Lake Worth Beach staff proposes 50% reduction for wrong‑day trash citations, seeks cost data

Vice Mayor Mimi May asked staff to address recent fines for wrong‑day trash and vegetation pickups and to return with data so commissioners could consider relief for residents. Perry, a city staff member, told the commission that staff is "looking at recommending at least up to 50% reduction in their cost" once the list of fined households is compiled and reviewed on an individual basis.

Staff emphasized they are still collecting the cost‑of‑service figures needed to set a new fee schedule and said pickups on Wednesdays and Saturdays continue as scheduled. Brown, another staff member, reported high citation volumes: "we had a total of 72 citations that were written" the day after the prior meeting and similar totals on the next enforcement day, underlining the tally staff must scrub and reconcile.

Commissioners discussed how to credit past fines if the commission reduces fees going forward and whether the reprieve should include October while an outreach campaign is rolled out. Vice Mayor May and Commissioner Anthony Segreige supported a robust public education push — including postcards with QR codes and door hangers at cited properties — to reduce future violations. Perry said staff will work with public works and communications and bring formal recommendations back to the commission before any final action.

The commission also raised equity concerns after staff data indicated enforcement concentrations: Vice Mayor May said the first dataset of roughly 700 pickups showed "58% of them were in Zone 3," prompting questions about operational or outreach gaps in that area. Staff said they will analyze the zonal differences as part of the data review and return with recommendations.