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Property owners in San Diego have never gotten free trash service

San Diego Union-Tribune · last updated

Let’s set the record straight, property owners have never received free trash service. According to the 1919 ordinance, property owners are not charged directly for trash collection. As property taxpayers know, a percentage of our property taxes are sent from the county to the city’s general fund which in turn has allotted funds for trash collection. This trash collection is not just for city residents living in single-family homes or properties of four units or less but includes emptying trash receptacles on city streets, parks, recreation centers, etc.

The outcry that homeowners were getting free service is like people carping that because they don’t have kids or grandkids who attend public schools, why should they have to pay for schools? Because like schools, trash collection is considered a community benefit. Wouldn’t it be terrible to not have basic trash collection as a city service? Sorry, this isn’t a personalized menu, folks.

— Lisa Mortensen, Mission Hills

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