U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate will invite feedback from capital city residents on the latest rate hike JXN Water is proposing, the utility’s manager Ted Henifin confirmed on Wednesday during an event at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
Henifin said residents will have a chance to give testimony to Wingate during the next status conference scheduled for June 16 at 1 p.m. at the federal courthouse in downtown Jackson, and that JXN Water will put out further instructions on how to participate. This story will be updated with any additional details.
The utility announced in February that it would raise rates for the second time in as many years after realizing it would need more revenue for operations and debt payments than it previously estimated. Henifin said that would be the case even if JXN Water had a 100% collections rate, adding Wednesday that the rate is now around 70%.
While the 2022 federal consent decree employing Henifin requires him to present rate increase proposals to the Jackson City Council, he only needs Wingate’s approval to enact them. In the two and half years since Wingate appointed Henifin to lead the city’s water system out of disrepair, the judge has largely aligned with the manager’s outlook.
In 2023, for instance, the judge brushed off concerns a number of advocates and residents raised over a lack of transparency and local engagement from JXN Water. Wingate also sided with Henifin in a couple of disputes with federal agencies pver part of the consent decree: During status conferences last year, Henifin criticized the Environmental Protection Agency for slowing down funding dispersals, and also asked Wingate to mandate the release of SNAP participant data to implement a water bill discount.
The judge agreed with Henifin in both instances, although a 5th Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision last month halted the release of SNAP data. Henifin said Wednesday he hopes JXN Water can work with government agencies during future SNAP re-enrollment to advertise the discount.
JXN Water initially raised combined water and sewer rates in 2024 by 13% on average. The most recent proposal would raise rates by another 12% on average, the utility says, or about $9 a month.
Federal Judge Henry T. Wingate Credit: Rogelio V. Solis / Associated PressLast year, all city council members abstained from voting on the rate hike, the Clarion Ledger reported. But on April 22, the council voted 6-0 in opposition of the latest increase, arguing that JXN Water should improve collection rates before asking for more from those already paying.
“We felt (last year) it wouldn’t make any difference because it had to go before the judge,” Council President Virgi Lindsay said during the April meeting. “But this time I feel like it is important that I be a part of sending a message to this judge that this is excessive and it’s too much, and it’s more than our citizens should be asked to bear.
“We have got to put some of the onus back on JXN Water.”
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