Just before Tuesday deadline, more than half of San Diego trash customers still hadn’t set up accounts

Tuesday is the deadline for eligible San Diego trash customers to choose what size bins they want — and thus how much they’ll ultimately pay for trash service. But one day shy of the deadline, fewer than half have made their selections.

Eligible residents are asked to log in to a new city website, wasteportal.sandiego.gov, to create a customer account and choose what bins and level of service they want.

If they don’t, they’ll automatically get the biggest bins, 95 gallons, and most expensive service, $43.60 per month — the level of service most people already have.

But they’ll also have 30 days after getting their new bins to swap them out for different ones — either 65-gallon bins, which cost $38.94 per month, or 35-gallon ones, which cost $32.82. Every option comes with the same 95-gallon recycling and organic-waste bins.

At first, everyone will be charged $43.60 per month, because most customers already have 95-gallon trash bins, said Jeremy Bauer, the city’s assistant director of environmental services.

“Those who select the smaller size will earn a credit effective from the date of delivery of their new bins,” he explained. “Fee adjustments as a result of bin size reduction or additional containers will be reflected on next year’s tax bill.”

The city will start delivering new trash bins — gray instead of the old black — next week.

New recycling bins in a lighter shade of blue will come later. New green organic-waste bins aren’t coming unless a customer wants another one or is changing their service level.

Once new bins are delivered, the city will collect trash only from those; the old bins will be taken away and recycled.

The trash-bin selection is one of the key steps in the city’s fitful transition to paid trash service, nearly three years after city voters narrowly approved a ballot measure allowing the city to start charging for it after more than a century.

The switch has prompted a cascade of questions from customers about the new trash charges they’ll see on their property tax bills.

Meanwhile, the 21,000 properties declared newly ineligible for city service now are responsible for negotiating deals for service from one of five private haulers — and many have struggled to do so.

By late July, just about 20% had secured new service ahead of a Sept. 1 deadline. By last week, 59% had done so, the city said — leaving about two-fifths still without private service.

The city has previously said that as long as those properties are in the active process of working with the city or a hauler, the city will not stop their service.

“The city will not let trash pile up at properties that miss the deadline to set up service with a private hauler,” said Bauer on Monday.

But he added that eventually, “a failure to comply may result in notice of violations and even the assessment of citations with fines,” with enforcement paused for people actively working with a private hauler to set up service.