Waxahachie, Texas Waste Franchise & Dumpster Restriction Tracker

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.

County

Ellis County

Population

Approx. 41,000 (needs verification)

Provider / franchise holder

Waste Connections

Parent company

Waste Connections, Inc.

Agreement type

Exclusive solid waste and recycling franchise with Waste Connections LLC (entered on or about October 5, 2020; effective on or about April 1, 2021), codified by Ordinance No. 3244

Exclusive status

Exclusive

Franchise fee

Percentage not yet verified. The petition alleges, on information and belief, that in exchange for granting the exclusive franchise the city receives a portion of the gross revenue in the form of franchise fees. The specific rate should be obtained from the franchise agreement or the city's fee schedule.

Freedom Index rating

🔴 Exclusive Market

Roll-off dumpsters mentioned

Needs verification

Temporary waste mentioned

Needs verification

Self-haul exception

Needs verification

City authorization required

Needs verification

According to the plaintiffs' petition, the Waxahachie City Council passed Ordinance No. 3244 on or about January 4, 2021, adding Sections 14-15 and 14-29 to the Code of Ordinances. The petition quotes Section 14-15 as providing that "[t]he City's contracted agent shall have the sole and exclusive franchise, license and privilege to provide … construction garbage … collection, removal, and disposal services," and further that "[t]he City shall take any action necessary and appropriate to protect and enforce the contracted agent's exclusive franchise, license, and privileges from infringement by any vendor." The petition states that under Section 14-29 a violation is punishable as a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $2,000.00 per violation per day. These are the plaintiffs' characterizations of the ordinance text as pleaded; the code sections should be read directly for full confirmation.

Relevant location: Chapter 14 — Garbage and Trash · Sections 14-15 and 14-29, added by Ordinance No. 3244 (passed and approved January 4, 2021), as cited in the plaintiffs' petition.

Code of Ordinances Municode

According to the petition, the City of Waxahachie entered into an exclusive franchise agreement with Waste Connections LLC on or about October 5, 2020, which became effective on or about April 1, 2021 following enactment of Ordinance No. 3244. The petition alleges the agreement designates Waste Connections as the exclusive provider for, among other services, roll-off construction dumpster rentals, and that the city receives a portion of the gross revenue in the form of franchise fees. The signed franchise agreement itself has not been obtained by this project; these terms are as alleged in the plaintiffs' pleading.

Construction dumpsters included: Yes.

According to the petition, Section 14-15 reaches "construction garbage" collection, removal, and disposal, and the franchise agreement designates Waste Connections as the exclusive provider of roll-off construction dumpster rentals. The plaintiffs allege that under Sections 14-15 and 14-29 it is illegal for any person or firm other than Waste Connections to offer roll-off construction dumpster rentals on a commercial basis within the city. This reflects the lawsuit's allegations and the quoted code text.

• According to the petition, on or about December 10, 2025 American AF Dumpsters delivered a temporary roll-off construction dumpster to a commercial construction project in Waxahachie under a paid contract with a construction contractor. The petition alleges a city inspector visited the site and threatened to fine the contractor, and to withhold a building permit, unless the American AF Dumpsters container was removed and replaced with a Waste Connections container. The petition states the contractor then cancelled the contract and that the $487.12 paid was refunded. (The contractor and the project are private parties and are not named here.)
• According to the petition, on or about January 6, 2026 the company's owner emailed the city's then Senior Director of Building and Community Services, Jason Watson, asking which code provisions prohibited it from offering temporary construction roll-off dumpsters. The petition alleges Mr. Watson responded the same day, invoking Section 14-29 as authorizing enforcement action based solely on vendor choice — even where no safety, sanitation, right-of-way, or nuisance issue was alleged — and Section 14-15 as prohibiting the activity. City officials acting in an official capacity are named on this site; private parties are not.
• The petition alleges the city actively enforces the arrangement against businesses renting, servicing, and hauling temporary roll-off construction dumpsters, and that violators face accruing fines of $2,000 per violation per day under Section 14-29. These are allegations in a pending case; no court has ruled on them.

