NATCHEZ — Adams County residents outside the Natchez city limits may see a $2-per-month increase in garbage collection fees beginning in October.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted this week to have a public hearing on raising the garbage collection rate from $13 to $15.

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sept. 19.

The board previously had considered setting a specific ad valorem tax millage for garbage collection to help pay for the losses being sustained each year in sanitation. Currently the county pays a third-party contractor more to pick up trash than the county collects from residents.

County Administrator Joe Murray said approximately half the counties in the state tie an ad valorem tax to garbage collection where up to 6 mills can be leveed.

However, supervisors backed off that idea when residents who own large plot of land voiced concerns at a July public hearing on the proposal to tie garbage collection to a tax increase. The residents at the hearing said they would rather have the monthly garbage fees raised than pay more taxes.

Murray said he understood the concerns as the tax option would end up impacting properties that do not generate garbage, and he also said the size or value of someone’s residence and property does not increase the cost required for the county to collect the garbage.

Waste Pro USA currently holds the county’s collection and disposal contract, but the county collects the fees from residents through its sanitation department.

The county is using gaming revenue to make up a difference of approximately $200,000 in what is being collected compared to what is being spent each year, Murray said.

With the proposed increase, Murray said the county would come closer to breaking even if everyone pays garbage fees.

However, Murray said many, particularly renters, do not pay the garbage fees. Even if the bills go unpaid, the county is still required to collect and dispose of the trash by state statute.

Murray said a better option would be a bill that didn’t make it through the state government in recent years that tied the garbage bill to taxes as an additional fee. Some officials did not support it, however, in part due to concerns of confiscating and selling property based on garbage collection fees, Murray said.

But Murray said that is happening now with the counties that have approved the ad valorem tax garbage collection option.

“That’s as fair as you can get,” he said. “It works like a fee because it doesn’t cost any more to pick up my garbage than anyone else’s.”

Board President Mike Lazarus said the county has to cover its costs in some way.

“We can’t continue to lose money,” he said. “It’s not fair to the people to take that money from other sources.”

The proposed increase would be effective Oct. 1, Supervisors President Mike Lazarus said. He encouraged residents to pre-pay now at the $13 rate.

“It would be to your benefit to pay for a year’s worth now,” he said.

“Even $2 more, it’s still the best deal in the world. Twice a week, we haul off your garbage, as much as you want to put on the road. That’s a deal.”