East Dundee extends garbage collection fee for another year

East Dundee will continue charging homeowners for garbage collection services for at least another year, despite voters' support last month for repealing the fee.

The $19.90 monthly charge was implemented last September to help fill a budget shortfall. The ordinance included a sunset clause that would have kicked in at the end of the month if trustees hadn't voted this week to extend it until April 30, 2019.

In March, 594 of 895 voters supported an advisory referendum question asking if the controversial garbage fee should be revoked. Residents previously were not charged directly for refuse services.

Trustees have agreed to reconsider the fee annually, saying they hope it eventually will be no longer needed. But during recent budget discussions, the village board identified several financial priorities that warranted maintaining the fee for fiscal year 2019, which begins May 1, Village Administrator Jennifer Johnsen said.

"We had to look at it as a holistic approach," she said. "There really wasn't room to roll back the fee."

The new budget includes a roughly $325,000 program to patch and repair roads - deferred projects that are becoming more crucial because of the harsh winter, Johnsen said. The village also expects to budget for a $250,000 surplus each year to start replenishing its reserves.

The garbage fee is expected to generate about $300,000 in the next fiscal year - about $9,000 less than the village's projected expenses for refuse services, she said. The charge appears on residents' bimonthly water and sewer bills. People 65 and older are eligible for a 25 percent discount.

Village officials also agreed to look into altering their refuse services to lower costs for homeowners. Using a sticker program or a smaller garbage can could be cheaper than the village's current "take-all" program, Johnsen said.

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, a former village trustee who submitted the paperwork for the nonbinding referendum, said the residents have spoken. Extending the fee should not have even been considered, he said.

The village will do its best to reduce program costs, Johnsen said, but the money has to come from somewhere.

"We obviously know the residents aren't happy about taking on the extra fee," she said. "If we had more options to us, or if we had a different funding situation, we'd be talking about rolling the fee back based on the referendum results. We're not in a position to be able to do that."