Status: Lawsuit pending

Case: American AF Dumpster Rentals LLC and Joshua Roman v. City of Waxahachie (District Court of Ellis County, Texas, 40th Judicial District — Cause No. 120964 (filed June 24, 2026)). Case link

1. Franchise agreement entered · 2020-10-05
   According to the petition, the city entered into an exclusive solid waste and recycling franchise agreement with Waste Connections LLC on or about this date.
2. Ordinance No. 3244 adopted · 2021-01-04
   According to the petition, the City Council passed and approved Ordinance No. 3244, adding Sections 14-15 and 14-29 to the Code of Ordinances.
3. Franchise agreement takes effect · 2021-04-01
   According to the petition, the franchise agreement became effective on or about this date.
4. Enforcement at a commercial job site · 2025-12-10
   According to the petition, a city inspector threatened fines and a permit hold against a contractor unless an American AF Dumpsters container was swapped for a Waste Connections container; the contract was cancelled and $487.12 refunded.
5. City official cites the code in writing · 2026-01-06
   According to the petition, the city's then Senior Director of Building and Community Services responded to an inquiry by invoking Sections 14-15 and 14-29, stating enforcement could rest solely on vendor choice.
6. Franchise renewed · 2026-01-06
   According to the petition, the city renewed the exclusive franchise agreement with Waste Connections on or about this date, effective on or about April 2026.
7. Lawsuit filed · 2026-06-24
   American AF Dumpster Rentals LLC and Joshua Roman, represented by the Institute for Justice, filed suit in the District Court of Ellis County, Texas (40th Judicial District), Cause No. 120964, alleging the arrangement violates Article I, Sections 3, 19, and 26 of the Texas Constitution.

News coverage and published reporting that specifically references this city’s waste ordinance, franchise, or dumpster rules.

• Waxahachie Entrepreneur Sues City Over Unconstitutional Construction Dumpster Monopoly
  Institute for Justice · 2026-06-24

  IJ press release announcing that Josh Roman and American AF Dumpster Rentals sued Waxahachie over its exclusive construction-dumpster franchise.

• Texas Construction Dumpsters Monopoly — Case Page
  Institute for Justice · 2026-06-24

  IJ case page detailing the constitutional challenge to Waxahachie's exclusive franchise with Waste Connections.

• Short Circuit: Waxahachie's Construction Dumpster Monopoly Headlines a New IJ Case
  Reason (The Volokh Conspiracy) · 2026-06-26

  IJ's weekly Short Circuit column leads with the new Waxahachie case and the Texas Constitution's ban on monopolies.

• Texarkana's waste contract gives Waste Management exclusive rights, and the city a 10 percent cut
  TXK Today (Texarkana Today) · 2026-06-25

  A review of Texarkana's franchise contract that uses the Waxahachie lawsuit as its frame, reporting that the two arrangements are built the same way — an exclusive right reaching construction roll-offs, a city that enforces it against competitors, and a city that takes a share of the revenue. Also embeds the Waxahachie petition.

• Plaintiffs' Original Petition and Application for Permanent Injunction, American AF Dumpster Rentals LLC and Joshua Roman v. City of Waxahachie, Cause No. 120964 (Dist. Ct., Ellis County, Tex., 40th Jud. Dist., filed June 24, 2026)Court filingLawsuit Allegation
• Institute for Justice case page — Texas Construction Dumpsters MonopolyCase pageConfirmed by contract
• Institute for Justice press release — Waxahachie Entrepreneur Sues City Over Unconstitutional Construction Dumpster Monopoly (June 24, 2026)Press releaseReported by news
• City of Waxahachie Code of Ordinances, Chapter 14 — Garbage and Trash (§§ 14-15, 14-29; Ordinance No. 3244)OrdinanceNeeds verification
• Short Circuit: Waxahachie's Construction Dumpster Monopoly Headlines a New IJ Case (Reason / The Volokh Conspiracy, June 26, 2026)News reportReported by news
• Texarkana's waste contract gives Waste Management exclusive rights, and the city a 10 percent cut (TXK Today, June 25, 2026) — compares the Waxahachie case to Texarkana's franchiseNews reportReported by news

Waxahachie is the subject of the Institute for Justice's constitutional challenge to exclusive construction-dumpster franchises. The petition pleads three counts under the Texas Constitution: the Anti-Monopoly Clause (Art. I, § 26), the Equal Rights Clause (Art. I, § 3), and the Due Course of the Law of the Land Clause (Art. I, § 19), and seeks declaratory relief, a permanent injunction, and $1 nominal damages. Because Ordinance No. 3244 is challenged as unconstitutional, the Texas Attorney General was served under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 37.006(b). Per this project's standards, the private contractor and the commercial project involved in the December 2025 incident are not named, nor is the job-site address; the city official is named because he was acting in an official capacity. The franchise fee percentage has not yet been verified from city documents. Nothing here has been ruled on by a court.

Confidence level: Lawsuit Allegation · Verification status: Provider (Waste Connections LLC), exclusive status, ordinance chapter, and the specific code sections (§§ 14-15 and 14-29, added by Ordinance No. 3244) are now sourced to the filed petition, which quotes the ordinance text directly. Court, cause number, and filing date are confirmed from the filed petition. The franchise fee percentage and the signed franchise agreement remain unverified. Allegations in the petition are labeled as such — no court has ruled.

Have a correction, a source document, or first-hand experience with dumpster rules in Waxahachie? Help us verify this record.