You may have to pay to have your garbage collected if a proposed New York City plan goes through.

CBS New York reported on Tuesday that the city is exploring a way to get residents to recycle more while also reducing the $1.7 billion that the sanitation department is allotted to collect and remove garbage.

According to the Staten Island Advance, the city recently hired a firm from Michigan called Resource Recycling Systems as a consultant to develop a “save-as-you-throw” (SAYT) program—in which New Yorkers would save money by generating less garbage. If such a plan is approved, then “single-family homeowners, renters and co-op and condo owners would pay."

It is not clear how much New York City residents would have to shell out under this proposal, though other cities have similar programs that charge a monthly fee of $40-$50. “In other cities, they often use cans, or they do it by weight, or they use bags or tags,” Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said, as reported by CBS New York. "Our real focus is what would be effective in incentivizing New Yorkers to recycle.”

According to a request for proposals (RFP) issued in March 2017, the Sanitation Department expressed creating a plan that could include an incentive such as “rebate or tax-based credit, for the amount of materials recycled by a household while also establishing a nominal fee for a bag or tag that would be required for the disposal of residential waste.”

Naturally, reaction to the proposal was mixed. “Doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Steve of Park Slope, Brooklyn, told CBS New York. “We pay a lot of real estate taxes already.”

Added Pura Migueliz from Whitestone, Queens:“I think New Yorkers already have enough of a burden paying their taxes. I don’t think we need anything else added on.”

Presently, moving garbage out of state cost the city about $300 million annually.

David Chiu is an associate editor at The Cooperator.