44,000 Wrong Tax Bills, a Dam Decision, a River Fix, and a Leadership Shuffle
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San Diego County is reissuing roughly 44,000 corrected property-tax bills after the City of San Diego submitted an erroneous data file for its new trash fee, affecting approximately 87,000 city accounts in total. About half were overbilled and half were underbilled. Roughly 30 percent of the discrepancies were $100 or less, though some differences were more substantial. Residents who were overbilled and paid before September 28th — when online accounts were corrected — will receive automatic refund checks and need take no action. Those who were underbilled should pay the corrected county statement promptly; the city will send a separate balance bill by January with a payment deadline of April 12, 2027. The first property-tax installment is due November 1st and becomes delinquent December 10th, at which point a 10 percent penalty applies.
The error originated with an incorrect file transmitted from the city to the county assessor's office — a significant failure in a routine billing process affecting 87,000 accounts. San Diego County is managing the correction and issuing the new bills.
City water officials this week unveiled a plan to lower the spillway at Hodges Dam — a 108-year-old structure — by 35 feet, from elevation 315 feet to 280 feet. The estimated cost is $30 to $50 million, with construction projected to begin around 2030 and wrap up around 2034, pending City Council approval at design and funding stages. The rationale is operational: the dam's existing 36-inch outlet cannot lower the reservoir quickly enough during an extreme rain event, and reducing the spillway elevation creates additional buffer before the spillway becomes the sole release mechanism.
Running concurrently is a separate city study due next spring that will evaluate whether to fully replace the dam, build a smaller flood-control structure, or take no action. The latest full-replacement cost estimate ranges from $474 million to $697 million — a $223 million spread that underscores the scale of the decision awaiting city leaders. The interim spillway plan is, in effect, buying time and safety margin while that larger question is answered.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted October 27th to approve a project on Saturn Boulevard aimed at reducing hydrogen-sulfide odor releases from the Tijuana River — a chronic complaint from communities near Imperial Beach. The engineering solution extends two existing culverts 40 to 60 feet into a receiving pond so discharge occurs below the water's surface rather than above it, dramatically reducing hydrogen sulfide gas release. The budget includes roughly $1.1 million for design, environmental review, and project management, and $1.4 million for construction with a 20 percent contingency. Construction is projected for early through summer 2027. The county will handle permitting, coordinate with the Navy, lead construction, and monitor results for five years. County leadership also shifted this week: Dijana Beck, current director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, will serve as interim director of Behavioral Health Services following the retirement of Jennifer Bransford-Koons on October 30th, after 39 years with the county.