As San Diego looks to move beyond the 100-year-old People's Ordinance preventing the city from charging single-family households for trash pickup, city leaders will begin holding a series of community meetings Monday to receive feedback.
In 2022, San Diego voters elected to repeal the People's Ordinance with Measure B. It now allows the city to collect fees for trash and recycling collection from homeowners for the first time in its history.
Pending approval from the city council, San Diego plans to begin charging 233,000 customers $53 a month for trash collection and recycling services.
Homeowners will receive notices 45 days before the fees go into effect. If a majority of eligible residents have valid protests of the proposed fees, the council may not be able to impose them.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
People who live in multi-family housing such as apartment buildings or those with homeowner associations have always paid for trash collection, long a source of frustration on equity grounds.
"If the new fees are approved, the city of San Diego will join every major jurisdiction in California in recovering costs for the waste collection services provided to residents," said Kirby Brady, interim director of the city's Environmental Services Department. "By repealing the century-old People's Ordinance, San Diegans signaled that they want a more equitable system where everyone who receives waste management services -- whether from the city or from a private company -- pays for those services."
San Diego provides waste collection services to about 233,000 residential properties. If a new fee is approved, the city would no longer have to plumb its general fund to pay for the service, freeing up funds as San Diego faces a looming budget deficit.
Local
While a complete cost-of-service study will be presented to the City Council in March, an initial proposal of $53 per month for 95-gallon bins was compared to other large California cities. Sacramento charges $57.79 and Long Beach, which recently proposed a fee of $67.63 per month, are most closely aligned. Oakland and San Jose have, by far, the highest fees, at $160.27 and $160.35 per month, respectively.
"Since last summer, we have connected with nearly 10,000 San Diegans who shared with us what kind of waste collection services they would like to receive," said Jeremy Bauer, assistant director of ESD. "We now encourage folks to come back and join us during our third round of community engagement to better understand the new services proposed, how the fees would apply, the timing of next steps, and how to stay involved."
Any proposed fee would cover "increased service reliability, bin replacements and repairs at no additional charge, and a missed-collections crew to address service issues day-of," by 2026, a city statement reads. By the third year — 2028 — curbside bulky item pickup and increased recycling pick-up frequency would begin and the fee would increase.
The first of 10 community meetings will begin Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Otay Mesa-Nestor Library, 3003 Coronado Ave.
The remaining meetings run from 5:30-7 p.m. on the following dates:
March 3, Rancho Peñasquitos Library, 13330 Salmon River Road
March 10, Pacific Highlands Ranch Library, 12911 Pacific Place
March 17, City Heights/Weingart Library, 3795 Fairmount Ave.
March 24, Balboa Park, Casa del Prado Room 101, 1650 El Prado
March 25, Linda Vista Library, 2160 Ulric St.
April 1, Skyline Hills Library, 7900 Paradise Valley Road
April 4, virtual meeting (English and Spanish): 9-11 a.m.
April 7, San Diego College of Continuing Education, 3249 Fordham St.
April 8, North University Community Library, 8820 Judicial Drive
