Brownsville has run its own municipal landfill since 1979, and at roughly 275 acres taking close to half a million tonnes a year it serves not just the city but Los Fresnos, Harlingen and other neighbouring communities.

For residents the arrangement is straightforward. Households on city collection billed through the Public Utilities Board are not charged for accepted waste they haul themselves — bring the PUB utility bill as proof when you arrive at the scale house.

Everyone else pays by weight, and this is where our previous figure needs a caveat. The city's published tipping fee was thirty dollars per tonne in the 2024-25 financial year. Brownsville then adopted a capital improvement programme funded by a four per cent tipping fee rise every year for five years, which means the rate being charged today is higher than thirty dollars and the exact current figure is not published anywhere public.

Treat thirty dollars as a floor rather than a quote, and ring the landfill for the real number before committing a commercial load.

The site is more than a hole in the ground. It operates a compost facility programme and a scrap tyre processing and storage facility, so material that would be refused at smaller transfer stations often has a route here.

Landfill revenue is a significant part of the city's budget, which is why the tipping fee schedule is reviewed and lifted annually rather than left alone.