Just days until controversial $523 trash fee hits Americans for 1st time in 50 years – but legal battle rages to stop it ...Middle East

A CONTROVERSIAL new trash fee is about to slam single-family homeowners for the first time in over a century.

The $523 charge is scheduled to hit residents starting July 1, but a lawsuit is now racing to block it.

The fee is tied to a new ordinance passed by the City of San Diego, California.

Attorney Michael Aguirre filed a legal challenge in June 2025 calling the new trash collection charge a violation of state law.

“This trash tax violates Proposition 218,” Aguirre said.

Prop 218 requires voter approval before governments can raise certain fees, taxes, or assessments.

The lawsuit has argued that the city is charging customers more than the actual cost of the service, breaking the rules under Proposition 218.

“The one thing that we’ve done today is to give them hope,” Aguirre said of the town residents after the lawsuit was filed.

Earlier in June, San Diego’s City Council voted 6-3 to adopt the new solid waste fee schedule.

Under the new regulations, residents will be charged $43.60 a month, totaling $523.20 a year for one 95-gallon bin.

The steep change follows voters approving Measure B in 2022.

That measure repealed the long-standing People’s Ordinance, which had banned trash fees for single-family homes since 1919.

For over 100 years, residents enjoyed free trash pick-up.

Now, that’s about to change.

The city says the new fees are the result of a year-long cost analysis and community outreach.

It claims the fees are designed solely to recover the cost of trash and recycling services, which have been paid for through the city’s General Fund, according to Inside San Diego.

San Diego's Trash Fee

What the Lawsuit Demands:

Officials argue the new structure will free up General Fund money for other critical services like police, libraries, parks, and road repairs.

Currently, San Diego is one of the few cities in California that doesn’t directly charge residents for trash pickup.

Over 200,000 single-family homes receive city-provided service, while others, including apartment dwellers, already pay private haulers.

Other options will be available: a 35-gallon bin for $36.72, a 65-gallon bin for $42.88, and a 95-gallon bin for $47.59.

Each home will also get a blue recycling bin and green organic waste bin at no extra charge.

Replacement bins will be free, and service reliability is expected to improve.

Additional upgrades, including expanded recycling and bulky item pickups, are planned for 2027, with potential future fee increases tied to those enhancements.

The fees will be added to residents’ property tax bills under the new system.

Environmental Services will implement new tracking and scanning technology to better manage collections and improve customer service.

Bins in use today are roughly 20 years old, and the city plans to upgrade them all.

City officials have said that San Diego’s fees remain among the lowest in the state.

Sacramento currently charges $57.79 per month, Long Beach $67.63, and Oakland and San Jose over $160.

Maggie Vinson, a resident of Chula Vista, two hours from Los Angeles was ready to cast her ballot.

“I want to make sure Chula Vistans residents have all the rights to have gas stoves and get someone in office who has common sense,” Vinson told ABC News local affiliate KGTV.

David Weil, a homeowner in the Tierrasanta neighborhood, joined others to learn more about the lawsuit.

“We’ve been opposed to the trash fee right from the start,” he said.

“We believe that we already pay for the trash service through our taxes that are collected, so we shouldn’t have to pay more, so we weren’t opposed to it.

“With that said, we understand that of course the ordinance is passed, so we can’t go backwards,” Weil said.

Aguirre said the suit is asking for three things.

The first thing being asked is that the collection charge not exceed the cost of the service.

The second is that the money collected is only used for that service.

And the third demand is that the rates are fair.

Registrar of Voters Cynthia Paes said the first supervisorial special primary election had 18% turnout.

Paes said they have sent out over 37,000 ballots by mail to registered voters in district one.

So far, only 44,000 have returned.

The city has not responded publicly to the lawsuit.

But unless the legal challenge succeeds, the charge will take effect next week.

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