LUY-Development

Adams County board to hold public hearing on garbage tax hike

Written by

Imported Author 1890002

in

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors have scheduled a public hearing Wednesday for residents to speak up about the planned garbage collection tax increase for providing the service.

The proposal is to increase by $20 the $15-a-month garbage fee that’s been charged on residents living outside Natchez. The Board of Supervisors is to make a final decision later on whether the new $35 monthly fee will be imposed. It would be on 6,000 or so households to have their trash picked up twice a week.
 
In lieu of the garbage fee, the board could consider imposing a special property tax to generate the $1.4 million needed for the county trash pickup service.

The 9 a.m. hearing Wednesday is to be held at the Adams County administration building on State Street by the courthouse and  jail.

The 233 percent garbage fee hike will generate the extra $1.4 million a year, according to the county board’s projections. The additional money is needed because Adams County’s contracted garbage collector is charging more for the curbside pick-up service it provides.

The board in April contracted United Infrastructure Services of New Orleans as the county’s garbage collector – a controversial decision that split supervisors 3-2.

The two board dissidents – supervisors Wes Middleton and Kevin Wilson – argued for reducing garbage collection to once a week to save money.  Questions were also raised about the board’s decision to hire a company run by the same operators of Adams County’s previous garbage collector that went bankrupt.

The three other board members said Adams County residents demand twice-a-week pickups they’ve had for years. Supervisors Warren Gaines, Angela Hutchins and Ricky Gray also said the UIS waste haulers have a proven record of providing reliable service for Adams County.

The garbage tax hike will be in addition to the higher property taxes supervisors are imposing on Natchez-Adams County residents and businesses. Effective in January, the $2 million general tax increase will be on residential properties, automobiles, commercial fixtures and equipment. County administrators have calculated most Natchez-Adams County property owners next year must pay an extra $138 per $100,000 value of property assessed at 15 percent of its worth.

Comments

Leave a Reply

More posts