Solid Waste Fee Updates (FY2028 and FY2029)

The San Diego City Council has approved reduced solid waste management fees for customers receiving trash and recycling collection services from City of San Diego employees for two fiscal year periods, fiscal year (FY) 2028 (July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2028) and FY2029 (July 1, 2028 to June 30, 2029). The rates for FY2026 and FY2027 are not impacted by this action.

For customers with the 95-gallon trash bundle, the monthly fee drops from the previously adopted fee of $55 for FY2028 to $38.75, effective July 1, 2027, and from the previously adopted fee of $57.55 for FY2029 to $39.91, effective July 1, 2028. Fees for the smaller 65-gallon and 35-gallon bundles are also reduced. Each service bundle includes one trash container, one recycling container and one organics container.

If your household requires more than one trash, recycling and/or organics container, fees for additional containers will also be reduced starting July 1, 2027. Fees will start at $6.01 per additional recycling container per month for Fiscal Year 2028. Remaining fees vary based on the container size and type. Customers are encouraged to review their service level to ensure it aligns with their household needs.

Customers requiring additional bins or other service changes can make requests through their portal account at wasteportal.sandiego.gov or by calling 858-694-7000. If you are a renter of a property serviced by the City, please coordinate requests with your landlord or property owner.

When voters approved Measure B in 2022, the voter information pamphlet included an estimate of $23 to $29 a month, and explained that a cost-of-service study would ultimately determine what levied fees would be, and further explaining that a cost-of-service study could take several years to complete, and the costs to provide the service may increase over the years that followed and that the actual fee levied could be higher than $23 to $29 a month.

In June 2025, City Council adopted a fee based on the projected costs of providing solid waste management services in Fiscal Years 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029, and allocation of those costs to customers based on the services provided. The fees adopted at that time included increases scheduled to occur in Fiscal Year 2028 and 2029 to collect revenue to cover the costs of new weekly recycling and bulky item programs.

The adoption of reduced fees in June 2026 did not lower the costs to provide service, but it does reduce revenue and cost recovery, creating a gap between costs incurred and revenue collected. To address this gap, the City is planning to reduce its costs in FY27 and FY28 by deferring the previously planned service upgrades of weekly recycling collection and bulky item pickup, pausing them until further notice. Additionally, ESD plans to budget money from the General Fund and the Recycling Fund to subsidize the remaining cost of operations. Regular trash, recycling and organics pickup continues as normal.

Coming up: Review your service level and request changes to through the Customer Portal at wasteportal.sandiego.gov or by calling ESD at 858-694-7000. Customers are limited generally to one service level change per fiscal year, resetting annually on July 1. Log in now to review your service package and fee history and request updates as needed any time after July 1. To see your options and estimate your fee impacts, visit wasteportal.sandiego.gov. If you do not yet have a portal account, you can create one at any time. Visit sandiego.gov/trash to get started.

Need a sign-up code or help getting started? Visit sandiego.gov/trash or call 858-694-7000.