Natchez and Adams County once was among the most progressive communities in the state of Mississippi.

Over the years, progress stagnated, and our nature became more regressive at times, with community and civic leadership pulling in different directions.

Natchez-Adams County has a great chance to take a few steps in the right direction again soon, unifying parts of our community and becoming just a little more progressive by, of all things, our trash.

Former Adams County Supervisor Spanky Felter was among the first public officials to see the need to get city and county garbage collection contracts in sync. They currently expire months apart. Felter recognized that cooperation and coordination could provide a better deal for taxpayers.

City and county officials seem to be working in the same direction now and hopefully will get contracts on the same cycle in the coming months. As they do that, however, we encourage them to consider additional ways to not only save a little money, but improve services, too.

Could combining services outright be done? Currently, the county’s sanitation efforts are upside down, meaning the collection fees don’t pay for the services. The result is all county taxpayers must pay the difference.

Clearly that system is not fair and needs to be reworked to avoid the need for such a subsidy.

Such collaboration is almost certain to yield savings, savings that might pay for some or all of the much-needed curbside recycling programs that many residents want and that other, more progressive communities already have in place.

Recycling makes a world of sense, and so does government working together.