About 1,300 Rancho Bernardo-area property owners will receive incorrect trash fees on county tax bills starting Thursday, Oct. 1.
They are part of a citywide billing error affecting roughly 87,000 San Diego accounts. Of that total, 44,041 customers were overcharged and about 43,000 were undercharged, according to the city's FAQ page on the error. The remaining roughly 133,000 trash customers are unaffected.
The error struck at random. It was not tied to a specific neighborhood or service level, and it hit all nine San Diego City Council districts, according to the city's FAQ. In Council District 5, which includes Rancho Bernardo, about 1,300 of approximately 32,000 customers were affected.
What happened
City officials blame a technical glitch during the transfer of billing data to the county. Some lines of data were duplicated, inflating certain accounts and deflating others. The city could not fix the errors before the county began printing tax bills.
The billing error was first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Two bills for overcharged customers
The roughly 44,000 overcharged customers will receive an initial tax bill showing the wrong, higher amount. A second bill marked "corrected" will follow, along with a city insert explaining the situation and instructing them to pay the lower figure.
City spokesperson Nicole Darling told the Union-Tribune the corrected bills are expected to arrive after the initial, inaccurate bill. The largest group of overcharged customers, about 13,850, saw increases of less than $100. But about 640 accounts were overcharged between $1,101 and $2,700, according to the city's FAQ.
The city and county corrected all erroneous amounts on the county tax collector's website by Sunday, Sept. 27. The city's own trash portal always showed the correct amounts.
Undercharged customers told to pay the lower amount
The roughly 43,000 undercharged customers will receive only one bill showing a lower, inaccurate amount. The city is telling them to pay that amount for now and wait for a separate notice about the difference they still owe.
How that additional billing will work remains unresolved. Darling said it could be handled by either the city or the county. Officials from both agencies were scheduled to meet Tuesday, Sept. 29, to discuss that question and other outstanding issues.
Mayor, councilmember respond
Mayor Todd Gloria acknowledged the city's quality control failed. "This is something that our quality assurance should have caught. It did not catch it, and that's why we have to correct it quickly," Gloria said at a Sept. 26 press conference, as reported by Times of San Diego.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, in a statement to Times of San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 27, called the billing failure one of too many operational mistakes that have cost the city millions and undermined residents' confidence in basic city services. He called on the mayor to hire an experienced professional to run day-to-day operations.
The city will likely have to reimburse the county for additional printing costs caused by the error, Darling said. The city has also contacted mortgage lenders to prevent the incorrect amounts from affecting homeowners with impound accounts.
What to do
The first installment on county property tax bills is not due until Sunday, Nov. 1. Residents who want to confirm their correct trash fee can check the city's Residential Waste Collection Services Portal at WastePortal.sandiego.gov or call Environmental Services at 858-694-7000.
