LAKE STATION | Mayor Keith Soderquist had hoped to roll out the city's garbage collection service by the end of the year.

But, because of an unexpected delay in financing the project, that's not going to happen, he said.

He said the city's credit didn't get approved when it went to obtain a $1.5 million loan, approximately $1 million of which was earmarked for equipment and the rest for trash cans alone.

In the meantime, the city will continue to have garbage collected by Illiana Waste Management.

Soderquist said he's asking residents to bear with him since the lender's denial is complicated and has more to do with the state of the economy in general than the city,

"I wouldn't have thought we wouldn't be approved," he said.

Soderquist is confident that the city will be able to iron out the situation within the next four to six weeks.

He said the Board of Works is scheduled to accept bids for garbage collection equipment Tuesday.

"It's in our best interest to roll out our own service," he said.

He said the city decided earlier this year to start garbage collection service since the cost to pay an outside collector continued to skyrocket.

Costs rose from $600,000 in 2007 to around $900,000 this year, he said.

"We were already $300,000 short," Soderquist said.

That pushed the cost, derived from property taxes, from $10.65 per month to $15.25, he said.

The monthly fee of $12.50 being paid by most families since October is being supplemented with property taxes until the city can provide service, he said.