Free tree removal in Hoffman Estates: what the Village and ComEd handle

The Village looks after its own parkway trees

The grass strip along the street belongs to the Village. Parkway trees are owned and maintained by the Village,¹ with routine trimming every four to seven years, mostly in late fall and winter. That schedule is set by Public Works, and residents are asked to leave the parkway tree alone and call about broken, hanging or storm-damaged branches.

What that does not cover is the tree inside your fence. The Village maintains parkway trees only, and trees on private property are the homeowner's responsibility;¹ the Village points residents to a private contractor for removal or trimming. The oak over the back deck is yours to deal with.

You can ask Public Works to look at a declining parkway tree

If a parkway tree looks sick or structurally bad, you do not have to wait for the Village's trimming cycle to come around. The Forestry Division inspects public trees for disease, decay and structural problems,² with the Village's arborists deciding on treatment, trimming or removal, and residents can ask Public Works to look at a parkway tree they think is declining.

That inspection does not change ownership on a private tree. A dead tree in your own yard sits with the homeowner, as a private removal, and the Village's Forestry team cannot send a crew for it.

The silver maple and elm removals come with notice

Some parkway trees are coming out whether you ask or not. A Village program is working through the silver maples and Siberian elms along the streets: about 2,400 of those parkway trees were inspected in 2025, with roughly 425 of them tagged for removal in 2026,³ and the Village gives residents at least two weeks' notice before a parkway tree near their lot comes down.

If your parkway tree is one of those species and it has not been looked at, Public Works is the right office to ask. The replacement choice is the Village's, not the homeowner's, and the species that goes back is drawn from the Village's own planting list.

Branch pickup is free, within limits

Twice a year the Village sends crews around for brush at the curb. In 2026, the spring round began Monday, April 20 and the fall round Monday, September 21,⁴ with branches due at the curb by 7am on the Monday of the zone's week. The service costs nothing to the resident.

What it takes is limited. Branch pickup takes tree branches, shrub trimmings and similar brush up to 8 inches across and 10 feet long,⁴ with willow kept separate, but not stumps, root balls, firewood, lumber, leaves, grass or sod. A trunk, a stump or an 8-foot round of maple at the curb is not on the list.

Yard waste runs April through November

Smaller brush can go out with yard waste on the regular collection day. Yard waste collection runs from the beginning of April through the end of November only,⁵ with unlimited yard waste on the regular day. Brush set out with yard waste⁵ has to be bundled under 50 pounds, under 5 feet long and under 24 inches across, with nothing thicker than a 3-inch limb inside the bundle; tree trunks, stumps and large limbs are not taken on this route.

From December through March the yard waste route is off, and the branch pickup rounds run in spring and fall, so winter brush waits for the spring round. Winter pruning on a private tree still gets done; the brush either gets chipped on site, hauled by the crew that did the work, or stacked out of the way until the April pickup week.

ComEd clears around its lines, with three routes

ComEd handles the trees near its distribution lines. For trees near the lines between poles⁶ on a property, the utility lays out three routes a homeowner can take. The first sends ComEd's own line clearance crews to open the space around the wires, so a private contractor can safely finish the pruning on the rest of the tree. The second is a no-charge investigation into whether a given stretch of line can be powered down for the work. The third is a private contractor whose trimmers meet the ANSI Z133.1 line clearance standard, with the owner picking up the cost.

The Village's forestry page refers residents to ComEd's Tree Trimming Assistance program² for trees growing near power lines, utility boxes and poles. What a private crew then does on the rest of the tree is priced like any other job.

ComEd drops the service wire at no charge so a contractor can trim

The lower service wire that runs from a pole or a transformer to the meter on your house has its own arrangement. The utility stays out of non-emergency pruning along that wire; when a homeowner or their crew needs to trim near it, ComEd drops or de-energizes the wire⁶ at no charge for the day of the work, then reconnects it, scheduled through 1-800-334-7661.

The drop itself is free. The trimming our crew does once the wire is clear is a private job. The reconnect is also on ComEd, scheduled through the same number once the work is done and the branches are clear of the span.

Storm debris from ComEd's work stays with you

After storms, ComEd cuts and removes trees and branches from its own equipment to get the lights back on. The disposal is a different question. Disposing of the branches, logs and other debris is the customer's responsibility;⁷ ComEd says it cannot help with debris removal.

The pile left in the yard is yours. Small brush can go out with Village pickup within the size limits. Trunks and stumps are a job for our storm and emergency tree work or for a planned removal later.

The Village does not list a program for private trees

The Village's forestry, Public Works and garbage and recycling pages do not describe a senior tree program, a hardship fund or a free private-tree removal. If one exists outside what the Village publishes, we cannot point to a page for it. A dead ash in a backyard, an oak with a cracked trunk or an elm wilting in the heat is a private removal in Hoffman Estates, priced by the crew that does it. The public side (parkway trees, branch pickup, the silver maple program) is where the Village's own tree work sits, and the Village's tree rules covers that side in one place for anyone who wants to read the code and the program pages back to back.

What a private removal is priced on

Private tree work is priced on what the tree would land on, how the yard can be reached, whether the wood is dead, and how much of the stump and the wood come out. Digging on a stump still brings in the law: the state requires anyone planning outdoor digging, whatever its depth or size, to notify JULIE at least 3 days before digging.⁸

The private removal price guide covers the same drivers in more detail. Height alone does not set the price, and nothing a crew does in a private yard is on the Village's tab.

Free tree work in Hoffman Estates, at a glance