PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — Port St. Lucie homeowners are finding a flyer in their mailboxes explaining how the city’s $24 million settlement with its former trash hauler will show up on their property tax bill.

The credits are the result of the city’s lawsuit against Waste Pro, the company Port St. Lucie sued after two years of unreliable service and missed pickups. The two sides settled in April for $24 million, days before the case was set to go to trial.

In June, the City Council voted to return all of that money to residents through property tax credits rather than mailing checks. The settlement is being distributed over 95,000 eligible properties. According to the city’s proposal, about 57,000 homeowners who have stayed at the same property since the 2022 tax roll would receive an estimated $364 credit. Roughly 38,000 other eligible properties, including newer properties added to the tax roll and those approved through an eligibility claims process, would receive an estimated $64 credit.

That difference is the part homeowners are most likely to notice when the notice arrives. Not every property qualifies for the larger amount.

The decision to issue credits instead of checks drew loud objections at the June meeting. Residents told the council they wanted cash in hand. Only Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo supported that approach. Other council members raised concerns about the cost of printing and mailing tens of thousands of checks and the chance that payments could be lost or stolen. When the final vote was taken, boos and jeers came from the audience.

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Council members also agreed that none of the settlement money would be moved into the city’s general fund.

“It’s the taxpayers’ money. The taxpayers were the ones who were wronged,” Councilman Anthony Bonna said.

The credits are landing at the same time property owners across St. Lucie County are receiving their TRIM notices, the annual estimate of what they can expect to owe in property taxes.

Port St. Lucie’s current trash hauler is FCC Environmental Services. Residents have continued pressing the city over once-a-week pickup, and the council considered whether settlement money could pay for a second weekly collection day before rejecting that option, saying it would only work until the money ran out.

Voters are expected to weigh in on twice-weekly pickup through a straw ballot question in November.