Three months after the Jacksonville City Council raised rates of residential trash hauling to address a growing city subsidization for the service, a Council committee launched an examination of nonresidential trash fees May 6.
Will Lahnen, chair of the Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee, said his goal in starting the conversation was to ensure that the fees being charged to local businesses were covering the city’s costs of providing service.
He said balancing the fees and costs could help trim the city’s property tax rate by reducing the amount of tax revenue the city is spending to make up the difference.
“If a fee isn’t covering the cost, we’re still paying for it,” he said. “It’s essentially just becoming a subsidy out of the general fund, like we talked about at length on the residential trash fee.
“Hopefully, this is a first step to have a line of sight on how to get the millage rate lower.”
How fees compare
Eric Fuller, city landfill environmental manager, gave a presentation showing that the “tipping” fee in Duval County, a term for the per-ton charge for dumping waste into the Trail Ridge Landfill, has increased 43 cents since being established in 2008. Among other categories, the fee stands at $30.30 for nonresidential waste and $22.71 for construction and demolition debris.
The landfill is owned by the city and operated under contract by WM, formerly known as Waste Management.
Fuller displayed a graphic showing that Jacksonville’s tipping fee for most types of waste was lower than the state average, in several cases significantly.
The state average for construction and demolition debris is $76.23, for example, more than three times higher than the fee for Trail Ridge.
Among other categories, the state average for petroleum-contaminated soils is $101.22 to Jacksonville’s $41.43; the average for waste from out-of-county is $76.50 to Jacksonville’s $30.30; and the average for “white goods,” a term for household appliances, is $68 to Jacksonville’s $20.
The only category in which the city was higher than the state average was asbestos, at $282.48 per ton versus the state’s $170.78.
Elsewhere, a fee for small commercial businesses and multifamily properties, where trash can be collected similar to residential properties, is $14.90 per month or $178.81 per multifamily unit per year, slightly higher than the rate when it was first established in 1996.
According to information from Fuller, the city services about 2,200 premises at that rate. The fee is similar to the $12.65 residential monthly fee that Council voted in February to increase on a stepped-in basis to $27 this year, $29.50 and $32 in 2027.
Another fee charged to some Downtown businesses has been in place since the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Fees stuck in place
Council member Jimmy Peluso said he was pleased the fees were under review.
“When you are caught off guard, you have to increase the fee higher than you would have if you’d gradually increased it,” he said.
Lahnen said the next step was to obtain figures on the revenue being generated by the various fees to see whether it was covering costs.
“If someone’s paying a tipping fee that’s not covering the true costs, these taxpayers over here who did not get that service provided are paying part of that service provided to that individual or that company,” he said.
Lahnen said it was concerning to see fee levels that had been stuck in place for years or only slightly modified.
“Some fees out there, I was in the Navy the last time they were adjusted,” he said. “I won’t make a wood ship joke, but it’s been a while.”
A former nuclear submarine officer, Lahnen’s last year on active duty was 2010.
Residential fees rising
Before voting to raise the residential fee, Council for years had been addressing a growing gap in the cost of providing service with a “loan” of tax dollars from the city general fund.
The result was a growing obligation to pay back the subsidization, for which the city was legally barred from using general fund revenue to cover.
The annual cost of the “loan,” according to Council auditors, had grown from $3 million in 2017 to about $36 million in 2024 and was on track to surpass $500 million by 2031.
Council approved the increase with a divided vote on Ordinance 2025-0001. The legislation set a public hearing on the proposed increase for May 27, after which Council will take a vote on the proposed fee. Assuming it passes, the $27 fee will appear on city residents’ tax bills next year.
Council members also approved companion legislation, Ordinance 2025-0002, which allows households earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level to seek an exemption that freezes the fee at $12.65.
During the May 6 committee hearing, member Matt Carlucci said he had heard overwhelming praise from local residents to Council for curtailing the subsidization and raising the residential fee.
Carlucci, a member of the Transportation Committee, introduced the legislation and steered it through the Council process.
“People just like it when the right thing gets done,” he said.