Natchez residents learned last week their city government is failing to meet the bare minimum level of reasonable competence.

Financial instability has been a concern of business-minded residents for many years. Now basic city management is being dropped.

The city decided a few months ago not to extend its contract with garbage collection company Waste Pro, which has been under contract to pick up the city’s residential garbage and recycling.

But on Tuesday, the public learned a failure on the city’s part to actually follow-through on a request for proposals from other garbage haulers means the city is now stuck.

The city has no time to legally advertise and award a garbage contract by the end of the month when the existing agreement ends.

Its only real option is to now negotiate for a new date with the girl with whom the city just broke up. Waste Pro knows it has the city over a barrel.

This is inexcusable on the part of the city aldermen, the mayor and the board attorney. They are paid to pay attention to such things

The city’s leadership team does not have its collective eye on the ball and taxpayers are going to suffer. Waste Pro officials have already said they believe the rates for garbage collection will go up. No one should be shocked here.

Until taxpayers hold elected officials accountable at the ballot box, this nonsense will continue.

We suggest residents insist all of the parties involved in the garbage debacle take a pay cut until their sacrifice surpasses the pending garbage rate hike.