{"id":338667,"date":"2026-07-13T17:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338667\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T17:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:57:07","slug":"twice-a-week-trash-pickup-in-port-st-lucie-voters-could-get-a-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338667\/","title":{"rendered":"Twice-a-week trash pickup in Port St. Lucie? Voters could get a say"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Port St. Lucie residents could soon get a chance to weigh in on whether the city should return to twice-a-week trash pickup<\/a> \u2014 but it may come at a cost.<\/p>\n

The Port St. Lucie<\/a> City Council is expected to vote Monday on whether to place a straw ballot question on the November ballot asking residents if they support switching from once-a-week trash collection to twice-weekly service.<\/p>\n

The results would not be binding, but city officials say the straw poll would give them a clearer picture of where residents stand before making a final decision.<\/p>\n

If the city moves forward with twice-a-week trash pickup, Port St. Lucie says each resident\u2019s solid waste assessment fee would increase by at least $131 a year starting in 2028, with additional increases expected in later years. The change would require the city to add Saturday trash collection to the weekly schedule.<\/p>\n

The proposed ballot question comes after years of frustration over trash service in Port St. Lucie.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the city decided how to return a $24 million settlement from its former trash hauler, Waste Pro, to residents<\/a>. The City Council voted to distribute the money through property tax credits instead of sending checks in the mail. The settlement followed a lawsuit the city filed against Waste Pro after years of complaints about unreliable service and missed pickups. Waste Pro was replaced by FCC Environmental Services in 2022. <\/p>\n

Some residents previously urged the city to use part or all of the Waste Pro<\/a> settlement to help pay for a second weekly trash pickup day. But city leaders rejected that option, saying it would only provide a short-term fix. Once the settlement money ran out, the city could be forced back to once-a-week service or have to revisit the trash contract again. <\/p>\n

See also: Stomach parasite sickens at least 60 in Florida as cases climb nationwide<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, roughly 95,000 eligible properties are expected to receive a tax-roll credit. According to the city\u2019s earlier proposal, about 57,000 homeowners who remained at the same property since the 2022 tax roll would receive an estimated $364 credit, while about 38,000 other eligible properties could receive an estimated $64 credit. <\/p>\n

The current straw ballot proposal asks whether residents would support increasing the solid waste assessment by at least $131 in 2028 to amend the city\u2019s contract and provide twice-weekly residential trash pickup citywide. The service change would not apply to bulk, recycling or yard waste collections. <\/p>\n

If approved by the council, the question would go before voters in November. The final decision on whether to change trash service would still rest with city leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Port St. Lucie residents could soon get a chance to weigh in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-338667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}