Leflore County is going up a dollar a month on garbage fees to offset the cost of having someone else collect the bill.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Monday to set the new monthly rate at $9.50 for residential collection, effective Nov. 1.
District 1’s Sam Abraham cast the lone dissenting vote, and District 3’s Anjuan Brown missed the nearly three-hour meeting, which included a 30-minute closed-door session to discuss the new rate and a newly forged collection arrangement with East Leflore Water and Sewer District.
By the same 3-1 vote, the board agreed to contract with East Leflore to tack the monthly garbage fee onto water and sewer bills. East Leflore will be paid $1 per month by the county for every customer it bills.
“The system that we were using is broken. That’s why we’re in debt,” said District 2’s Reginald Moore.
Even with the increase, the county’s rate for garbage pickup will still be low compared to what residents in other nearby locations pay. Within the city of Greenwood, curbside residential pickup costs $20 per month; in Carroll County, residential service runs $15 per month.
Leflore County has been wrestling for years with what to do about residents who don’t pay their garbage bills.
As of March, the county was owed $1.3 million in unpaid fees, with nearly 2,500 residents, or about two-thirds of the total accounts, owing at least $200 in back fees and some owing more than $2,000.
The past-due balance has been growing by about $25,000 a month since then.
The arrangement with East Leflore would call for cutting off a resident’s water service, except in emergency situations, if the utility’s bill, including the garbage fee, goes unpaid.
East Leflore provides water and sewer service to about 80 percent of the county outside of Greenwood. The other county residents — living in Itta Bena, Sidon and Morgan City — are covered by separate water systems in those towns. District 5 Supervisor Robert Collins, a proponent of the new collection arrangement, has said he expects the county to also approach those three towns’ water systems about a similar contract as the one being struck with East Leflore.
East Leflore would bill only for current garbage service going forward. The supervisors will still have to figure out what to do about the $1.3 million in past-due balances.
The county has been withholding auto tag renewals until garbage bills are paid, but the high percentage of people in arrears for garbage collection fees indicates county residents have figured out a way to get their tags without paying their bills.
Abraham said he does not think the county should have to pay East Leflore anything for this collection assistance, as the water district’s board is appointed by the supervisors.
“I don’t think we’re to a point where we need to raise the fee. I think we can work this thing through, collect and do a better job of collections,” he said.
Also on the garbage front, the county has struck a deal with the California owner of Delta Mobile Homes to accept responsibility for paying the monthly charge for collecting garbage from tenants in the trailer park.
The county had threatened to stop picking up garbage at the trailer park if an arrangement could not be reached to replace the headache of trying to collect the bills from each tenant. Because of the transient nature of the tenants at Delta Mobile Homes, it’s estimated that about $50,000 in unpaid bills have accumulated with current and former tenants.
Still to be worked out, though, is whether Delta Mobile Homes will be billed a flat fee or one based on the number of containers. The board asked County Attorney Joyce Chiles to work with Jimmy Gibson, director of the Solid Waste Department, on a recommended monthly charge and reach a contract with Delta Mobile Homes for that amount.
Abraham, who has been pushing for a lump-sum arrangement with the trailer park for years, again cast the lone dissenting vote. He said afterward that he was not comfortable authorizing a contract until he knew what it said, including what the trailer park’s garbage fee would be.
•Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
