Voters said they were OK with being charged for trash pickup in 2022. Inflation may make them reconsider. “Many people have heard about us more recently in the media because we have proposed a trash fee,” said Kirby Brady, the city of San Diego’s interim director of the Environmental Servic es Department. Voters agreed to a ballot measure that suggested San Diegans be charged between $20-$30 a month for trash collection services. However, Brady said, the cost of doing business has skyrocketed in the last two years. “Inflation has hit nearly everything we talk about in today’s economy,” Brady said. Brady told NBC 7 on Tuesday that her department will be recommending a $53 a month fee to the San Diego City Council during an April 14 meeting, at which Environmental Services will request a public hearing for the council’s June docket. The $53 is roughly twice as much as what voters approved. It would impact approximately 233,000 single-family households. Residents who live in condo and apartment complexes already pay a fee for trash services. “[We’re] really just leveling the playing field,” Brady said. The interim director estimated that it will costs between $90 million and $100 million a year to run the collection services. That includes maintaining about 190 trucks and more than a million waste and recycling bins around San Diego. Brady said the new fees would include free replacement of damaged bins, more pick-up services and bulk- item pickup. However, the new fees would not account for any upgrades for the trucks. A natural gas truck costs roughly $500,000. The city will eventually be required to purchase electric trash collection trucks, which run more than $1 million each. Brady acknowledges the electric fleet is on her department’s radar but it’s not factored into the initial fee. It could be part of a fee increase several years from now. Brady pointed out that most San Diegans currently do not pay for trash services, whereas cities like Sacramento charge $57 a month. Oakland, an oultier, charges $160 a month. “San Diego is one of the only cities where people do not pay for trash,” she said. That could change this year. ...read more read less