It
is true that currently some non-profits receive free waste removal from Chicago’s
Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS). This is an issue that we’ve
been tracking for quite some time and looks to be coming to a close in the near
future.
You may know that the city of Chicago recently stopped providing free water to
non-profits in 2013. http://www.wbez.org/news/churches-take-%E2%80%98leap-faith%E2%80%99-emanuel-water-deal-107089
. This seems to be the same fate for garbage.
In
June of 2014 the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) completed an audit of
the Department of Streets and Sanitation’s (DSS) enforcement of service
eligibility.
“Specifically,
OIG looked at the provision of garbage service to not-for-profit organizations
and to multi-unit residences covered by the ordinance’s “grandfather” clause.
OIG found that DSS service enforcement in these areas, which according to DSS’s
own estimates costs the City over $6.5 million each year, was inefficient and
ineffective.”
“The
audit found that the collection service to not-for-profits, provided based
on a list of 1,393 properties, is not legally authorized under the Municipal
Code. “DSS did not know why or when service to not-for-profits began or the
current list was created,” said Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, “There is
no documentation setting forth the legal authority for this service or the
criteria or procedures for providing and tracking it. This is ultimately a
provision of free service at taxpayer expense, provided without legal
authority.” OIG recommends that DSS use recent legislation on the
provision of free water service to not-for-profits as an instructive guide in
addressing the program’s current lack of legal authorization and program
standards.”
You
can check out the full Inspector General audit here:
