VILLA PARK : Weed Removal Fees to Appear in Tax Bill

Eleven homeowners who failed to pay the city for weed removal services will see the charge included on their property tax bills.

City Council members this week unanimously voted to approve the billing procedure.

The bills arise from an annual city drive to reduce the fire hazard from brush growth. Each spring, city workers check for dead vegetation and dry weeds on properties throughout the city and, when such conditions are found, homeowners are sent notices advising them to remove the growth within 30 days.

Sixty residents received notices this year. All but 19 properties, owned by 11 people or companies, removed the weeds, City Manager Fred Maley said. The fees for the service ranged from $87 to $348.

“If they don’t do it, we do it and send them the bill,” he said. “If they don’t pay, then we . . . have the tax collector collect it.”

Charles Parker, one of the property owners who will be charged the weed removal fee, said he didn’t mind his bill, which came to $328.

“We had quite a bit of weeds on the property,” Parker said. “We decided it was cheaper to have the city get rid of it and we don’t care how they bill us.”