I was sitting in a City Council meeting (something I'm trying to do more of now that I'm older) when I heard this:

"Allied Waste isn't supposed to be charging residents within city limits more than $15 a month ($45 a quarter) for trash pickup."

Ummm... excuse me? I knew for a fact we were paying more than that. I didn't know exactly how much, but it sure wasn't $15 a month.

I left that meeting and texted my Alderwoman immediately (shoutout Erin Conely of Ward 8) and told her we were paying $115 a quarter... $38 a month... for trash. She was appalled and went to work right away trying to recover the savings.

Three weeks, a handful of texts with Erin, and one two-minute phone call with the Republic Services rep (Aaron Baptise, I say his name because he was great to work with) later, I got credited $374 and won't be paying for trash again for the next two years.

IS THIS YOU? HERE'S WHAT TO DO:

Prefer the DIY route?

STEP 1: Head to the City website
STEP 2: Pull the exact rate info and your trash provider's phone #
STEP 3: Call them and get it squared away yourself

Prefer having someone fight for you?

STEP 1: Find out who your alderperson is
STEP 2: Reach out and lay out what you're paying
STEP 3: Let them take it from there (no guarantee they'll hold your hand like Erin did, but I’d imagine they'll point you the right way)