By Billy Davis

Increasing fuel costs and the use of automated trucks necessitated the coming increase in Panola County Solid Waste fees, Kelley Magee, Panola County’s administrator, said this week.

Customers will begin paying more for trash pickup starting this month, when bills are mailed out for October.

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve a $1 monthly increase for county residents, and a 50-cent monthly increase for customers in Como and Crenshaw, who currently pay $8.25.

Supervisors verbally committed to the fee increases during recent budget meetings, and a unanimous vote made it official at their meeting in Sardis.

A legal notice in the newspaper will announce the increase, they said.  

Batesville also uses Panola County Solid Waste, but the City of Batesville and the county department are locked in a multi-year contract, Magee told The Panolian.

Batesville residents are currently paying $8.25 a month for trash pick-up, she said.

After the county meeting, Magee said the fee increases will help cover rising fuel costs and the purchase of automated trucks, which use an automated arm to retrieve trash cans.

Solid Waste has also purchased and installed new trash compactors at its Courtland shop, she said.

Panola County government raised its Solid Waste fee to $11 in 1997,  Magee said.