PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — When Port St. Lucie homeowners get their property tax bills this November, they will see an increase in their trash pickup and disposal rates.
The new rates make up residents' annual waste disposal costs, paid through property taxes once per year. Residents will see an increase to their bill of $1.74 a month, or $20.89 over the year, adding up to $467.33 annually.
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The city says the increases are being fueled by rising disposal rates and collection costs from the city’s contracted waste management company.
On Monday night, the city council voted to approve the rate increase.
According to the city of Port St. Lucie, trash collection rates must go up due to the city’s contractual agreement with its waste management company, FCC Environmental Services.
St. Lucie County also raised its disposal rates, and those new fees go into effect Oct. 1, 2025.
Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin spoke with WPTV following the meeting. She said the city was obligated to increase rates.
“If we voted against the 4% increase, we would be in breach of contract with our solid waste provider, and we also had an interlocal agreement with the county. We would have been in breach with the county as well,” Martin said.
More than 90,000 Port St. Lucie homeowners will be impacted by the increase. In an Aug. 4, 2025, letter, those residents were informed that the levy for waste management services was being increased from $446.44 to $467.33 per year.
“We never like to increase any costs, but unfortunately, in this instance, we had to,” Martin said.
Trash pickup has been an ongoing battle for the city of Port St. Lucie. The city is in ongoing litigation with former waste management provider Waste Pro over allegations that the company did not live up to its contractual obligations. In 2022, the city signed a new contract with FCC Environmental Services, but residents say they’re not pleased with this service either.
“Last year they raised; the FCC raised their price, this year they raised it again,” said Dennis Lipp.
Jesus Merejo, the city manager, said efforts were made to negotiate the rates and seek more cost-effective options, but costs were being driven by the county’s growth.
“They did not anticipate the growth that Port St. Lucie was having. So basically, a lot of the cells within landfills were being filled, so they had to reassess, reevaluate and actually come up with what the actual cost will be,” Merejo said.
Port St. Lucie residents flooded Monday’s meeting to ask the city council to trash the proposal.
“I don’t like it! I don’t like any of it,” Lipp said.
Martin said ultimately the city has to honor its contractual obligations.
“We have to make sure we’re meeting our contractual obligations, and we had to make sure that we are in line with the county because they passed down that disposal cost, and that’s where we take our trash to the landfill,” Martin said.
