The city of San Diego is considering charging a fee for trash collection by its Environmental Services Department.
San Diegans living in apartments or condos usually pay private companies to pick up their trash and recycling, usually as part of their rent or homeowner’s association fees. The new fee would apply to the thousands of single-family homes who currently don’t pay the city directly for trash pickup.
Jeremy Bauer, an assistant director with the city’s Environmental Services Department, said funding for their trash collection mostly comes out of the city’s general fund. That fund is made up of property tax, sales tax and other sources.
“People who own properties include single-family homeowners, but it also includes people who own apartments,” he said. “People who spend money throughout the city, whether they're a homeowner or a renter, are paying sales tax. So you have a system in which essentially everyone is paying into it, but only a subset is receiving this free service from the city.”
Two years ago, voters allowed the city to consider charging a fee for trash pickup. At the time, city budget analysts estimated that a monthly fee of $23 to $29 would cover the cost of the city’s current level of service.
Now, the city is holding open house meetings to get feedback on existing services and what else homeowners might want to see added, like more frequent recycling pickup or bulky item collection.
They’ve held three meetings so far. Bauer said some attendees have asked about household hazardous waste, like batteries and paint.
“We are looking at expanded hours at our current collection facility and also the possibility of some satellite collection facilities to make it more accessible to people across the city,” he said.
Bauer said the city will bring back cost estimates for those additional services in November for another set of public meetings. Then, early next year, they’ll present options to the City Council Environment Committee. Bauer expects the City Council to take a final vote in June.
According to the Environmental Services Department, the city’s trash and recycling collection services cost more than $90 million. The City Council could establish a fee that recovers all or some of that cost. Money recovered through the fee would go back into the general fund.
The department is holding the following meetings in person from 5:30 to 7 p.m.:
- Tuesday, Aug. 13, at the Mission Valley Library, 2123 Fenton Parkway, 92108
- Monday, Aug. 19, at the Mission Hills-Hillcrest/Knox Library, 215 W. Washington St., 92103
- Monday, Aug. 26, at the Point Loma/Hervey Library, 3701 Voltaire St., 92107
- Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Library, 9005 Aero Drive, 92123
- Tuesday, Sept. 3, at the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library, 10301 Scripps Lake Drive, 92131
- Monday, Sept. 9, at the La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave., 92037
There’s also a virtual meeting scheduled for Aug. 24 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. A Zoom link and an online survey are available at cleangreensd.org.
“This is really a unique historic opportunity to have all voices heard and to be part of this co-creation process,” Bauer said.
