Oviedo council moves to raise residential trash rates, delays hiring full-time solid-waste staffer

The Oviedo City Council directed staff to pursue a phased increase to residential trash rates while postponing the hire of a full-time solid-waste administrator, after reviewing a rate study showing the city's $25 monthly charge no longer covers rising hauling and landfill costs.

Consultant Tara Hollis of Uldan Financial Services told the council the city's residential customers average about 1.449 tons of waste per household per year and that the solid-waste fund had about $100,000 on hand as of Oct. 1, 2025. The study modeled two scenarios: one that includes adding a dedicated full-time employee and one that does not. With a dedicated position, Hollis said, the initial increase to stabilize the fund if implemented mid-year would be about $29.29 per household; the consultant projected an approximate five-year rate of $32.16. Without adding the full-time employee, the five-year projection was about $31.50 per month.

Council members questioned assumptions in the model, including contract escalators in the Waste Pro hauling contract, the possibility the county will begin charging tipping fees for recyclables in January 2027, and the timing of the next hauler contract negotiation. Several members said they were skeptical a single staff position would constitute full-time work given other ongoing duties.

Rather than immediately create a new full-time position, councilors reached a working consensus to implement the higher rate scenario and to fund a portion of an existing staff position out of the solid-waste fund (options discussed included roughly 0.25 to 0.5 FTE). Finance and public-works staff were directed to return with a formal rate ordinance, clear accounting to stop cross-subsidizing from other enterprise funds, and a reassessment after 2027 contract negotiations.

Hollis recommended annual, smaller rate adjustments tied to inflationary drivers rather than a single large multi-year increase. Staff also noted the fund should maintain a $40,000-$50,000 cushion for unexpected events such as storms that increase yard waste and tipping fees.

Next steps: staff will prepare the required public-notice language and a rate hearing, and will return with recommended ordinance language and a proposed partial-FTE accounting approach for council adoption and inclusion in the FY26-27 budget process.