(From JXN Water website)
- Councilman Ashby Foote, the only member to vote against the resolution, said the city should let JXN Water continue its work while the city focuses on blight and crime.
Some Jackson leaders believe it is time for the city to take back control of its water system, saying the people are in place to operate the department after operations went into federal receivership three years ago.
During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, members approved a nonbinding resolution asking the federal court to return full operational and management control of the system.
The resolution introduced by Council member Kenneth Stokes came after numerous complaints about JXN Water’s treatment of customers. Stokes said citizens he has spoken with believe JXN Water “is no longer listening” to their concerns, such as those related to brown water and higher utility bills.
“We understand that when they come back to the city, there would be guidelines,” said Stokes. “Nobody’s up here saying we want to go back to dirty water. What we’re saying is it’s time now to consider giving the water back to the city.”
Jackson has a new mayor and a newly appointed Public Works Director. Members believe it is time for them to take the reins.
Council members expressed their gratitude to the federal government for their support after the water system failed in 2022. Later that year, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate placed the municipal system under a federally appointed interim third-party administrator. Ted Henifin was appointed to oversee the system, setting up JXN Water.
Since then, Council members said, improvements have been made, and now the right people are in place to run the system.
Council member Vernon Hartley said the federal government has led JXN Water long enough, adding he “did not envision a takeover lasting forever.”
Henifin, as the interim third-party administrator, has been responsible for bringing the system back into federal compliance. Initially, his task included fixing the crippled water service that serves more than 160,000 people. He and his team have plugged more than 5,000 leaks in city water supply lines that were reportedly losing an estimated 5 million gallons per day. They have also repaired more than 200 leaks in the city’s wastewater treatment system. In addition, JXN Water is responsible for monthly bill collecting.
However, JXN Water has recently lost court battles to turn off water at apartment complexes that owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills. The administrator is trying to get approval for a rate increase to support operations and repairs, something the Jackson City Council opposes.
In a January 2024 profile published in Engineering News-Record, Henifin said, “The federal wastewater decree ends in September 2027; I’d like to stay at least until then.”
Jackson’s new Chief Administrative Officer Pieter Teeuwissen said the city must have a transition plan and timeline in place by next October, per federal guidelines.
“The real question is what phase do we go to next, and what is the timeline?” he said. “I suspect the timeline will be something sooner than what the city previously proposed.”
He added that modifications to the receivership agreement must be approved by Jackson, the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Several advocates for low-income residents asked for court-order federal operations to be discontinued. The Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and the People’s Advocacy Institute believe Jackson’s water crisis is over.
“Extending the stay – this time for the eighth time – will continue to work against the just, fair administration of this case,” the group’s attorney wrote to the Council.
Councilman Ashby Foote was the only member to vote against the resolution. He said the city should let Henifin continue his work while the administration of the city focuses on other needed efforts, such as blight and crime.
“We need to focus on the main thing, which is getting crime under control so people will come back and investors will come back and invest in the city,” Foote said.
Daniel Tyson
