Solid Waste Authority approves FY2026 budget, authorizes assessment and tip-fee rates; staff to bid vegetation options and merge service areas

The Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority board voted to approve the fiscal year 2026 proposed budget and to authorize assessment and tip-fee rates for inclusion on the upcoming trim notice. The board carried the motion 7-0 after staff outlined proposed rate increases, capital plans, changes to franchise service-area boundaries and alternative vegetation-collection options for the 2026 franchise contract.

Why it matters: the budget and rate decisions affect annual charges on property-owner notices, the authority’s capital program and how contractors will bid countywide collection services. The package funds capital projects, debt service and planned operations for the year ahead.

What staff presented: CFO Dan Dunkley reviewed fiscal 2025 highlights and fiscal 2026 proposals. He said special assessments make up roughly 65% of total revenue and recapped the current (fiscal 2025) assessment rates that the authority adopted last year: single-family residential $194 per year, multifamily $107, and mobile-home $184. For fiscal 2026, staff proposed an average 7.6% increase to collection assessments: staff listed a proposed single-family assessment of $277 per year, a multifamily assessment to $116, and mobile homes to $198. Dunkley also said staff proposes raising the direct-landfill special-waste tipping fee by $15, from $65 to $80 per ton, and that disposal revenue accounts for the majority of the overall revenue increase projected for the authority next year. Staff recommended not prepaying debt service in the coming year to retain funds in anticipation of constructing the REF-3 facility; that change reduces the debt-service-coverage ratio to about 1.69 but remains within commonly accepted credit thresholds.

Service-area consolidation: staff also recommended incorporating Service Area 5 (the Glades/South Bay area, currently operating under a cooperative agreement) into Service Area 2 for the fiscal 2026 budgeting and franchise solicitation cycle. Paul Gonsalves explained that South Bay’s own solicitation timing made it unlikely the city’s contract could be awarded in time for the authority’s trim-notice schedule; incorporating area 5 into area 2 preserves procurement and trim notice timelines and—according to staff’s modeling—would lower collection rates for current Service Area 5 households. Staff said it would negotiate operational transitions with the current hauler.

Vegetation service and franchise bid direction: staff sought board direction for vegetation limits going into the next collection contract. The authority’s current policy sets a 6-cubic-yard vegetation limit for regular weekly curbside service and allows residents to request paid removal estimates for volumes above that limit. Staff recommended retaining the 6-cubic-yard baseline, continuing the estimate program (staff said the haulers provide estimates within 72 hours) and offering an optional subscription for households that need a higher regular allowance (for example, up to 12 cubic yards). Staff warned that raising the standard countywide to 12 cubic yards would increase collection costs, reduce hauler competition and require more clamshell/grapple trucks, which are expensive and inefficient to operate. Staff recommended requesting alternate bids and pricing so the board can compare a standard 6-yard program, a 12-yard baseline and a subscription option when bids are returned.

Haulers and bidders at the meeting: representatives from Waste Management (Jeff Sabin), FCC Environmental Services (Joseph Sandora) and local firm Great State Waste (Jeff Mansfield) spoke. WM and FCC told the board that predictability and consistent bidding are important; they said tags and estimates are useful communications tools. FCC’s representative asked the board to favor the simplest, predictable structure because widely varying allowances can drive contract costs higher.

Board action and vote: Commissioner Woodward moved to approve the FY2026 proposed budget and continue the public hearing until August; Commissioner Weiss seconded. The motion was amended on the floor to also authorize the proposed assessments and tip-fee rates for the trim notice. The amended motion carried 7-0. As part of the budget package, the board also accepted staff’s plan to proceed toward incorporating Service Area 5 into Service Area 2 for the upcoming franchise contract.

Other budget items noted in the presentation: staff expects a capital-contribution payment of $2.6 million from biosolids partners toward a $3 million electrical-distribution project; staff requested two additional full-time equivalent operations positions (tractor-trailer drivers); and the capital budget for projects was discussed in the context of the REF-3 project.

What comes next: staff will finalize solicitation documents for the collection franchise and return with bid-alternate pricing for vegetation options (6-yard baseline, 12-yard baseline, and subscription-based alternatives) so the board can decide before awarding contracts. The authority will include the approved assessment and tipping fees on the trim notices scheduled for distribution.