Adams County supervisors say garbage collector not breaching contract

NATCHEZ, Miss. –  Adams County supervisors corrected their records Monday to say they’re concerned about the county garbage collector’s poor services but haven’t declared it’s failing to meet its contractual obligations.

The official written record of the Board of Supervisors’ June 17 meeting was erroneously drafted to state that United Infrastructure Services is defaulting on its contract to collect Adams County residents’ household trash.  Supervisor Ricky Gray got the board Monday to revise the meeting minutes to say supervisors merely voted to ask UIS representatives to meet with them to discuss various grievances. They include complaints that the trash collector has failed to meet pickup schedules and has malfunctioning garbage trucks.

While the Board of Supervisors last month had a letter drafted to the New Orleans-based company that it was breaching its contract, it’ll be notified that wasn’t officially declared, said board attorney Scott Slover.

Supervisors voted 4-1 Monday to revise the June meeting minutes to say UIS is not defaulting on its contract – with board President Kevin Wilson being the lone dissenting vote.

“A lot of residents are fed up” with UIS, said Wilson, who has noted poor services could be grounds to nullify the garbage-collection contract the county has with the company.

The Adams County board contracted United Infrastructure Services in 2023 and imposed a $20-a-month garbage tax increase on about 5,700 county households to help pay UIS for collecting trash twice a week. This sharply divided the board 3-2, with Wilson the most outspoken dissenter against retaining UIS and making Adams County residents pay the $35 monthly garbage tax.

In other action Monday, the Board of Supervisors agreed to give a property-tax rebate to the company that owns several Natchez car dealerships, including those that sell Toyotas, Nissans, Dodges and other makes and models.

Natchez Automotive Ventures’ accountant made erroneous calculations that inflated the value of the dealerships’ taxable properties, which resulted in a county tax overcharge and a “huge hit,” said company representative Kenny Jackson.

Forgiving the total amount of the tax overcharge would result in a loss of about  $127,000 for the county budget, according to calculations made for the board. Supervisors agreed to surrender half of that – about $64,000.