San Diego’s affordability crisis has many causes. Some, like rising inflation and high interest rates, are beyond our control. But others, especially the steady stream of local tax and fee increases, are decisions made right here by our elected leaders and the voting public.
Those choices have pushed the cost of living ever higher for hardworking San Diegans. It’s time we confront the policies we can change to make our city affordable again.
As San Diegans continue to struggle with the rising cost of housing, a new financial burden has made its way into our monthly expenses. The city of San Diego’s trash collection fee, which was pitched to voters as a modest cost-recovery measure, is now estimated to be around $50 a month.
While that might not seem like much to some, for many working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and first-time homebuyers, this seemingly minor monthly charge could be the tipping point that pushes homeownership out of reach. It adds another $600 a year to a homeowner’s fixed expenses.
Grassroots efforts and even litigation are already underway to repeal the trash tax, and for good reason. Voters were told one price, only for our City Council to turn around and hike the cost after the fact. That’s a classic “bait-and-switch,” and San Diegans shouldn’t stand for it.
We should all support efforts to roll back this tax or at the very least, demand it be reduced to the amount originally promised. Accountability matters and our community deserves fairness, not unexpected fees.
One of the largest financial burdens facing San Diegans today is housing. For many families, rent or mortgage payments consume more than half of their income, leaving little room for savings, stability or opportunity. When the cost of simply having a roof over your head grows faster than your paycheck, it becomes nearly impossible to survive here. This is a crisis we can no longer ignore.
In 1997, I purchased a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Clairemont for $152,000, something I could afford on my schoolteacher’s salary. Today, that very same home would require an income of nearly $250,000 a year. No teacher, police officer, or nurse can reasonably afford that. And that should concern every one of us.
When the people who educate our children, keep our neighborhoods safe, and care for our health can no longer afford to live in the communities they serve, it’s a clear and urgent warning: San Diego has become far too expensive for the very people who hold our city together. When only 15% of all households in San Diego earn enough income to support the purchase of a median-priced home change is needed.
One of the reasons housing is so expensive is the San Diego region failed to build enough homes to keep up with our population increase. Since 1980, San Diego County’s population has grown dramatically from around 1.86 million to over 3.25 million — a 75% increase. But housing construction hasn’t kept up.
The solution seems simple: build more homes. But to do this our elected leaders need to help make building more affordable by further streamlining the permitting process, reducing or waiving excessive permit fees, encouraging innovative construction methods and encouraging creative home financing options.
The list of cost increases in San Diego keeps growing. Parking meters are being added to our public parks, places where working families used to enjoy a Sunday without worrying about paying a fee. Water rates continue to climb. Taxpayers are being charged between $3 million and $7 million for every mile of bike lane, many of which sit nearly unused. And the city spends about $235 million on homelessness-related programs each year with dismal results.
This is where we can make a real difference. If you don’t like the direction our city is heading, your voice matters not just on social media platforms like Nextdoor, but at the ballot box. We often blame politicians for poor decisions, but we must also recognize that we’re the ones who put them in office. And they need to be reminded that we can vote them out just as easily.
Mark Powell is a former San Diego Association of Realtors vice president and San Diego County Board of Education member.
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