In June, the city of San Diego approved a historic and controversial trash fee. It affects most residents living in single-family homes or in multifamily developments with four or fewer units. Before now, the city did not charge for the service.
The city is sending new mailers to residents this week as a reminder to choose the size of their trash cans by Sept. 30. This can be done through the city's online portal.
Most customers have not yet enrolled in the new service according to Jeremy Bauer, the assistant director of the city’s Environmental Services Department.
“Around 64,000 customers have signed up in the portal to select their containers. It’s almost a third of the way. We are seeing an acceleration,” Bauer said.
On Oct. 6 the city will begin collecting all the old trash and recycling containers and delivering the new ones, he said.
The new trash fee will show up on property tax bills this year.
The city will charge $43.60 a month for a 95-gallon trash container and 95-gallon recycling container, the largest of the three options and the bins most residents currently use.
The other options are a 65-gallon trash bin and 95-gallon recycling bin for $38.94 a month or a 35-gallon trash bin and 95-gallon recycling bin for $32.82 a month. Trash, recycling and organics bins can be added for extra fees.
If people don't enroll, they'll automatically be given one 95-gallon trash bin and a 95-gallon recycling bin, Bauer said.
While the new service will cover about 225,000 customers, about 20,000 customers who live in larger complexes are no longer eligible for city trash pickup.
The city gave them until Sept. 1 to secure service from private haulers. So far the city said about half of those residents missed the deadline.
It took months of back and forth with private trash haulers for Jill Johnson, who lives in an eight-unit condo complex in Ocean Beach, to come to a deal at what she called a fair price for her and the other residents.
“I thought it was a mess. It was clear to me the city did not understand the burden this would put on the providers,” she said.
Her neighbors now split a $273 monthly fee that covers a split dumpster for trash and recycling and a 95-gallon green waste bin collected weekly by Universal Waste Systems, Inc. The change has led to many more trash trucks in her neighborhood, she said.
“Now everybody in this condo complex world chose different providers. So you have large garbage trucks coming up and down the alley pretty much every day early in the morning,” Johnson said.
North Park resident David Fischer lives in a townhome and no longer qualifies for city trash service.
“Even though I think Measure B is fair and people should pay for trash collection, I feel this has been a bait and switch,” he said in an email.
Fischer still hasn't selected a private hauler, due to what he described as high costs and limited options. He said he was quoted $140 per month by Universal Waste Systems, and his current best offer is $65 for the smaller 65-gallon bin.
“I feel like the city rushed this and the haulers had to ramp up both in terms of trucks and manpower and in terms of handling the emails and calls from residents the city is dropping,” he said.
The city said they are actively working to remove barriers to transitioning multi-family properties to private waste service. They are still picking up trash for residents who haven't found a private hauler and paying for it through the city’s general fund, Bauer said. The city could eventually fine customers who fail to switch to private haulers, he said.
