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- The Jackson mayor asks lawmakers for state assistance, including raising the city’s 1 percent infrastructure tax added to the local sales tax to 2 percent.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn (D) did not hold back when discussing JXN Water, telling the House Select Committee on Capital City Revitalization Thursday that dealing with the utility is a “customer service nightmare.”
“I’ve been getting a lot of the same calls that you’ve been getting, and my staff has certainly been inundated,” Horhn told lawmakers. “I think the customer service on these cutoffs could be handled a whole lot better.”
The utility cutoffs stem from lingering unpaid bills by customers as well as other internal billing issues. Property managers at apartment complexes have experienced cutoffs after receiving bills totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, the bills, the managers argue, do not reflect the actual amount that was used. Earlier this week, several North Jackson residents had their water disconnected, including one man who has his bill automatically drafted from his bank account.
Mayor Horhn, a former longtime state senator, asked for the state’s help in solving the ongoing issue, including drafting legislation to increase Jackson’s 1 percent infrastructure tax to 2 percent. This tax is levied above the state sales tax of 7 percent.
“The tax generates somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 to $15 million a year,” Horhn estimated. “That would give us the revenue stream we would need to get the stability.”
Also, Horhn also suggested redirecting funds from the Capital Complex Improvement District or even a direct payment to the city.
“The system is bleeding red ink,” he said.
The city of Jackson alone owes about $6.4 million in water bills, mainly due to massive leaks at the city’s zoo.
“We’ve got to come up with an additional revenue stream, at least temporarily, over the next few years, until we get the water system back to sovereignty,” said Horhn.
State Rep. Fabian Nelson (D) said he receives phone calls daily from people with stratospheric JXN Water bills.
“I have 10 constituents that have reached out to me in the past 24 hours with $3,000, $7,000, $70,000 water bills, and they’ve all been told that it’s due to a leak,” Nelson said. “Every last one of these has had plumbers come out and verify that it’s not a leak.”
Some in City Hall are ready to take over the operations and maintenance of the utility, which went into federal receivership three years ago. By a 6 to 1 vote, the Jackson City Council passed a symbolic resolution in favor of taking control of the system, yet that decision is up to the federal court.
The mayor favors setting up an advisory board charged with oversight of the utility but does not believe the operation and management will return to the city’s Public Works Department.
Even with the recent hiring of a Public Works Director, the mayor said, he does “not anticipate that our Public Works Department would do the work of the management and maintenance of our water and wastewater system.”
The mayor also noted that federal funds directed to the city are tied up in Washington D.C. due to the shutdown.
“Fifty-four million is being requested, and it’s in the continuing resolution,” Horhn noted of the $600 million set aside from the U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency for the city’s water repairs and operations.
Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin, who oversees JXN Water as appointed by the federal court, was slated to testify but was called out of town.
JXN Water did provide a statement after the hearing saying the entity “was born out of a period when collaboration and coordination around solutions for Jackson’s water system were lacking.”
“We welcome any dialogue aimed at strengthening the system for the people of Jackson and ensuring that future governance structures are grounded in transparency, accountability, and apolitical leadership,” the statement read. “We stand ready to contribute our on-the-ground knowledge and technical understanding to any process that seeks lasting solutions for the city’s water and sewer systems.”
Daniel Tyson
