City homeowners will pay $13.56 more for trash disposal service – a 5 percent increase – in their next property tax bill under a deal approved Monday night by the City Council.
The solid waste assessment for homeowners will rise to $281.92 from $268.36 as a result of new contracts with the St. Lucie County Landfill and Waste Pro USA.
It’s the first increase in the city’s trash disposal fee since 2012, said city Neighborhood Services Director Carmen Capezzuto.
The solid waste assessment for homeowners will increase $3.98, or about 1.4 percent, in 2021 and another $3.32, or about 1.2 percent in 2023, city records show. The assessment will be $289.22 in 2023 and 2024.
There is an option to renew the contract for five years, if all parties agree.
“Over my tenure with the city, Waste Pro has provided a very high level of service,” said Mayor Gregory Oravec.
As part of its contract, Waste Pro agreed to post a customer service representative at City Hall to help city employees deal with complaints, said Russell Mackie, the company’s regional vice president for southeast Florida.
The company also guaranteed to help the city clean up storm debris and agreed to improve bulky and yard waste collections, Capezzuto said.
The city’s contracts with Waste Pro and the county landfill were to expire Sept. 30, 2020, but city officials agreed to negotiate a year earlier to align with the county’s contract with Waste Pro, city records show.
The city renewed the contracts without going through the formal bidding process on the advice of its solid waste industry adviser, Kessler Consulting Inc., of Tampa, Capezzuto said.
“He found it was in the city’s best interest to negotiate versus test the open market because there has been a rising trend of bid prices going up,” Capezzuto said. “Most importantly, there will be no disruption in service.”