Show me the money? What if we don't know where the money is? Deputy Director of Administration (Jackson) Michelle Battee-Day stated in an April 4 letter to the Jackson City Council that water sewer collections were drastically behind projections. The letter is posted below. The collections and projections do not include sanitation revenue. The letter states:
*YTD Collections are $20.4 million. The city budget projected them to be $33.8 million. Collections are $13.4 million under projections and 30% of the projected $80.5 million for the entire fiscal year. The collections should be 42% of the projected $80.5 million at this point in the fiscal year.
*Collections for water sewer at the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year were only 68% of projections. A grand total of $54.8 million. The collections were $67.2 million.
Here is some data for you to mine.
46 comments:
They aren't reading the water meters and the estimates they are using are below actual usage. The new billing system doesn't send out bills to every billing party every month. That is what is going on.
The shortfall for last year is because of the same reason.
It is a mammoth failure of leadership and vendor management.
Do the sewage collections include the amounts paid by Rankin County Residents? If Rankin Co is included what is the percentage of the total amount? I think the collections would look even worse on the sewer side if Rankin Co was removed. I would guess Rankin Co is paid at nearly 100% due to the fact that if you two weeks late in Rankin Co on your bill you are cut off.
I know where some of the money went. It went to pay this woman to not do her job.
Why does anyone even have to ask what the hell is going on? Remember this is Jackson. You have to be mentally challenged to not know what is going on. The question should be, Who really gives a damn?
The people of Jackson don't give a damn.
The elected officials of Jackson don't give a damn.
These people already know what is happening.
What a complete cluster f-! The entire administration is a disaster. They've shown time and again their unwillingness to be transparent. I think many would be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding actual progress/performance given the mess inherited. However, so much gamesmanship and refusal to shoot people straight raises all kind suspicions regarding one's integrity and who is really running Jackson. The DOJ will be passing out metal bracelets before long.
The state should take over the entire city, much like they do a failing school system. However, they better get someone to run it that knows what they are doing. No more Phil's family and political cronies.
Why is the new billing system being run out of Detroit, Michigan? With the need for jobs in Mississippi and Jackson, in particular, who made the decision to outsource the new billing system to Detroit. It smells like a Chokwe Lumumba decision. Maybe you can find that out Kingfish.
Nothing can be done, Nothing. Just get as far way as possible.
All the antennas they put up in my NEJ neighborhood to collect readings from the new meters have disappeared though they left the metal poles behind in the ground.
Neighbor of mine said her engineer son who lives in Fondren has heard that the wireless reading flat out doesn't work.
Administration and leadership is sorely lacking. However, in fairness, if you installed a capable leader or department head, he/she would have to fire the ENTIRE STAFF to turn things around. Nobody leader/manager/department head could accomplish anything if the employee base remains the same. It's too far gone for anyone to fix. And the people who are qualified to handle it don't want to work for Jackson because they can find jobs at much better places.
Maybe the collections are short because bills ARE NOT BEING SENT OUT? My neighbors and I in NEJ have not received a water bill since early January.
I'm an old water/sewer guy myself. Did lots of projects in the metro area before I quit. Got to know lots of people. The problem in the public works is people. David Willis was an okay guy when he was there. Dan Gaillet was good. But Chan Burns, John Thompson, were terrible. These new folks are worse. Think about the surrounding area outside Jackson. Gary Miller at Flowood is very capable. John Wallace at CMU was a strong leader. Mike McCollum at Ridgeland is capable. Denson Robinson at Madison was fantastic (not familiar with the new guy there now). Tony McMullin at Bear Creek was difficult to deal with, but Bear Creek's new guy is a home-run hire for them. I didn't deal with City of Clinton much. Pear River had Bennie French and now Sigmund (both good guys). But the common denominator is that the surrounding areas have capable folks.
Did they convert the traffic cameras to meter-reading-devices?
The city's leadership is almost as incompetent as our current state leadership - almost.
I have not received a water bill since December. I have received my bill for my irrigation system every month, but not a single bill for my house water usage since DECEMBER. How many others haven't even received their bills and therefore cannot pay it??? I have thought about calling and asking them to send me a bill so I can pay them, but I work and can't spend my time doing THEIR jobs for them, too.
And you are making the point why there should be an expansion of the airport board. Jackson cant wipe their butt correctly.
Ms. Powell seems to be earning her 150k/yr keep.
NOT.
And yet we still want to entrust the leaders of the city with stewardship of the airport? Riiiiiight.
The envelope my bill comes in makes it look like junk mail. I have to be very careful not the throw it away. The envelope is very plain. Maybe some people are just as confused as I am. Since the bill doesn't come every month, if I threw one away then they get no revenue.
People forget... that we structured it so that the government, or the people, would be repaid with a really good rate of return.
Mission Accomplished!
Sound familiar? http://www.monticellolive.com/siemens-in-mccomb-ms-federal-court-to-hear-meter-lawsuit/
Maybe Jackson should done some homework....especially in their own backyard (McComb) before entering the same type of project.
One can't tell much about the situation by the attached spreadsheets.
Who prepared them ? What was the basis of the $80 projection ? Seems like 2014-15 collections were less than 60 (not including sanitation)
Looks like a mess to me.
