Starting next month, Algonquin will require residents to use wheeled totes for garbage service rather than stickers, but the price changes have some residents pushing back.

Algonquin is one of many communities that have switched their garbage pickups from pay-by-the-sticker to monthly charges using plastic totes. Last year, Woodstock and Marengo made the transition to the same tote-only system. Those towns also went through the same growing pains, mirroring Algonquin residents’ concerns over the price increases and tote sizes.

“The shift away from sticker programs is an industry-wide decision made by haulers, not a policy choice by the village,” staff wrote on the village’s website. “The village’s contract was expiring, no one would bid on a sticker-based program, and the only path to continued uninterrupted service was to adapt to how the waste collection industry now operates.”

The new contract calls for a flat monthly rate of $21.84 for a 95-gallon cart, which is billed quarterly. Residents aged 65 and over can apply for a senior discount rate of $13.50 a month for a 35-gallon cart.

Currently, residents can use a program that charges $3.49 per sticker for waste no more than 32 gallons or 50 pounds. About half of the residents are already on the monthly tote program for $21.80 per month, Village President Debby Sosine said.

“We knew half of the village was not changing anything, but half of the village was not going to be happy,” she said.

Resident Sandy Robertson, who is 63, does not qualify for the senior discount. She typically puts out one sticker-worth of garbage a month, making her garbage bill jump about 500% in price.

“So that’s another bill for me that I didn’t have before,” she said.

Robertson said she found out about the change last month from Groot and the village. She, along with other residents who call themselves the Concerned Citizens of Algonquin, say they are frustrated that the village approved the new contract without their input.

The group sent a letter to village officials on Monday requesting that an amendment be made to the contract.

“This contract imposes significant financial obligations on residents and introduces policy changes that directly impact our households, yet it was negotiated and approved without meaningful resident input or consent,” residents wrote in the letter. “Residents of Algonquin are not opposed to modernization or service improvements; however, we strongly oppose being required to bear high costs without input, choice or transparency.”

Robertson and her fellow residents want to see an opt-out provision included in the contract, along with a tiered pricing system.

“But why on earth do we have to pay for garbage we’re not even producing?” Robertson said. “Increase the people who are creating the garbage. Don’t increase the people who are not.”

Another request is for a discount for using smaller totes across the board, regardless of age. Robertson said she feels like the pricing isn’t fair when people producing 90 pounds of garbage pay the same rate as those putting out much less.

“It’s just out of balance completely,” she said. “Why do people have to be penalized for using a small can?”

Those sentiments continued during a Village Board meeting on Tuesday, when multiple residents expressed their concerns over the contract during public comment.

“It is what it is,” Trustee Jerry Glogowski said. “This is the best solution we have for residents in Algonquin, to your dismay.”

Sosine was absent due to attending an out-of-state conference. But she said separately that the village will not be looking into changing the pricing because the contract is already signed.

Some people may have so little waste output because they are dumping garbage in dumpsters on private businesses. Sosine said the village has seen “a lot of illegal dumping.”

“Illegally dumping your garbage somewhere is not a solution to ‘I have no trash,’” she said.

The new contract is set to start June 1, three months before the current contract expires. The new agreement, passed by the board in December, runs for eight years with an option to extend another five years.

In exchange for the speedy timeline, Groot will provide $75,000 over the course of three years to sponsor village events. The sponsorship could go to Algonquin Fest and other community celebrations for fireworks, entertainment stages and other attractions, according to village documents.

Some residents have called the sponsorship a “kickback,” which Village Manager Tim Schloneger called “extremely offensive.”

Comparing Algonquin’s garbage rates to those of some neighboring towns, Crystal Lake uses Lakeshore Recycling Systems with a base rate of $23.50 per month and $21.15 for seniors. Woodstock, which uses MDC Environmental Services, has a rate of $26.53 per month and $11.07 a month for the senior discount.

Anyone who doesn’t need garbage picked up for months at a time, like those who go out of town during the winter, can contact Groot to put a hold on their account, Sosine said.

“I wish we could have kept the sticker program,” she said. “It’s not perfect, but I think we did really well and fair for our citizens.”

A Groot representative could not be reached for comment.