Recycling and trash bins line an alley in Ocean Beach. (File photo by Thomas Melville/Beach & Bay Press)
San Diego is a city that people love. It is a place where families build their lives, where seniors enjoy retirement, and where young people chase opportunity. But it is also one of the most expensive cities in the nation.
Every month, San Diegans are finding it harder to keep up with rising housing costs, utility bills, childcare prices and everyday expenses. When so many families are struggling to stay afloat, the last thing they need is another bill from City Hall.
Yet that is exactly what they are receiving. The city of San Diego has created new trash fees for residents and new parking fees at places like Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park. These decisions make life more expensive at a time when affordability should be the top priority. They are wrong for working families, wrong for seniors on fixed incomes, and wrong for anyone who wants to call San Diego home.
The trash fee shows why residents are frustrated. In 2022, voters were told the monthly cost would be between $23 and $29. That estimate turned out to be misleading and wrong. Homeowners are now facing bills of $43.60 each month, with the fee scheduled to rise to $55. These will be the highest trash fees in the entire county.
San Diegans have every right to feel misled and angry. When residents approve something based on one price and City Hall delivers another, that is not transparency. Responsible leadership means giving people accurate information and respecting their budgets, not surprising them with higher charges.
There is a better way. Every other city in the county contracts with private trash haulers. San Diego should do the same. Contracting out trash collection would save money if done correctly through competitive bidding because it’ll improve service, increase efficiency, and reduce the financial burden on taxpayers. Instead of charging residents the highest fees in the region, the city should follow the proven model used everywhere else.
The parking fees follow the same troubling pattern. Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park are not luxury resorts or private clubs. They are public spaces meant for everyone and among the last places where people can enjoy a day out without worrying about their wallets.
The city is using parking fees to cover a deficit caused by its own overspending and mismanagement. Instead of responsible budgeting, it is turning to taking away more money from hardworking families. No resident should be charged extra to enjoy parks their taxes already fund. No resident should have to pay for the ineptitude and gross mismanagement coming from City Hall.
When a family has to think twice before going to Balboa Park because they cannot afford the parking fee, something has gone wrong. When seniors on fixed incomes begin avoiding places they have visited for decades because the cost has gone up, that is not an inclusive city. It is a city where affordability has taken a back seat to City Hall’s inability to get its fiscal house in order. What’s worse? Even City Hall knows these deeply unpopular parking fees aren’t ready for prime time.
When I was mayor, we balanced budgets, improved neighborhoods, hired more police officers and firefighters at record numbers, and expanded parks and libraries without raising taxes or adding new fees. For nearly a hundred years, San Diego operated a system where residents were not charged for trash collection, and it worked. We proved that responsible budgeting can be done while protecting residents from new financial pressures.
With prices for just about everything climbing in our region, San Diego families deserve relief, not more taxes or fees. It’s time to end the fees and stop the trash tax.
Kevin Faulconer served as the 36th mayor of San Diego and is now president and CEO of the Lincoln Club Business League.
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