In November, San Diego voters passed Measure B, which created the way for the city to begin charging single-family homeowners for trash pickup. Before that begins, though, the city needs to figure out how much it's going to collect.
“The cost-of-service study is expected to take two years or so and it's expected to begin in the coming months. The department will solicit bids from consultants who do rate design as part of their kind of bread-and-butter work, and they will use the results of that study to determine, one, the total amount that the city could collect for refuse disposal. Two some different ways that the city might go about collecting that amount,” City of San Diego Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica said.
The city will be considering whether to charge homeowners a flat fee or base charges on the amount of trash a household creates.
“Historically, most agencies and jurisdictions that have collected a flat rate that provided for a certain amount of service. Over the last 10 years or so, a lot of jurisdictions have been shifting towards a pay-as-you-throw program or a program where rates are based on the size of a container being collected,” Modica said.
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Some household data will determine the cost associated with trash service.
“It would likely be based on, one, what this city's general fund can afford; two, what we believe that residents can afford, which we could gather through kind of outreach. It may be based on income levels or age — a number of different things,” Modica said.
Some city leaders have also expressed an interest in continuing some form of subsidy, according to Modica.
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The study is expected to begin in late 2023 or early 2024 and it is expected to take up to 24 months to complete.
“The point of doing this is not just to generate revenue for the city, but it's to ensure that the waste collection services that we provide have a dedicated funding source that will allow them to provide consistent and quality service. The more any city operation can have a dedicated funding source that is specifically for them, it is far more likely that they will be able to provide consistent and high-quality service,” Modica said.
