Bay County, FL Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)
Key Facts
- System type
- exclusive, county-operated (Sec. 22-85)
- Legal basis
- 1985 solid waste bond ordinance, Ord. 85-04
- Funding mechanism
- annual disposal special assessment
- Tax-exempt property
- still subject to the assessment (Sec. 22-87)
- Leased-to-government property
- owner still liable (Sec. 22-86)
- Fill-material exception
- dirt/sand used to raise elevation, if permitted
Summary
Every property owner in unincorporated Bay County must funnel their solid waste through the county's own disposal and resource recovery system, Code Sec. 22-85 makes that exclusive countywide. Sec. 22-88 turns that into a personal duty: owners must deliver waste at the intervals and by the means the county's other collection ordinances and rate resolution fix, funded through an annual disposal special assessment.
Except as provided in any implementation of section 22-89, it is hereby declared that the disposal of solid waste collected or generated by any person or any governmental agencies within the county, or brought into the county, shall be exclusively through the solid waste disposal and resource recovery system. ... Sec. 22-88. - Duty to deliver waste. The annual disposal special assessments relate only to the receipt and disposition by the county of solid waste. It is the duty of every owner of real property to cause all solid waste for which he is responsible to be delivered to the system at the intervals and by the means and subject to any regulations fixed by other ordinances of the county.
Full Breakdown
Adopted under a 1985 bond ordinance (Ord. No. 85-04) that financed the county's solid waste disposal and resource recovery system, Sec. 22-85 declares that solid waste generated by any person or government agency in the county, or brought into it, must go exclusively through that county system, citing the health, pollution and land-value harms of scattered private disposal facilities. Sec. 22-88 makes that concrete for property owners: each one has a duty to deliver all solid waste for which they're responsible to the system, on the schedule and by the means fixed by other county ordinances, tied to the annual disposal special assessment billed against the property rather than a per-pickup fee.
Owning tax-exempt real property does not excuse an owner from the assessment or the delivery duty under Sec. 22-87, and owners who lease property to a government agency remain fully bound under Sec. 22-86. A narrow exemption in Sec. 22-89 covers people transporting fill material, sand, dirt, broken brick or pavement, solely to raise land elevation under an existing permit; that isn't treated as solid waste under this article. Special waste that the county can't lawfully accept is handled under Sec. 22-90 instead, potentially with its own surcharge folded into the rate resolution.
Violations & Fines
Failing to deliver solid waste to the system "within a reasonable period of time" is itself declared unlawful under Sec. 22-91 and punished through the county's general penalty, Sec. 1-6: up to a $500.00 fine, up to 60 days in jail, or both, with continuing noncompliance chargeable as a separate offense each day. Nonpayment of the annual disposal special assessment does not exempt a property from the mandatory-delivery duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a private trash hauler instead of Bay County's system?
Does the special assessment apply to tax-exempt property?
If my land is leased to a government agency, do I still owe the assessment?
Is dumping fill dirt to raise my lot considered solid waste disposal here?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bay County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Bay County to another location·View the Florida trash & recycling overview
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