It’s official. Most single-family home owners in San Diego will now have to pay the city a fee of up to $43 per month for trash pickup. It’s the first time in more than 100 years that the city will charge for that service.
San Diego was relying on the trash fee to help with its budget woes, and it was passed in a crucial City Council vote on Monday.
It wasn’t clear the San Diego City Council would do it. The city will put the fee on property tax bills. To put a fee on property tax bills, the City Council needed six votes. In April, they had six votes. But then one of them, Councilmember Henry Foster, said unless the fee was significantly lower, he would not support it.
The fee is core to the city’s budget passed this week. Without it, they would have had to make up $80 million — either through cuts or other ways to make money.
Before passing the trash fee, the City Council listened to hours of public testimony. Mostly from people against it. Many seniors and others said they don’t make much trash. Or they didn’t mind paying a fee, but not as high.
Councilmember Sean Elo Rivera pointed out that most families in apartments and condos have long had to pay private haulers for trash service. And he made the motion .
"I acknowledge that this imposes a cost on households at a time where this city's never been more expensive," he said. "That being said, this isn't a new cost, it's a cost that's been that's been born by people who do not currently receive city provided waste services."
But then it started to look bad for the fee. Councilmember Raul Campillo said nearly three years ago, city staff estimated it would be about half what it now will be.
"I hate to say it, but I think this is a bait and switch and that's why I'm voting no," he said.
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert also said the fee was too high.
Then Foster, who had provided the crucial vote to move forward in April, said he couldn’t do it either.
"It is not because I do not believe the city should not move forward with a trash fee," he said. "But I do feel, as I said previously, I have concerns about process."
So we had three votes against it. Councilmember Vivian Moreno had already opposed it. If she did again, it wouldn’t go forward. There would be no fee. The council would have to find $80 million in addition to the cuts they had to already make to balance the budget.
Without a word, Moreno voted for the fee. And now it’s happening. Her office said so many people in San Diego already had to pay for trash collection, it was only fair that everyone else did.
There were threats of lawsuits at the hearing. We’ll see if anyone actually files one.
