The City's New Garbage Fee Is Being Incorrectly Double- And Triple-Billed

^{Bill Dahms studies his new garbage bill with his cat, Barbie.  Dahms said he was overcharged.} 

OLD IRVING PARK — When Chicago rolled out its new garbage collection fee in April, property owners across the city braced for heftier utility bills.

But for some residents, the sticker shock was more painful than expected.

Because it was wrong.

Across Chicago, residents are reporting mistakes on their new bills. The most common error: Single-family homeowners charged for multiunit dwellings, resulting in bills two and three times higher than they should be.

Depending on a property owner's billing cycle and given that the fee — $9.50 per month per unit — is being assessed retroactive to January, some folks are looking at errors that run into the triple digits.

Reporter Patty Wetli details problems with the garbage billing.

The city said the discrepancies stem from residents being billed through a city database, not the Cook County assessor's. There's a website for property owners to verify the accuracy of their bill, the city said, but some residents ask: What if I'm not online?

Suzi Wahl, who owns a duplex in West Town, was charged the garbage collection fee for four units instead of two — and her case isn't unique.

Nearly a dozen of her neighbors chimed in on Facebook with similar stories, and according to staffer Kerri Stojack in the 32nd Ward office, a similar number of constituents have called in to complain about being overcharged.

^{This homeowner converted a three-flat into a single-family home in 2000, but according to this utility bill, there are still three dwelling units at the address. [Provided]}

Wahl, who has owned her duplex for 12 years, said she could understand the error if the building had been recently converted, but not after more than a decade.

"I feel it is intentional. You can't tell me they don't have access to tax records that would tell them how many dwelling units we have," she said. "The city said they will correct [the bill], and we can either pay it and they will reimburse us, which is a joke, or we can hold off on paying it."

Megy Karydes, of Old Irving Park, warned her neighbors of the potential for over billing after she learned her house was listed as two units.

At one point, the building was apparently occupied as apartments but "we've owned it since 2002, always as a single-family home," she said.

Karydes discovered the discrepancy before receiving her first unified water/sewer/garbage bill, thanks to an item in Ald. John Arena's (45th) weekly newsletter.

"Usually I'm just literally skimming through," she said, but a reference to the garbage fee caught her eye.

"He said, 'Make sure you have the correct number of units listed with the city'" and directed residents to a "self-certify" website, Karydes said.

"We went to the website and sure enough, the site said we had two units," she said. "It did make me pause and wonder, 'What other information does the city have that's not correct?'"

Karydes was able to adjust the data online, but she said the city had done a poor job of notifying residents that they needed to proactively double-check their property's listing. 

"It's frustrating the city doesn't take responsibility," she said.

The city is using its own dwelling unit data, not the county assessor's, to generate bills. The self-certification site Karydes used was set up specifically for the garbage fee rollout as a tool to rectify any inaccuracies in the city's information, according to Molly Poppe, a spokeswoman in the Mayor's Office.

Residents also were sent two mailings (see below) that explained the new garbage fee and pointed people to the self-certification site (click here), she noted.

The city also is pushing out the information via social media, aldermen and other community organizations.

Late penalties — for garbage collection only, not water and sewer charges — will be waived to give residents a chance to space out payments and also to make adjustments to their dwelling unit information as needed.

"Not everybody has access to the internet," Karydes said. "How are they going to find out?"

The 32nd Ward office has already helped one such un-plugged constituent correct his information, according to Stojack.

For her part, Wahl is urging everyone to look closely at their bill.

The city "said they are able to fix it, so it will take a couple of billing cycles — which for the city probably means 10," she said. "I told my husband we are not going to pay the garbage portion at all until it's correct.”

Chicago Garbage Fee Communications by DNAinfo Chicago

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