How did San Diego's garbage rates turn out to be so much higher than expected? It's complicated, officials say.

Faced with outrage from many homeowners over the vast underestimation of San Diego's new garbage fee, city officials claim their main mistakes were projecting costs too low and exaggerating the number of users. The city's independent budget analyst, who estimated just before the 2022 public vote that the new fee would be between $23 and $29 per month, says these are the two main reasons why the $47.59 fee now being proposed is much higher. City …