Like a household that over the years has collected a myriad of random tchotchkes, the City of Natchez has wound up as collector of random property.

And like a bloated household, the City needs a plan to part ways with some of the land it has acquired.

Call it a city garage sale, if you will. In actuality, though, the municipal process of selling a property of the people is more complicated than merely adding masking tape price tag and putting up a sign.

But the point is Natchez has been holding property it’s acquired for far too long. The City needs to make a plan for divesting of it all. The rule needs to be simple: If it has no use to the City or its residents, let’s sell it to a private citizen or company to return the property to the tax rolls.

You see that’s the problem with a municipality owning lots of land. It may seem harmless, but its harm comes in two ways — no taxes and public upkeep.

Clearly when a piece of property winds up in the City of Natchez’s hands — usually through a failure to pay property taxes by its original owners — the property immediately is pulled off the tax rolls.

That’s bad enough, but the second part may be more costly in some cases.

After becoming a City of Natchez responsibility, the city government must then handle upkeep on the property. That means mowing any grassy land, cutting back undergrowth and brush, etc.

At present the city does not appear to even have a schedule showing the financial impact of all that land ownership, but we know it’s steep.

The former Titan Tire plant, city officials say, is costing taxpayers more than $80,000 per year for security. And workers are spending thousands of dollars to repair plumbing problems at the former Margaret Martin School.

The lack of action over many years has resulted in the glut of property and the related problems it causes.

It’s time for the city to get in a serious selling mode and pare back its property to just what is needed.