low-income households.”
Karin Zirk of Pacific Beach felt the increase was justified. “I support the trash-free in principle as we should be paying for trash pickup,” she said. “However, I am opposed to the fee being a property tax assessment. I think we should pay it with our water bill. Any extra services, such as large item pickup, should be fee-for-service and not bundled into our base trash pickup fee. When I lived in San Francisco in the 1980s, we paid a flat fee for one small trash can. If we wanted anything else picked up, we called ahead of time and paid extra. That is fair.”
Cindy Goodman of La Jolla believes the proposed fee should be instituted in an all-or-nothing format. “All of us, or none of us, should be paying fees,” she said. “Either way is fine, given that we may be the only city in California whose residents do not pay separately for this service. The amount seems like a lot, though, given that most people are not asking for the extra ‘benefits’ that have been proposed to justify the charges. The other question is how much each household should pay? I believe they should, in general, be uniform, based only upon the number, size, and kind of cans required.”
Scott Chipman of Pacific Beach feels the new trash fee is unjustified. “San Diegans have been paying for trash collection from the general fund,” he said. “The city’s general fund receives about 18% of the property tax collected. Property values reached a record $768 billion in 2024, a nearly 6% increase from 2023. Property values have been increasing faster than general inflation, especially when you remove the inflation on property values from the equation. The city budget deficit is being caused by city spending increases, not because of lower revenue. In the last five years, the city budget has increased by nearly 35%. It is gross mismanagement and abuse to now renege on providing trash pick-up. Rein in spending. Don’t increase taxes and fees.”
Marcie Beckett of Pacific Beach turned in her trash fee protest, urging, “Please let readers know it is not too late to submit a protest, it just needs to be received by the City Clerk by June 9, via mail or in person.”
The protest form can be found on page 6 here, she said.
Beckett added: “I object to the proposed trash fee because it is double the amount that was stated in Measure B, which was narrowly approved in 2022. The proposed fee is $48 a month ($571 per year to be added to property tax bills). And the annual fee will increase over the next three years to $795 in 2028. The fee should be $23 to $29 as indicated in the ballot measure. Also, although the city mailer did contain the protest form, it never explained what the significance was, that if a majority protests, the proposed fee cannot be approved. I think the city did this intentionally to reduce protests. Unethical and shameful behavior.”
Gary Wonacott of Mission Beach had a good reason for not turning in a trash fee protest form. He said: “I support the new trash fee. It is unfair that some residents pay and others don’t.”
Bill Zent of Pacific Beach said it’s unclear how a new trash fee would be assessed. “The people’s ordinance enacted in 1919 placed the burden of trash collection on the city until Prop B,” he said. “I feel this topic is split down the line between condo owners and single-family homes. Single-family homes do not produce the volume of trash as condo complexes. Under the new plan, it is very muddy which condo owners will be assessed. I am OK with a small fee like $25 (per month). If it goes to $49, they (city) will be at $100 in a couple of years. We need a new measure capping rates.”
Lee Silber of Mission Beach issued a warning about the passage of a new trash fee. “I did turn in a protest form even though the decision to charge fees feels inevitable,” he said. “In San Diego, our gas prices are some of the highest in the nation, rent and mortgages are the highest, and other goods and services cost more as well. Adding having to pay for trash collection (which is mandatory) could be the breaking point for some people.”
Josie Rhodes of Point Loma would prefer things remain unchanged. “The current system is working just fine, she said. “Operational costs for trash/recycling come out of the general fund, into which all property owners contribute via property tax. City management has made poor financial decisions, which is why we are so far underwater. If I ran my finances the way they’ve run the city’s, I’d be bankrupt. And that’s where San Diego is headed.”
