Opinion: San Diego’s new trash fee will make single-family homes less affordable

Curbside trash bins in San Diego File photo courtesy of city of San Diego As San Diegans continue to struggle with the rising cost of housing a new financial burden has made its way into our monthly expenses If you own a single-family home in San Diego you will now have to pay to have your trash picked up This will have a long-lasting impact on both home affordability and the rental arena In other words it will make homes and housing less affordable The city of San Diego s proposed trash collection fee which was pitched to voters as a modest cost-recovery measure is now estimated to be around a month While that might not seem like much to various for various working families seniors on fixed incomes and first-time homebuyers this seemingly minor monthly charge could be the tipping point that pushes homeownership out of reach Every increase in monthly household expenses can reduce a buyer s purchasing power by to That s not an opinion it s a fact based on interest rates and mortgage qualification formulas used by lenders A annual fee for trash pickup may not sound catastrophic on its own but in the context of San Diego s already sky-high home prices it s one more barrier stacked on top of plenty of others that are keeping people out of the housing industry What s worse is that voters were originally narrated the new trash collection fee would be in the ballpark of to per month a much more digestible figure But like a multitude of ballot measures the devil is in the details and now we re looking at almost double that amount It s not the first time local voters have been led astray by misleading ballot language or vague financial projections However the responsibility doesn t rest solely with the elected officers who promoted this measure it also lies with the voters who approved it We can point fingers at city leaders who downplayed the full cost or failed to implement meaningful cost-cutting alternatives However we must also recognize that voters themselves have a duty to do their homework before checking a box Too often ballot designations are worded in a confusing or misleading way and campaigns are driven by professionally produced commercials social media ads and mailers that tell only one side of the story We live in a city where more than of seniors already don t have enough income to cover basic demands like housing food healthcare and transportation Adding another a year to their fixed expenses may not sound like much to a policymaker but for multiple of our seniors it s the difference between staying in their home or being forced to make hard choices Renters won t be spared either While the fee is targeted at single-family homeowners landlords will almost certainly pass that cost on to tenants especially in single-family rental homes that don t already pay private waste collection fees Renters in San Diego are already facing record-high costs for gas electricity water insurance and healthcare Adding another fee to their monthly obligations only accelerates the financial squeeze With San Diego s median home prices consistently ranking among the highest in the nation even the smallest new fee tax or charge should be examined through the lens of how it affects housing affordability For those who oppose the new trash fee there is still time to take action Property owners will receive a protest form in the mail Fill it out with your name address and signature and submit it to the San Diego City Clerk by p m on June If more than of affected homeowners file formal written protests the fee can be stopped And if the City Council moves forward despite public opposition voters still have a second chance collecting signatures from of San Diego s registered voters about people within days can trigger a referendum If enough valid signatures are gathered the City Council must either cancel the fee or place it on the ballot for a populace vote This isn t just about trash collection it s about transparency accountability and the cumulative effect of local policies that continue to erode affordability for everyday San Diegans We must reject the notion that it s just a small fee In a city where people are already stretched to the developing point every dollar matters Let s hold our leaders accountable but let s also hold ourselves accountable Read the full ballot text Ask questions Demand honest numbers Because when it comes to affordability in San Diego we re either part of the explanation or part of the matter Mark Powell is a licensed California real estate broker and the former vice president for the San Diego Association of Realtors