Should Tinley Pay to Haul Your Yard Waste? The Gist

The village of Tinley Park is checking whether it would be cheaper for homeowners to pay to have their own yard waste hauled off or to keep including it in everybody's monthly refuse bill.

Currently, residents pay $20.63 per month for all curbside pick-up, be it garbage, recycling or yard waste. The village is getting prices from Nu Way Disposal to see how much it would cost to take the yard waste out of the general bill and have individuals pay Nu Way to haul off yard waste on a per-bag basis (stickers or somesuch).

They have this chance now because they're nearing the end of the five-year refuse contract with Nu Way and have a chance to renew it for another five years at the same rate.

WHO VS. WHO

In this case, it's folks who have a lot of yard waste to haul vs. folks who don't.

Should folks with tiny lawns have to pay for their neighbors who plop bag after bag of yard waste on the curb every other week? Should folks with big lawns have to pay more for municipal services just because they want to maintain their property?

NUMBAHS

What type of numbers are we talking about here? Dunno. Village staff still has to get an estimate from Nu Way.

But here's what we do know about Nu Way's charges (all from Tinley Park village staff research):

WITH YARD WASTE:

Nu Way charges Tinley Park residents $20.63 per month for unlimited garbage, recycling and yard waste hauling.

They charge Homer Glen residents $23.99 per month for the same package and Oak Forest residents $19.23 a month. (The Oak Forest contract is up this year and needs to be re-negotiated, Tinley Park Assistant Village Manager Steve Tilton said. With current gas prices, he doubts they'll get that same deal again.)

WITHOUT YARD WASTE:

They charge Mokena residents $15.38 per month for unlimited garbage and recycling hauling, with a $2.05 per bag yard waste fee. That's a 10-year contract Mokena entered in 2005.

They charge New Lenox residents $15.10 per month for unlimited recycling hauling with a $1.75 per bag yard waste fee and $1.75 for each cart of garbage after the first. Also, the village directly pays Nu Way $165,000 a year to subsidize the costs to homeowners.

ANOTHER TIDBIT TO CONSIDER:

Tinley Park's current system – including the yard waste in the monthly bill – means it's a better deal some months than others.

"From November to April you don't have yard waste, but we're still paying for it," village board Budget and Administration Committee Chair Patty Leone said.

WHY NOW?

The village's five-year contract with Nu Way expires Sept. 30. The village can renew the contract for another five years under the same deal (5-percent increase a year), can ask Nu Way how much it would cost to change the deal (like removing yard waste from it, for one example) or spin the wheel and re-bid the whole contract.

But, village staff warned, renewing the current contract – with or without yard waste – will likely be the best option. Any company bidding on the waste hauling contract will have to charge based on 2011 costs (read: today's gas prices), rather than the 2006 costs that led to the current deal.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next, the village gets those numbers from Nu Way to see how much it would save to cut yard waste hauling out of the contract. From there, it's a decision of whether it's worth it.

Any decision will come over the next few weeks or months because they have to have a plan in place by the time the current contract expires at the end of September.

SO ...