San Diego pursuing a $53 monthly trash pickup fee
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San Diego residents accustomed to the city's century-old practice of providing free trash pickup could soon begin paying a $53 monthly fee for the service.
Why it matters: The propoal is already provoking outrage, and comes as city officials try to close an over $250 million budget deficit.
State of play: The new fee would apply to roughly 233,000 mostly single-family homes that have historically not paid for trash pickup due to a 1919 law known as "the People's Ordinance," and is based on a comprehensive "cost of service" study presented to a council committee last week.
- The city could begin charging the fee on July 1, following a March council meeting and a June hearing in which people representing 50% of impacted parcels can oppose the fee under Proposition 218 and shut it down.
- The fee could also increase to $65 per month in 2027.
Context: City voters in 2022 effectively repealed the People's Ordinance by approving Measure B, which allowed the council to implement a fee, shocking a local political world that had long seen it as sacrosanct.
- Generally, apartment dwellers already paid for trash collection, which supporters of overturning it long cited as an inequity that needed to be addressed.
By the numbers: The city estimates charging the fee could save the city's general fund nearly $60 million in its first year.
- The city has set aside $3 million in financial assistance for low-income residents, but hasn't decided how to divide that subsidy yet.
Between the lines: The proposed charge would immediately exceed what's charged in other southern California cities analyzed by staff, including Los Angeles ($41), Chula Vista ($36) and Riverside ($37).
- But it would slot in below a proposed $67 fee in Long Beach, and be far exceeded by rates in northern California cities like San Francisco ($121), Oakland ($160) and San Jose ($160).
How it works: An analysis of the potential fee before the 2022 vote estimated it could come in between $23 to $29 per month, but acknowledged it could be higher.
- Part of the jump since then owes to added services the city would provide, like free bin replacement and launching weekly recycling service and occasional curbside pickup of large items beginning in 2027.
What we're watching: San Diego was the country's 10th most expensive metro area last year, before the roughly $634 annual fee may hit household budgets.