The City Council’s decision this week to put off a vote on a 62% water rate hike and a 31% sewer rate hike to be phased in over the next four years was welcomed by the many San Diegans who live paycheck to paycheck.
But there’s bad news ahead for anyone counting on genuine relief from Mayor Todd Gloria and council members. In coming weeks, final approval still looks inevitable for the massive rate increases beginning in January. The case that rates have to go up to sustain current levels of service hasn’t been challenged, and there is no appetite for budget cuts elsewhere to cover the bills.
And nothing in the council’s recent history suggests that most members’ message-we-care rhetoric at Tuesday’s meeting is meaningful. These same politicians depicted their crusade against digital-only grocery store coupons as a bold defense of elderly constituents — even as they forced constituents of all ages to pay sharply increased trash fees — and approved first-ever parking fees at Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo — and imposed punitive “dynamic” parking rates that will hammer families visiting downtown.
And there’s a very good chance that the city’s efforts to extract millions in new revenue from its residents in the state with the highest poverty rate in America are just getting started. While residents gave landslide approval to a 2012 measure seeking to broadly cap employee compensation, that option is rejected by elected leaders who care most about keeping public employee unions happy. There’s no one here remotely like San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who says the key to his city’s future is sharply cutting spending. This was on display in council sessions in May and June that culminated with the approval of a $2.15 billion general fund budget that few seem to think is really balanced. Do you believe that police and fire overtime will plunge this fiscal year? You may be the only one.
Remember, the mayor and council know that they have the option of adopting tactics used by cities around the world — traffic congestion fees, alcohol-by-the-drink fees and surcharges of all kinds.
So be on edge, San Diegans, now and maybe in perpetuity. The city needs more of your money. And as the three-year con job used to impose new trash fees shows, our leaders will use any means necessary to extract it.
Originally Published: October 3, 2025 at 6:11 PM PDT