What can the City do about growth?
The City Council’s ability to restrict growth is limited by the property rights of landowners, most of which were decided many years ago.
Port St. Lucie was created when General Development Corporation (GDC) turned 66 square miles into primarily single-family lots in the 1960s, with little to no planning for commercial and employment centers.
From the 1980s to early 2000s, the City’s boundaries expanded with St. Lucie West and properties west of I-95 (such as Tradition, Southern Grove, Western Grove, Riverland and Wilson Groves). These areas are called Developments of Regional Impact (DRI), which include residential and commercial uses, giving residents more options to work and shop in the City.
The last DRI approved by the City Council was in 2007. This means that the rights of the owners to build homes and businesses on those properties were given almost 20 years ago. Those rights are called entitlements and it means that the property owner can build on those properties whenever they want and, as long as they build to code, the current City Council cannot take away or delay those rights.
Why do entitlements matter?
Imagine this: 20 years ago, an individual bought a piece of land zoned for residential use, with dreams of building a perfect retirement home.
Fast forward to today and they’re ready to bring that vision to life. But when they go to the City with the plans, the landowner is told, “Unfortunately, you can’t build here because we’ve decided this land should now be used for a park instead.”
The result would most likely be the individual taking legal action against the City to protect their rights to build on the property. The individual would probably win that case because they are entitled to build on that land and the City could face significant financial penalties for that decision.
Developers have the same rights. When they purchased land in the Developments of Regional Impact, the properties were already zoned for residential use. This zoning gave them the legal right to develop homes on that land, as planned.
While the current City Council has limited ability to alter or stop these approved projects, they do play an important role in shaping how they proceed. By adding conditions to these developments, the City Council can ensure that essential needs, like roads, parks, fire protection and public education, are addressed to benefit the community as a whole.
Who decides what I pay in taxes?
For Port St. Lucie residents there are several entities that can levy property taxes, including the County, the City, the public school district, the fire district and a few others.
The City of Port St. Lucie is only responsible for two items on your tax bill. In 2024-25, just 21% of your overall property tax bill goes to the City of Port St. Lucie.
Every year, the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser determines the value of residential and commercial properties based upon the current real estate market. Then the governmental agencies with taxing authority determine the rate the properties will be taxed.
The City of Port St. Lucie’s property tax rate has gone down for nine consecutive years. Since Fiscal Year 2015-16, the millage rate has dropped more than 1.5 mills from 6.6289 – a 25% reduction.
Today, the City of Port St. Lucie has the third-lowest municipal property tax rate when compared to the 20 largest cities in Florida.
Why are my taxes different than my neighbors?
When someone buys a new house and the title changes hands, the property gets reassessed to market value. That can result in different tax amounts in the same neighborhood.
When you buy a newly constructed home, your initial property tax assessment might be based on the value of the land. Once the home is complete, the property will be reassessed, leading to a higher tax bill. This can result in an unexpected increase in your mortgage payment if your taxes are escrowed.
What is the history behind trash pickup being once per week?
Waste Pro, the City’s former residential waste hauler (for example, trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk waste) operated within the City from 2006 until 2022.
Under Waste Pro’s franchise agreement with the City, Waste Pro was required to pick up solid waste (trash) twice per week at an agreed upon rate. The agreement between Waste Pro was scheduled to end in 2025. It is the City’s position that, in February 2022, Waste Pro improperly and prematurely terminated its agreement, effective September 2022. That termination and the circumstances surrounding the termination are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit between the City and Waste Pro.
As a result of Waste Pro’s termination of its contract with the City, the City was required to issue an emergency solicitation for a new waste hauler that could handle a population of the City’s size and scale (that is, the City is spread across an area of 120 square miles and had a population of over 230,000 people in 2022). FCC Environmental Services was awarded the contract and currently serves as the City’s waste hauling company, providing once per week pickup under its contract.
Why is trash picked up once per week instead of twice per week?
Prior to the transition to FCC and while Waste Pro was still the City’s residential waste hauler, the City created its own Solid Waste Task Force to make recommendations to the City Manager on shaping the future of the City’s solid waste program. Part of its work included an assessment of how often solid waste should be picked up.
The task force found that collecting trash twice per week requires more equipment, more workers, and consequently, results in higher costs for residents – approximately $130 per year per household.
The task force also researched how often other cities throughout the state were collecting solid waste and found that many had already switched to a once per week pickup – from larger cities like Jacksonville and Orlando and mid-size cites like Tallahassee, to smaller municipalities like Key West and Stuart. As a result, the task force concluded that the transition to a once per week pickup was the most efficient and cost-effective measure for our City.
In 2024, the annual Community Survey asked residents if they would be willing to pay the estimated additional cost for twice per week pickup, and an overwhelming 86% of respondents said no.
While moving to once per week collection has been a transition for some residents, for many others it meets their needs and does not cost them an additional $130 per year. Residents who require more than one pickup per week can request an additional bin for $75.