San Diego Error Causes Tax Bills to Overcharge Thousands
By Marty Graham / Special to the OB Rag
Our worst fear about the city trash fee being placed on the tax bill came true this week.
The city bungled the numbers provided to the county, which then billed the mostly higher fees (though a small number were lower) on the county property tax bill – and my mortgage company got the numbers.
Councilmembers Joe LaCava and Sean Elo Rivera fought the public and insisted on putting this service fee on the tax bill issued by the county tax collector – while saying it’s not a tax – at the June 24th, 2025, city council meeting. The council voted 7-2 in favor with only council members Henry Foster and Raul Campillo voting no to tax roll billing.
Those councilmembers approved this mess – pushed by LaCava and Elo Rivera, despite 46,000 protest votes and dozens of written and spoken comments. Tax roll billing would save money, they said, agreeing to pay the county and setting us up for unpaid tax liens if we don’t pay in full.
So we have this error in front of us now. We knew this would happen, we just didn’t think it would be as widespread – with current estimates of 87,000 wrong bills.
I believe the overbilling was a mistake – not malicious. Moving data from one system to another requires extra effort to validate the data, to make sure that it is accurate and looks the same in the arrival system as it did when it left the departure system. I strongly suspect that’s where the error happened – that no one validated it.
And it’s worth pointing out that the city got lucky that we found it early – before the paper bills went out and while there’s a chance to correct it. Too bad it took citizens to find it first, rather than city staff; and that the county also identified it before the city did.
But for most of us, it was our worst fear manifested and an error that can be repeated coming year after coming year. Many of us already have a credit coming from last year’s overbilling!
My choices, now that the mortgage company has the wrong, high fee, is to either pay too much again or get hit with a lien, knowing the lien holder or my mortgage company can force the sale of my home.
I learned about this fiasco the way many did, a neighbor posting on NextDoor (thank you Rick K.).
The city trash portal says I owe pennies shy of $312, while my 2027 tax bill says $535. The city’s portal numbers look correct. But they didn’t make it to my tax bill. My data buddy and I started looking up tax bills for our neighbors – whose trash cans we can see and calculate their fees – and comparing them to the tax bills. We can’t see the city trash portal numbers. When we found alarmingly high fees, we sampled about 100 tax bills and found even scarier number. (Remember that billing by address is for trash service only at the address, and can vary by the size and number of gray bins.)
That $223 error on my bill pales next to the higher than $1,000 overbillings on several neighbors’ and friends’ bills.
At first, after increasingly long waits on hold, city staff directed people to file a claim for a refund on the Department of Environmental Services site and wait 10 days for a response. That advice changed by Tuesday to Never mind. We’ll find you.
I’m sure that will go smoothly.
Thx much for all your work on this important issue, and for this insightful, well-written, and humorous column.
You’re the best! Thank you for all you do.
Yes, thanks Marty and Jeff H for your efforts on behalf of all San Diegans.
I believe the next step for the county tax assessor is to admonish this administration, including La Cava and Elo, and then exit themselves from this billing debacle – requiring the city to bill the users of this service directly, via the water bill just as they do in LA.
Once again, La Cava, Elo and the rest of the council that voted on this matter, created a huge, unprecedented wasteful expense to the county tax board (as well as an expense to the already challenged city coffers). Adding insult to injury, they have yet again amped up the public’s distrust in our city government.
For any voter thinking about caving to any sort of sales tax increase doesn’t understand definition of insanity.
Another demonstration that the current city hall consists of a sinking ship of fools.
Marty, you are a treasure — please write more, we need your sharp analysis! You are gracious to say that this overbilling was a mistake and not malicious. But why do such mistakes nearly always result in the city getting more money?
There is a way to confront La Cava and Elo-Rivera about this. We can challenge them personally during non-agenda public comment at upcoming Council meetings.
I’d paste a thumbs up and 100% emoji if I could figure out how.
Why do I feel like I’m a peasant, clamoring, yelling, throwing my pewter mug at the castle?
Several weeks ago, I got an email from the Environmental Services Dept. with the following Subject Line: Scheduled Removal of an Additional Green Container.
The opening line read: Our records show that the address listed above has more green organics containers than its service level includes. On 9/17/26, we will remove the extra City of San Diego green container(s).
Although I knew I’d ordered 2 green bins, I called the number listed in the email to find out what the issue was. When I gave the woman the serial numbers of my 2 bins, she told me that they were both registered to me, “. . . but I was only being billed for one, and that if I left the other out on trash day, it would be picked up.”
Is this part of the 87,000 in wrong billing from the city, or something entirely different? The city legitimately gave me the 2nd green bin, but apparently wasn’t billing me for it. How many others got the same email?
Hmmm so candidate Marni vonWilpert voted FOR putting the new trash fees on the Property Taxes too. She has voted FOR several items council forced on the people, that the people didn’t want. Is she going to help San Diego if she’s elected to Congress? HA! About as much as Chris Ward, David Alveraz and most of the other reps from SD.
Voters please check their voting history before you re-elect them, or elect them to a new political job. Do they vote FOR the people or TO the people.
between errors in the trash fee and the lack of a city manager you wonder when “THE” problem happens. Is it a matter of time?
Gee wiz! What could possibly go wrong? Another PLAN that we need to pay to have fixed! This group certainly can’t fix it! How in the world will they figure it out? They gave zero skills!
I believe the lawsuit settlement allowed increases “for inflation”. Hang on to your wallet. The City of San Diego should not be allowed to exceed the published local Consumer Price Index annual inflation statistic. The same one they use in the equation they mandate for rent increases for every landlord in town. This year it was 3.2%.
Mickey Mouse could have done a better job. Lets just mess with our constituents again and lets see who actually notices the never ending idiocy. Waste of taxpayer money once again. Elections have consequences.
Its not the tax and spend party, its the party that spends way more than it has, and then says, oh my, look at all the services we have to cut, or raise taxes. Spend and tax is a better description.
Let’s not stop the accountability train here.
What about the “oops” that resulted in the huge trash fee increase from the original estimate?
What about the embarrassing launch of paid parking in Balboa Park?
What about all the city property leases in “holdover” status depriving the city of desperately needed funds?
And the granddaddy of them all “107”
Ash St
Before the 2028 budget cycle there must be a thorough independent audit of the entire city operation. For each department we need to know; why it exists, how it is staffed, and the competence of the people running it. The audit company should be chosen by, and report to the City Auditor. Not a city council committee.
My $353 bill is $1259 via tax rolls. Yay. At least I pay taxes separately from my mortgage.
Chaz- sounds like we maybe should be looking at eliminating the strong mayor and go back to paid professionals who know how to run a multi-department, complex organization?