Charging single-family households for trash pickup is a sneaky cost shift that burdens residents while city leaders sidestep responsibility
By Jon Fleischman on Substack
Voters in San Diego elected a liberal Democratic Mayor, Todd Gloria, alongside an all-Democratic city council, hoping for progressive leadership. Instead, their reward has been a masterclass in fiscal aberrations. Expenses in the city have skyrocketed: the city’s general fund swelled to $2.24 billion in the city’s 2025 financial plan, a 20% increase since 2020. The city, however, braces itself for a staggering $258 million budget deficit fueled by unchained pensions, runaway bureaucracies, and wasteful pet projects.
In what seems an overt betrayal of their campaign promises, the council’s answer to the problem is the imposition of a hefty trash collection fee on single-family homes, all to fund their irresponsible priorities.
In 2022, Measure B barely passed (50.48%) to repeal the 1919 People’s Ordinance and end free trash pickup for single-family homes. The campaign promised a modest monthly fee of $20-$30, sold as an equity fix since apartment dwellers pay private haulers. Voters trusted the pitch, but the gut-wrenching reality is now a $47.59 starting fee in July 2025, increasing to $59.42 by 2027 with 10% increases each year thereafter. This is 49% higher than the median of $32 in nearby cities of El Cajon ($28) or Chula Vista ($23-$35).
Why charge this premium? To free up the $90 million annually in general funds previously allocated to trash for wasteful spending like bloated salaries and feckless projects.
It is not about fairness but rather about a revenue grab. The trash fee levied on property tax will push many lower-income households into foreclosure, disproportionately affecting areas such as Encanto. While the city promises “enhanced services” such as bulky-item pickup, these will not start until 2027, assuming those RFID-equipped bins don’t have a hefty price tag. Meanwhile, in neighboring cities, private haulers conduct similar services at a lower price. The city’s unwillingness to investigate outsourcing suggests more of a lure of union power than efficiency.
San Diego’s budget problems reflect a council addicted to spending and borrowing. Far from a modest tax, the trash fee indicates the council’s unrestrained fiscal juggernaut. Once bitten, the citizens who voted this liberal leadership into power now must deal with the same: costs up, broken promises, and a council that looks after its political agenda first and foremost.
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Comments 1
I wish San Diego politicians had given a crap when rural north county residents and farmers complained about the unfair financial burdens placed on homeowners outside San Diego city limits for decades. Ive been paying up to $55 a month for trash pickup for decades in the county and the City of Escondido bundles water, sewer, trash etc together to what amounts to $300 a month for a two bedroom two bath house in Old Escondido. San Diego didn’t care as north county farmers were paying $300-$750 a month just for having an Agriculture sized water meter on their property, regardless of water use and now they don’t care that rural residents have had their Homeowners Insurance cancelled or the coverage halved while the price doubles to $6000-$8000 a year. So when San Diego actually starts sharing the burden of delivering water or burying trash for a million plus people in their city that North County residents subsidize, we’ll start caring that the Democrats you elected to lie to you, amazingly lied to you like you knew they would.