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Warren County garbage fee drops Oct. 1 under new contract
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VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — The Warren County Board of Supervisors approved a new five-year garbage collection contract with Waste Management during Monday’s board meeting. The contract, which will take effect October 1, 2025, will use the Automated Lift Service (ALS) system.
Under the agreement, households will receive a 96-gallon can provided by Waste Management, with cans being distributed after the contract goes into effect. Trash will be picked up twice a week. County Administrator Nkemdili Lewis said that Waste Management will release further information closer to the October 1 contract date.
Rates are dropping from the current monthly rate of $25.47 to $21.52, totaling $258.24 per year, down from $305.64. Lewis encouraged county residents to set up automatic draft to avoid an additional $8.50 charge.
“It may be better for residents to either pay annually, where you would pay the additional $8.50 once [if auto draft is not set up], or to sign up for automatic draft where you won’t have to pay it [the extra fee] at all,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that county leaders explored multiple options before signing the new contract, including reducing pickup frequency or requiring garbage service for all property owners.
“We did look at several ways to prevent a cost increase, such as reducing collections from twice per week to once per week, or making garbage pickup mandatory for all property owners in the county—because the increasing number of users reduces the cost for individual households who already have accounts—so we did not take this lightly,” Lewis said. “We looked at several options, and we came up with the best option. We just want the public to know that we explored all options before we entered into this contract, and it still ended up working out for residents because it will be a decrease in service cost.”
The county did receive another bid during the process, from Meridian Waste, but that company withdrew after acknowledging incorrect numbers in its proposal. Lewis emphasized that officials gave the firm the chance to resubmit, but it chose to rescind instead.
For residents needing to establish an account or with questions about service, Waste Management can be reached at 1-800-284-2451.
