JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Jackson residents who didn’t have their garbage picked up back in April will soon get a credit on their monthly water/sewer bills.
On Tuesday, the council approved a proposal to give residents credit for the city’s failure to have garbage picked up during the trash crisis.
The credit will be $12.53 and will come in the form of a reduction in their monthly bills, City Attorney Catoria Martin said.
“Anyone who had an account between April 1 and April 18, then those individuals will qualify for this credit,” she said. “It’s based on whether or not you had an account or garbage services during that period.”
The total cost for the credit is $484,821, which is the amount the city did not have to pay contractors to pick up waste during that time.
[READ: Trash collection to resume Wed., after city council approves trash contract]
Jackson was without garbage service for more than two weeks in April, after the council and mayor could not agree on hiring a contractor.
The city council ultimately agreed to a one-year emergency deal with Richard’s Disposal. That agreement expires on March 30 of next year.
Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote again urged the administration to issue a new request for proposals for garbage collections, to prevent the city from being without pickup next year.
Governments issue RFPs to seek out professional services, such as garbage collection. However, the request must be issued by the mayor or a member of the administration, and cannot be issued by the council, the city’s legislative body.
“I think it’s really important that the city do an RFP for the long-term garbage contract, and if we don’t do that, we’re setting ourselves up for another crisis,” he said. “We’ve had too many crises over the last several years, and I think the citizens are wary of them.”
Lumumba last issued an RFP in October 2021. He has refused to move off of that RFP, despite the council not awarding a contract to Richard’s.
He told reporters at an impromptu press conference outside council chambers that part of the reason he hasn’t moved forward is because the city is currently facing a lawsuit from Richard’s. The New Orleans-based firm appealed the council’s decision to vote down a contract with the firm back in April.
He said a new RFP also would mean higher prices for residents. “You’ll never get these rates again,” he said. “Fuel costs have gone up and they’re still rising. We know that the distribution chain... to get trucks and the like, those are steadily rising.”
“And it’s a paid-for expense. It doesn’t come out of a city budget. It comes directly from the residents,” he said. “So, we have to be concerned, we have to be considerate when we’re asking residents [to pay] double or triple-times what they have paid in recent history.”