Ellis County, Texas — Waste Franchise & Dumpster Restriction Tracker
This page tracks 3 Ellis County cities in the Texas Waste Freedom Project database, of which 3 are currently rated an Exclusive Market. For each city we track the waste provider, whether temporary construction roll-off dumpsters appear to be included, franchise fees, the relevant ordinance, and the source documents — using careful, sourced language. Always verify current requirements with the city.
Alma, Texas
An operator reports that the City of Alma had a police officer hand-deliver a letter (also mailed) stating the city has a franchise agreement with Republic Services and that the operator must use Republic for dumpster service. The letter is on file; the ordinance/franchise still needs verification.
View details →Midlothian, Texas
The City of Midlothian requires every home and business inside the city limits to use a single, city-designated hauler. Under § 13.06.001(b) of the city code, all residential, commercial, and industrial premises “shall be required to use the solid waste disposal and recycling services provided by the City through a company designated in a franchise” — currently Waste Connections Lone Star, Inc. Records released under a Texas Public Information Act request confirm the arrangement in detail: the hauler pays the city a franchise fee of 10% of gross revenues collected in the city, built into published customer rates, plus free trash service for every city facility and city event. The city’s ledger shows $390,969.23 in garbage franchise fees for fiscal year 2019–20, the most recent full year in the release. The same records show the city actively enforcing the exclusive against competing haulers: the franchised hauler reports rival roll-off containers to city staff, and staff use code enforcement, the building-permit process, and the threat of stop-work “red tag” orders to have them removed. This is a factual summary of public records, not an allegation of wrongdoing — enforcing an exclusive municipal franchise is lawful.
View details →Waxahachie, Texas
The City of Waxahachie is the defendant in a pending Texas constitutional challenge to exclusive construction-dumpster franchises. According to the petition filed June 24, 2026 in the District Court of Ellis County (40th Judicial District, Cause No. 120964), the city entered an exclusive franchise agreement with Waste Connections LLC in October 2020, effective April 2021, and adopted Ordinance No. 3244 in January 2021 adding Sections 14-15 and 14-29 to the city code. The petition quotes Section 14-15 as granting the city's contracted agent the "sole and exclusive franchise, license and privilege" over "construction garbage" collection and as committing the city to "take any action necessary and appropriate to protect and enforce" that exclusivity, and states that Section 14-29 makes a violation a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $2,000 per violation per day. The plaintiffs allege the city enforced this against a contractor in December 2025 by threatening fines and a permit hold until a competitor's dumpster was swapped for the franchisee's. The suit claims violations of Article I, Sections 3, 19, and 26 of the Texas Constitution. These are allegations in a pending case; the city has not been found to have violated any law, and the franchise fee percentage has not yet been verified from city documents.
View details →Are you a contractor or homeowner in Ellis County?
If a city told you to remove a dumpster, use a specific hauler, or pay a fee, you can add it to the public record. Submissions are reviewed and reporters are kept anonymous.
Report a City Restriction