We keep hearing about how things are getting more expensive, and there's another item to add to that list: trash pickup.
If you are a homeowner in San Diego, you could be about to pay $53 a month for trash pickup. That’s $636 a year.
Anyone who lives in an apartment — about half of San Diegans — already pays private haulers for trash collection and that won’t change. But for about 235,000 families, their property tax bill will include a new line item for trash fees.
How did this happen?
It goes back to 2022. The city of San Diego asked voters for permission to study and implement a fee for collecting trash.
At the time, the ballot estimated the fee would range from $23 to $29 per month per customer. Now the city council is considering doubling that estimate.
By the numbers
It would make San Diego one of the most expensive trash pickup cities locally, but below other cities including Long Beach and many Bay Area cities.
Trash Fees:
- La Mesa: $27.53
- Carlsbad: $30.67
- Chula Vista: $36.80
- San Diego (proposed) $53
- Long Beach $67.63
- San Francisco $121.93
- San Jose $160.35
Closer look
The city is promising several new services:
- Free container replacement
- Weekly recycling
- Curbside bulky items pick up
- RFID chips in containers so the city can track them
Cities can only charge fees to cover the specific cost of a service. However, for 100 years, the city had a law that guaranteed that it would pick up trash without a special fee.
The 2022 vote repealed that law. The main argument was that the law isn’t fair because half of residents already have to pay for trash pickup.
But now the city is also going to rely on the fee to cover some of its massive budget deficit.
The city council will consider the fees next week.
