Chicago residences, which receive garbage collection services provided by the Department of Streets and Sanitation, pay a garbage fee of $9.50 per month per dwelling unit.  The fee will pay for a portion of the costs associated with weekly garbage collection services provided to these residences.

Half of Chicago households (buildings with five dwelling units or more) pay for garbage collection service from a private provider. The City garbage fee impacts the other half of Chicago households (buildings with four dwelling units or less), which receive garbage pickup from the City.

The City’s garbage fee remains lower than the average fee paid by the half of Chicago households required to contract for private garbage collection. Chicago residents living in buildings with five or six dwelling units pay a private garbage hauler on average $10 to $16 per unit per month for private garbage removal. Further, the City’s garbage fee of $9.50 is comparatively lower than the average fees paid by residents of surrounding suburbs.

The garbage fee appears on a unified utility bill for City-provided water, sewer, garbage services and water-sewer tax charges.  The unified utility bill allows residents to receive one bill and make one payment each billing cycle, eliminating multiple payments or separate bills for City-provided services and charges. This unified utility bill will continue to match the resident’s current water and sewer billing schedule – generally every other month for metered water accounts and every six months for non-metered water accounts.

Do not know your account type?  You account type (metered or non-metered) is listed on your bill in the blue box next to your Bill Summary.

Metered Accounts 

The typical garbage fee charges that will appear on metered unified utility bills are detailed below:

*$9.50 per dwelling unit X 2 months

Non-Metered Accounts

The typical garbage fee charges that will appear on non-metered unified utility bills are detailed below: 

*$9.50 per unit X 6 months

Late Payments and Payment Plan Options

A penalty accrues at a rate of 1.25 percent per month on late balances.

Residents may apply for a payment plan option at any Department of Finance Payment Center or by calling Utility Billing Customer Service at 312.744.4426.

To learn more about the payment plan options, click here

Number of Dwelling Units at a Property

To help ensure property owners are accurately billed for garbage collection, residents should review the back of their bill.  

If the information is inaccurate, residents or property owners should call Utility Billing & Customer Service to find out how to update the number of dwelling units at the property.  If justified, the City will update the number of dwelling units assigned to the property.  Subsequent bills will reflect the updated number of dwelling units.

The City will regularly audit the utility billing property list to ensure properties are receiving charges that accurately reflect the number of dwelling units at a residence. 

If the City determines that the actual number of dwelling units is more than reported, property owners will be billed for additional dwelling unit(s)retroactively, plus other penalties may apply.