Up to 75,000 San Diego residents may be paying hundreds of dollars too much for trash service on their property tax bills after a data error by city officials.

The overbilling, first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, stems from a glitch in data the city sent to the San Diego County tax collector. Some customers saw charges nearly triple what they owe. The error affects the Solid Waste Management Fee line item on fiscal year 2027 property tax statements.

Rancho Bernardo residents who receive city trash service for single-family homes or small multifamily properties could be among those affected. The Rancho Bernardo Community Planning Board raised concerns about the trash fee more than a year ago, voting 6-0 in March 2025 to send a letter to city officials arguing the fee did not match what voters approved in a 2022 ballot measure, according to board minutes.

Councilmember Henry Foster III, who chairs the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee, spoke for nearly 15 minutes at the panel's Wednesday, Sept. 23, meeting. Foster called it incompetence. He said he was one of three council members who voted against the trash fee last year.

"If I don't see change, I will bring forward a ballot measure to repeal the strong-mayor form of government," Foster said at the meeting, the Union-Tribune reported. "The mayor needs to get this right, because this is unacceptable."

Foster and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera called on Mayor Todd Gloria to hire a chief operating officer. The position has been vacant since Gloria fired Eric Dargan in early 2025, and Gloria has handled the COO's duties himself since then. Councilmember Kent Lee said accountability for the error belongs with the mayor, not a low-level employee.

Gloria issued a statement Wednesday, Sept. 23, calling the errors "unacceptable" and pledging to send corrected billing data to the county by the end of that day. Mayoral aide Matt Yagyagan said Gloria expected all affected county tax accounts to be corrected by Saturday, Sept. 26, the Union-Tribune reported. Gloria also launched an investigation into why the wrong data was sent.

Elo-Rivera said the city may have to reimburse the county for sending corrected tax bills and should cover any penalties for residents who receive delinquency notices because of the errors.

The billing error hits homeowners with impound mortgage accounts especially hard. Lenders with those accounts divide the annual property tax bill into 12 monthly installments added to mortgage payments. An inflated trash charge raises those payments automatically.

City officials are urging customers to check their correct amount at wasteportal.sandiego.gov, then compare it to the county tax collector's site at sdttc.com. Only about half of the city's 220,000 trash customers have created portal accounts; those who have not will need to set one up to verify their bill. If the amounts do not match, the city says residents do not need to take action; the city will contact them about refunds.

Property taxes are due Nov. 1 but do not become delinquent until Dec. 10.