Maybe the people in the water dept are straight piping again, if they ever stopped. The whole city is crooked and not very smart.
I understand there are WHOLE STREETS with straight pipes instead of water meters at every residence. They should all be identified and arrested for theft of city services. What is the Mayor doing about it? Or is he part of it?
They aren't reading the meters and the estimated amount is HIGHER than the actual usage. At least in my case. Check your own meter and compare it to your bill. You might be getting overcharged.
I personally know people in Jackson who've never received a water bill. Unbelievable the level of incompetence. Meanwhile, back at my ranch, I receive bills saying I use 450 gallons a day. I think not
@2:56 PM the City Council knew ** all about McComb ** before they voted to go forward with Siemens. They own the decision and all the implementation problems directly attributable to the Siemens and their subs.
My bill arrives monthly and it effectively doubled what I was paying.
Looks like I am one of the unlucky ones who gets a bill timely.
5:51 - So just stop paying it. It's not like they are going to do anything about it.
5:51, you are paying the wrong person. Ask just about any water dept worker and they can hook you up.
Everybody seems to be focused on billing. The issue isn't exclusively billing. They don't make most people pay. That's the issue. There are entire streets where they actually save money not sending out bills given that nobody is going to pay and they aren't going to do anything about it. A lot of people will only pay if you are going to pull their meter. And they don't do that to most people. It would amaze most people if they put out numbers that show how many are getting free water and sewer.
9:57, It wouldn't amaze anyone. We already know it. They are just paying the right person. Much cheaper that way.
Two people are the problem: Tony and Keisha.
More than "Tony and Keisha". Decades long top-to-bottom corruption in Public Works. Straight pipes, jiggered coding, fixed bills, unsupervised billing credits. TOP-to-BOTTOM.
Look at most any municipality in this state where there have been departmental prosecutions (by the state audit department) over the past forty years. You will almost always find 'the water department'.
Used to be clerks in the drive thru window absconding with cash. Now it's way more sophisticated but still the same department. The primary difference, over time, is that it didn't typically involve complicity from city municipal leadership in the past.
I have not received a h2o bill in three months.
9:21, maybe your man got caught. There will be another one to take his place soon. Jackson never runs out of thieves.
Obviously, the new Siemens' meters don't work. Wireless readings clearly aren't working; otherwise, they wouldn't be still doing estimated billing or sending actual meter readers out to read (when they do). I also believe the meters aren't accurate at reading water usage. I've been looking at my meter every month, and I don't believe I'm using what it claims. When I was receiving my bill (which I have not received in 3 months, like so many others), it was double what we used to pay. Maybe more than double. That's a load of bull. All this while half the city is stealing water, which the elected city officials know about and probably have known about for YEARS and have done absolutely nothing about it. However, I am not a thief. I work hard to earn my money, and I always pay my bills. If they would just SEND ME A BILL!!! And how about make it an ACCURATE BILL?!
When I go to the gas station and buy gas, I pay for the actual amount of gas I put into my car; not an estimate, and not more than double what I actually pumped due to a faulty pump. If the gas station owners ran their business the way the city/water department does, they would not only have been shut down a long time ago, but they would also be in JAIL.
Any idiot can see why collections are down. Since the water department and administration is clearly full of idiots, I'll help you out:
(1) You cannot COLLECT if you don't SEND OUT A BILL.
(2) You cannot COLLECT if you allow half of the city to STEAL WATER with no consequences for YEARS.
(3) You will have trouble COLLECTING from those of us in the city that actually work and pay our bills if you SCREW US OVER with new meters that clearly do not work, and thus OVER-BILL those of us who do pay our bills.
Obviously, the new Siemens' meters don't work.
$90,000,000 just doesn't buy much any more.
$90 million that should've been used to repair/replace water lines, to upgrade water corrosion prevention, and to pave roads. My old water meter worked just fine. I got my bi-monthly water bill like clockwork, and I paid it. No problems.
What a mess the city and Siemens have created.
If you looked where part of the $90 million ended up you would understand the problem. When the people of Jackson decided to elect criminals they should have know what would happen. Problem is most of the citizens of Jackson do not think stealing is a crime.
I should edit my earlier comment about the meters not working. They're either not working, OR the employees of the water department don't know how to correctly operate them, or some combination of both. I don't know which it is.
The city needs loss-prevention controls like many large stores have.
Cameras (with audio) over all clerks who deal with the public - both to insure accuracy and reasonable customer service without giving services away. The 'back-room' staff (viewing/listening) should be off-premises out of state personnel to prevent the 'fox-guarding-the-hen-house'.
People look at what/who you are dealing with in the City of Jackson and the water situation. In order to repair a situation like this you need to be dealing with knowledgeable, competent individuals. You have none of the above in your leadership: commissioners, mayor or department heads. How can you lead if you have no leaders????? The only way to resolve this is to clean house and "good luck" with that! A good, thorough audit might do the trick!
Real bitch when your new billing system is being run out of Detroit, Michigan. Who wants to bet that is because of BabaHappyKushMan Chockster Dumulumbu?
Water, water and not a drop to drink.
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