Aldermen say volume-based garbage fee could fund tax rebate

Chicago's $9.50-a-month garbage collection fee should be replaced by a volume-based, "pay-as-you-throw" fee for each container to encourage recycling and bankroll a citywide property tax rebate, aldermen suggested Tuesday.

Tired of waiting for a deadlocked Illinois General Assembly to double the homeowners' exemption, nine aldermen are moving to take matters into their own hands.

They're demanding City Council hearings on their fallback plan for a citywide property tax rebate to shield owner-occupied households whose annual incomes do not exceed $100,000 from an already-approved $588 million property tax increase for police and fire pensions and school construction.

Plan B is similar to the widely ignored 2010 plan offered by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. Daley set aside $35 million for rebate checks, but only $2.1 million was distributed because most homeowners didn't bother to apply.

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