After a move to give a one-time credit of $29.04 to participants in the refuse collection program failed in July, Oak Park’s village board reversed course and approved the credit Thursday.
When this item, intended to assuage cost concerns from residents frustrated by the financial impact of the requirement to bag leaves for collection, came before the board over the summer, the motion tied 3-3 with one trustee absent.
This time, the vote passed 6-1. Trustee Brian Straw was the sole vote against it. Last time, Trustees Chibuike Enyia and Ravi Parakkat and Straw voted against the one-time credit.
The credit is equal to 12 months of the monthly fee residents paid for the leaf program in 2024, according to village officials. That also equals the cost of about 58 landscape bags. The credit will be applied on customer’s first quarterly water bill of 2025.
This refund will cost the village $325,248.
Straw stood by his previous stance that a return largely benefitting single-family homeowners is regressive. He said he’d rather direct those funds to individuals with a financial or physical need who are struggling with the new leaf collection program.
“We are giving $29 back primarily to single-family homeowners,” he said, citing equity concerns. “I don’t think that this is the best use of these funds … There are lots of things that I would rather do with this money.”
Parakkat said he did have reservations before about the credit, but he’s since heard from many residents who are struggling and flipped his vote.
“I will support [this] just to make a small difference in a lot of people who have expressed their frustration,” he said.
Enyia did not say at the meeting Thursday why he flipped his vote.
Residents don’t have to bag their leaves if they don’t want them collected, either. They can mulch the leaves or compost them, too.
Public Works Director Rob Sproule also said residents can purchase landscaping bags at local Ace Hardware stores with coupons available on the village website. Free bags are available at Village Hall and the Public Works Department. An assistance program for residents with financial constraints is available, too, along with a volunteer program of leaf baggers such as Cub Scouts and Oak Park and River Forest High School students.