You actually will go back to paying quarterly for your garbage service now

Macon-Bibb County residents will be billed quarterly for their garbage service after all.

That’s because the County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to override Mayor Robert Reichert’s veto that would have kept annual billing for solid waste collections. Those services will return to quarterly billing instead of the annual bills being sent out at the same time as property tax notices.

The annual billing measure turned off some commissioners because property taxes have been raised for two consecutive years. Some county leaders also said they were concerned about the economic hardship it could cause for people who are unable to be exempt from the billing or for those own multiple rental properties.

Macon-Bibb residents began making annual payments for their 2018 services.

“The annual billing on top of property taxes is punitive to seniors, to people on fixed-income ... the middle class, the poor,” Commissioner Mallory Jones said.

Reichert stated in a memo sent to commissioners last week that it would be financially irresponsible to nix the annual billing. He cited that $130,000 would be needed to change back the billing software along with extra costs associated with mailing out the notices four times a year.

Reichert noted it appeared that the annual measure was doing what it was intended to do: increase the amount of collections the county receives. Also, the Macon-Bibb County Tax Commissioner’s Office offered people a chance to set up making payments instead of being forced to pay the entire bill at one time.