Dunedin residents will likely see a 28% increase in trash collection costs under a rate hike city commissioners unanimously approved on first reading Feb. 19.
The increase, driven by post-COVID inflation and a roughly $1 million shortfall in the city’s Solid Waste Enterprise Fund from 2022 to 2025, would raise the monthly cost for pickup of one refuse can and one recycling cart from $23.67 to $30.42 beginning April 1.
The rate would climb to $35.17 a year later, then rise incrementally to $38.43 by October 2029.
Commercial rates would follow a similar trajectory. Pickup of 2 cubic yards once a week would jump from $79.24 a month to $101.84 on April 1, rising in phases to $128.66 by 2029.
Thierry Boveri, a vice president with consulting firm Raftelis, told commissioners that previous rate studies underestimated inflation and assumed a lower, 6% cost increase from Pinellas County for disposal.
“After the COVID era, the Enterprise Fund saw a significant increase in inflation that exceeded what the original rate study had contemplated,” Boveri said.
Total expenses rose from about $6.96 million in 2023 to $8.7 million in 2024, with 2025 forecast at roughly $8.2 million. The waste services budget represents an 8.4% increase over fiscal year 2024, driven by an estimated 25% jump in disposal costs, a 20% rise in labor, a 14% increase in recycling expenses and a 13% hike in maintenance.
“Because we’re coming from behind, we don’t have a whole lot of time to phase these increases,” Boveri said.
The city’s solid waste operation serves 13,432 residential accounts and 1,653 commercial businesses, collecting 33,390 tons of garbage, 2,589 tons of recycling and 5,768 tons of yard waste annually.
Sue Bartlett, the city’s public works director, said key drivers behind the rate increase included capital costs, labor and rising recycling and disposal expenses. As a result, the city revised its vehicle replacement plan and eliminated service to unincorporated areas.
According to a staff report, the new rates are designed to stabilize the Solid Waste Fund and reach a targeted 15% operating reserve.
Commissioner Steve Sandbergen noted that many households with single residents or couples don’t fill a recycling bin and asked whether those residents could opt out. He was told recycling is part of the program and rates are based on the city as a whole.
Commissioner Tom Dugard expressed frustration with a string of double-digit increases across the city’s enterprise funds.
“We wonder as we sit here, what is our role and responsibility when it feels like we’re riding on a horse and don’t have a bridle — it’s just taking us where it wants us to go,” Dugard said.
Dugard said he favored three-year rate projections over five-year forecasts, calling the shorter time frame “a little more comfortable” given the volatility.
“If we do stick with five years, I want an alarm bell to go off a little earlier than, ‘Oh, we got new rates and we have to catch up,’” he said. “I’m proud of the team, I want some better warnings.”
Mayor Maureen Freaney acknowledged the sticker shock but said the dollar amount tells a more measured story.
“I know 28% always sounds worse than $6.75 a month added onto $23.67,” Freaney said. “We looked at labor, inflation, the disposal cost of Pinellas County, cost of recycling, all those things drove this cost, and it looks like it did it in the last two years, so it was kind of difficult.
“I had the same concerns. I talked to the city manager, because as I was reading the item I was just getting aggravated, even though we already looked at it in a workshop. Just because we had to deal with water, and we had to deal with wastewater, and we had to deal with stormwater, and you’re trying to do the right thing for the residents. And reclaimed stands out as one we could have jumped on all over sooner,” Freaney observed.
She noted staff is already considering shorter forecasting windows “so we’re better able to catch this quickly, so it’s not all hitting everybody at once.”
During public comments, one resident said the comparison rates cited by the city included municipalities with much larger populations than Dunedin. Others asked whether cuts or changes to the recycling program could reduce costs.
A second reading is scheduled March 19.
