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MACOMB, IL – Macomb aldermen have corrected a glitch in an ordinance that proved to be a "double-whammy" for some residents.
Home owners are billed monthly for the use of the city's yard waste site. Commercial lawn care professionals are not. They are assessed a fee each time they use the site.
Mayor Mike Inman said residents who use lawn care professionals to maintain their yards were getting billed twice.
He said, "By the time they showed up at the landfill because they were considered commercial, they were getting assessed a fee. So therefore, that fee was more than likely being passed back to the property owner who had already paid for that fee during their normal payment to the city for those services."
Inman said the fee was a hardship for those on fixed incomes who depend on professionals to maintain their yards.
He said the site will require yard professionals to sign a log verifying that the waste they are dumping comes from a Macomb residence. The city's business office will double-check the log. If the city finds the waste did not come from a Macomb residence the hauler will be billed for the fee.
The city has raised the basic fee for yard waste from $15 to $25.