Much to the dismay of Highlands County residents, the fees for waste and recycling will increase nearly 19 percent in the coming year and the costs for those services will keep climbing over the next 10 years.

At a recent commission meeting, one by one, residents like Beth Degnan urged county commissioners to rethink signing a 10 year contract with Florida Waste Solutions.

"So you guys are bankrupting me on the garbage tax. I live alone with one cat. I maybe put my garbage can out once a month," she said.

The company says it needs to increase fees close to 19 percent in one year’s time and then continue to increase in smaller increments until year 10 of the new contract.

Other residents voiced frustrations saying when the county first went with Florida Waste Solutions, trash pickup was twice a week. Now it’s just once and taxpayers never got a break on tax bills.

Commissioner Chairman Don Elwell said he understood residents’ concerns but assured them a new fee of $280 annually is still a good deal.

"Well, it's going to be $280 versus the $236. So we're hoping that it's not going to bankrupt a whole lot of folks, but we do understand too. I hate to say it, but it is the best deal around that we could that the county staff and everybody could negotiate," Elwell said.

The new fee will kick in on November 1.

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