Melbourne City Council Resolution No. 4448: Solid Waste Rates for 2027 Approved on October 13

The Melbourne City Council approved Resolution No. 4448 on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The resolution sets new solid waste service rates under the city's franchise agreement with Waste Management. It was item C.11.k on the consent agenda, and the city's Summary of Action lists it as approved. The new rates apply to billings made on or after January 1, 2027. The monthly residential collection rate rises from $17.93 to $18.47 per unit. Resolution No. 4448 replaces the rates set by Resolution No. 4384.

What Resolution No. 4448 Does

The resolution adopts a schedule of monthly rates for residential and commercial solid waste service. Section 2 states that the rates are effective on billings made on or after January 1, 2027. It also states that they supersede the rates in Resolution No. 4384 until further amendments are adopted. Section 3 states that the resolution itself takes effect upon adoption under the Charter of the City of Melbourne.

The City Manager's item report for the resolution came from the Public Works and Utilities Department. It states that Waste Management proposed a 3 percent rate adjustment for January 1, 2027. City staff reviewed the company's supporting calculations. The report states that staff found them to be congruent with the language in the agreement. The item was not a public hearing and was not a quasi-judicial matter.

Waste Management sent its rate notice to City Manager Jenni Lamb in a letter dated July 29, 2026. The letter states that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, known as CPI-U, serves as the basis for a 3.0 percent adjustment. A supporting sheet in the agenda packet uses the U.S. city average index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It shows an index of 322.561 for June 2025 and 333.952 for June 2026. That is a change of 3.53 percent. The sheet then applies a 3 percent limit, so the CPI change applied to the rates is 3.00 percent.

The Legal Framework: City Code Section 48-53 and the Franchise Agreement

The resolution cites Section 48-53 of the Melbourne City Code. Its opening clauses state that this section provides a billing procedure for solid waste collection services. They also state that Section 48-53(d) requires the schedule of rates for solid waste services to be authorized by resolution of the City Council. The item report adds that the rates are adopted this way from time to time.

The rates are tied to a franchise agreement with Waste Management. The resolution states that the agreement was adopted by Ordinance No. 2021-56. According to the item report, the agreement has a seven year term that began on January 1, 2022. It also includes a three year renewal option that both parties must agree to. The report describes 2027 as the sixth year of the contract.

The item report cites Articles 16.3.1 and 16.3.2 of the agreement. These articles provide for an annual rate adjustment for residential and commercial services. Each adjustment is limited to the lower of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index or 3 percent. The report states that this applies beginning January 1, 2023, and every year after that.

Two other parts of the agreement affect city revenue. Under Article 15, the city receives 10 percent of gross revenues collected for all residential and commercial solid waste services. Article 16.1.4 allows a billing fee for each bill the city sends to a residential customer. The item report states that this billing fee is also subject to the CPI adjustment.

What the New Rates Mean for Residential and Commercial Customers

The rate table in Resolution No. 4448 lists rates per month per unit. For residential customers, the rate covers solid waste, recycling, and yard waste collection, including back-door service. The table lists these monthly rates, with the prior rates from Resolution No. 4384 shown for comparison.

• Residential collection: $18.47 per unit, up from $17.93.

• Supplemental recycling service for multi-family properties: $3.93, up from $3.81.

• Commercial carts, with a minimum of 2 cubic yards per week: $4.86 per cubic yard, up from $4.73.

• Commercial mechanical containers, including multi-family: $4.86 per cubic yard, up from $4.73.

• Front-end loaded compactor containers: $5.86 per cubic yard, up from $5.70.

For residential customers, the monthly rate goes up by 54 cents per unit. For commercial business customers, the cart and mechanical container rates rise by 13 cents per cubic yard. The compactor container rate rises by 16 cents per cubic yard.

The table also sets flat monthly rates for roll-off containers. Roll-off open top containers are $357.08 for 15 cubic yards, $459.98 for 20 cubic yards, $515.08 for 30 cubic yards, and $533.78 for 40 cubic yards. Under Resolution No. 4384, the 15 cubic yard rate was $346.68 and the 40 cubic yard rate was $518.23. Roll-off compactor containers range from $358.11 for 15 cubic yards to $445.58 for 40 cubic yards. Those two rates were $347.68 and $432.60 under the prior resolution.

The item report also estimates the effect on city funds. It uses budgeted amounts for Fiscal Year 2026. On that basis, a 3 percent increase in solid waste rates would bring about $36,000 per year in added franchise fee revenue to the General Fund. A 3 percent increase in the billing fee would bring about $11,400 per year in added billing fee revenue to the Water and Sewer Fund.

How the Rates Were Approved and What Comes Next

Council took up the resolution at its regular meeting in the City Hall Council Chamber, 900 E. Strawbridge Avenue. The agenda listed a 6:30 p.m. start. The Summary of Action lists no items under Items Removed from the Consent Agenda. It records Resolution No. 4448 as approved and notes that Council Member Mark LaRusso was absent. The Summary of Action does not list a vote count for the consent agenda.

The same steps were followed in 2025. On October 14, 2025, Council approved Resolution No. 4384 on its consent agenda. The minutes of that meeting state that the motion carried unanimously. That year's item report described a 2.67 percent CPI adjustment for January 1, 2026. It estimated about $29,000 per year in added franchise fee revenue.

Under Section 2 of Resolution No. 4448, the new rates remain in place unless and until further amendments are adopted. The item report states that the agreement provides for a rate adjustment every year, limited to the lower of the CPI increase or 3 percent.

The full rate table appears in Resolution No. 4448 on pages 215 and 216 of the October 13, 2026 agenda packet on the city's CivicClerk portal. The city's Utility Billing page lists customer service at (321) 608-7100 and CustomerService@mlbfl.org for questions about utility bills.