If the city misses your trash day, should you still get a ticket? Council takes up Young's bill Nov. 9

Philadelphians can be fined for trash and recycling problems at their curb, such as setting materials out at the wrong time or letting them pile up. A bill from 5th District Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. would cancel those fines when the city is the one that missed the pickup. It gets a hearing Monday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. before the Committee on Streets and Services in Room 400 of City Hall (meeting page).

This has happened before. During widespread pickup delays in June 2021, the city still issued more than 1,000 tickets for trash-related offenses, Billy Penn reported. The Streets Department said enforcement had been "relaxed, but not halted." Residents who dispute a fine can appeal to the Office of Administrative Review, but they must show they were not at fault, Billy Penn reported at the time.

What Bill 260698 would do

From the bill text:

• Missed collection. A pickup counts as missed if trash or recycling set out for the scheduled day isn't collected by 11:59 p.m. A partial pickup counts as missed for whatever is left behind. A schedule change announced on or after the collection day doesn't count.
• The exemption window. Fines for violations from the start of the missed collection day until the materials are finally picked up would be canceled. That covers set-out times, containers, bags, separation of recyclables, weight limits and piled-up trash.
• No application needed. Where city records show the pickup was missed, the agency would cancel the fine on its own. Relief couldn't depend on whether the resident put the trash out properly.
• Refunds. Fines already paid would be refunded within 60 days, with late charges and collection costs canceled too.
• Limits. It wouldn't touch fines issued before the missed collection day, commercial pickup, or private haulers.
• Records. The collecting agency would have to keep records of collection days, misses and catch-up pickups.

The law would take effect 60 days after enactment and apply only to missed collections after that.

What our records add

• Status. Young introduced the bill Sept. 17. He is its only sponsor, and this is its first hearing, 53 days after introduction.
• Earlier trash votes. Council has mostly added enforcement tools. Bill 250439, from Mark Squilla, allows camera enforcement against vehicles stopped for short dumping and passed 16-0 in June 2025. Bill 250843-AA, from Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Squilla, requires locking dumpsters and passed with 14 votes and no opposition in March.
• Leaf season. The city's fall leaf program runs Nov. 2 through Dec. 19. West Philadelphia's curbside week is Nov. 9 to 13. Leaves set out in bags or containers at the curb are collected as trash, not recycled, the city says (leaf program).

Also on the Nov. 9 agenda

• Boats and RVs. Cindy Bass's Bill 260765 would add the 8th District to the city's limits on parking boats, motor homes, campers and recreational trailers on the street. Squilla's Bill 260854 changes the rules for towing or immobilizing boats, motor homes, truck campers and vending carts.
• A sidewalk café. Johnson and Katherine Gilmore Richardson's Bill 260830, near 2655 S. 18th St.
• A street name. Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau's Bill 260831 would rename Osler Circle, near Civic Center and Curie boulevards, to Roberts Way.
• Other items. Encroachment bills for 3001 Chestnut St. (260761) and 1849 Walnut St. (260797), a Hartwell Lane street-plan change (260801), and Bill 250099, a two-way traffic change on Dupont Street held in committee since 2025.

Young's speed camera fine cut, Bill 260699, is not on this agenda.

What's next

A bill approved in committee needs a first reading and then a second reading at a later stated meeting before a final vote. Council meets Nov. 12 and Nov. 19. To report a missed pickup, call 311.