Article updated: 1/23/2012 3:54 PM

State act could mean higher landscaping costs for suburbs

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Workers for a forestry firm hired by Mount Prospect pick up tree limbs and trunks on We Go Trail Avenue, debris left from a tornado in June 2011. Village officials say the cost of such work could increase under a stricter application of the state’s prevailing wage law.

Bill Zars | Staff Photographer

A contractor hired by Mount Prospect cuts branches from a damaged tree along Council Trail after a storm in August 2007. Village officials say the cost of such work could increase under a stricter application of the state’s prevailing wage law.

Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

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Municipalities that haven’t been paying the state-mandated prevailing wage rate for landscaping work could be facing higher labor costs this year, and several suburbs aren’t happy about it. “This is like a backdoor unfunded mandate,” Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Janonis said.