Rahm's Floor Leader Negotiates Lower Garbage Fee, Senior Discount

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago would impose a first-ever garbage-collection fee of $9.50 per household, but senior citizens would get a 50 percent break, under a compromise hammered out behind-the-scenes by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Council floor leader.

Initially, Emanuel had been considering a fee in the $11-to-$12 range to raise more than $100 million to chip away at Chicago’s $30 billion pension crisis.

But sources said that fee has been whittled down to $9.50 — and $4.75 for seniors — during closed-door negotiations with recalcitrant aldermen, reducing the take to $80 million.

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