After spending months debating whether to switch its trash collection from a flat fee to a pay-per-bag system, Arlington Heights officials decided this week to stay with the current system.
The Village Board voted 7-1 Monday to recommend extending its contract with Laidlaw Waste Systems for two more years, beginning April 1.
That contract keeps the current refuse collection system of charging a flat rate for twice-weekly garbage pickup, no matter how many bags of trash are retrieved, with a fee for yard waste.
The alternative system would charge residents for each bag they put out. Proponents have said it would be a more equitable way of charging for garbage collection, especially for small households that don’t generate much refuse.
The plan had the support of the village’s Environmental Control Commission, which said making residents pay for every bag of trash would encourage recycling.
But while the idea might be appropriate in the future, trustees said the proposal was too complex and vague to be approved today, with estimates constantly changing on how much residents would pay.
Trustee Dwight Walton said the message he got from residents was that they didn’t want a more complicated system if it was only going to save them $2 or $3 a month.
But Trustee Stephen Daday, the lone dissenting vote, said maintaining the current system is a disservice.
“It’s really an opportunity, environmentally speaking, to take a giant step forward,” Daday said.
