Several apartment complexes are battling JXN Water in federal court this week over the payment of delinquent water bills. WLBT reported:
Proceedings will resume on Friday in a hearing that could determine whether several apartment complexes in the capital city can have their water shut off for nonpayment. The owners of six Jackson complexes, including the Park at St. Andrews, are seeking an injunction blocking JXN Water from shutting off their complexes, arguing in part that the utility’s billing policies are unconstitutional. JXN Water refutes those claims, and during witness questioning on Thursday, pointed out that the Park failed to pay its bill for months, despite collecting $138,000 in water, trash, and pest control fees from its tenants. “So, what they really want, I guess, is for JXN Water to conceive either a flat-rate system... [or] go back to the old city of Jackson system. Maybe they want to pick their own rate structure. Maybe we should let apartment complexes dictate their own rates,” said Mitch McGuffey, an attorney for JXN Water... Woodlands Property Holdings and Blue Magma Residential filed a petition against JXN Water in August, after receiving a final disconnect notice for the Park, a 200-unit complex at 2119 Woodland Way. The companies argue that part of the problem is JXN Water’s tiered rate structure, which charges rates per hundred cubic feet used based on overall consumption, rather than a flat rate across the board. That rate structure, in turn, means residents at the city’s complexes are being charged more for water than their counterparts in single-family homes. “JXN Water repeatedly uses ‘average residential customer’ in their reporting... That only applied to people who live in houses. It does not apply to anyone who lives in an apartment complex,” attorney Robert Ireland said.... Ireland and attorney Michael Corey represent Woodlands and Blue Magma. Woodlands purchased the Park at St. Andrews in 2021. Blue Magma manages it and five other complexes in the city on behalf of the firm. Ireland went on to say that JXN Water violates the U.S. Constitution by failing to provide customers with a way to dispute their bills, and cites a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft to back up his stance. “JXN Water not only owes plaintiffs notice and opportunity to be heard prior to disconnection, but, your honor, that notice must give plaintiffs the right to dispute the bills and termination of service,” he said... The complex paid its bills through August of that year, when billing stopped. The Park didn’t get another statement until February 2024. That bill was for more than $261,000. Carol McAllister, the chief financial officer for Blue Magma, said Blue Magma reached out to JXN Water about that bill for help, questioning the accuracy of the meter. “Throughout this whole time, it wasn’t that we stopped and didn’t do anything. Any time a property has an expense out of the ordinary, especially if it comes to water... if it’s a major leak, we see it, we fix it,” she said. “We had leak detection companies and other plumbing services to walk outside. We did the inside. So, when the bills stopped, we still couldn’t figure it out, but when we got that high bill... We picked back up again with regard to what we can do to affect the usage.” Court records indicate that between 2022 and 2024, water usage at the complex more than doubled, including a spike in January 2024. Blue Magma contends plumbers weren’t able to find any leaks, saying the high bills likely were the result of a faulty meter. McAllister told the court that despite reaching out to JXN Water, representatives never came out to check the meter and rarely communicated.... Rest of article.
Stay tuned.
35 comments:
This money will NEVER be collected. These landlords will get away unscathed. As usual, taxpayers pay for these losses.
They put the water money in their
general fund instead of in a water
account. They collected over $100,000
and didn't pay Jxn Water any money.
They got a new meter that is accurate
as where the old meter was not.
.
They charge a three bedroom apt.
$120 a month for water.
These apt. owners don't holler anything
until Jxn Water sends them a cutoff
notice.
Henefin needs to write a book when he gets the hell out of dodge. I can't imagine he had any idea what he was getting into.
They got a accurate meter now and
think the bill is too high. The old ones
didn't work.They getting a correct bill
and they don't like it.
They should write it off and tell the tenants to go buy their water somewhere else from now on. They will never collect it so walk away now. When the water disappears it will be the tenants' problem to fix that problem.
What a third world city. (Save the comments on the definition of "third world." This is the common and accepted usage.) Jackistan won't return to its former greatness until it hits bottom, and it's not there yet.
Very true. Chowke promi$ed these landlord$ that they would never have to pay. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, grease, grease.
The water dept. needs to file theft charges against the property owners, and cut the water off until full payment is made. The water dept. is also culpable for allowing this to go on this long.
So what?
They said it wasnt like we stopped. They stopped paying the bill.
Right after he gets the stink off his body and clothes.
Can they decrease the water pressure to these apartment complexes? If they cannot cut off service, then greatly reduce it to minimize losses.
So where is that money? That's the million dollar question. If they knew something wasn't right with not getting a bill, AND THEY WERE CHARGING AND COLLECTING IT FROM THEIR TENANTS, where is it? At minimum, if the judge rules they don't have to pay it back, or only pay back a portion, they need to reimburse their tenants. In no way should they be able to pocket this money and walk away. NO F'ING WAY! They are profiting from a pass-through cost. Think of your mortgage company collecting your taxes and insurance in escrow and not paying the taxes and insurance. It's not their money, it's the tenants. Not having an account with these funds and keeping them is criminal in and of itself and they fact they didn't even try shows their intent.
"Write off": https://youtu.be/XEL65gywwHQ
This will not stop unless JXN Water is allowed to cut off water to these properties. The property owners knew they were not paying the bill and should have held the money they collected for water knowing that a bill would come eventually. Cut off the water and help tenants relocate. Taking away the rental income from the property is the only way to solve this problem.
This is what happens when a city is run by incompetent people who either cannot or, for political reasons will not, maintain a proper water billing system. They let water bills go unpaid, and then they go running to a court to give them the money they should have collected one month at a time.
Did they say anything about calling
Jxn Water when they didn't get a bill?
Common sense would say do it. It
seems they paid everything but water.
Jxn Water is not run by incompetent
people. There is a proper billing system.
I remember some years ago, the city of Jackson hired some hot shot from I don’t know where to straighten this water situation out. I am sure he took his money and left town.
Umm 11:27 - we are talking years of unpaid water bills. We didn't get to this level of unpaid water bills through competence and a proper billing system.
Jxn Water is not asking for water bills
before they took over.
I love the comment "we pay bills when they make sense".
We didn't didn't get a bill and/or disagreed with the bill . . . so we didn't pay anything and kept the tenants' money that we collected to pay that bill.
I don't think Judge Wingate is going to swallow that.
Looking back, around 2021, Chockwe Lumumba publicly issued a moratorium on water service cut-offs, and the apartment complexes stopped paying their water bills around 2021-2022. I don't think that's a coincidence.
My property tax bill doesn't make sense so I am not paying it.
The Lumumba reign of error was essentially eight years of a no-show administration. From his first day in office to his last the city declined at an exponential rate greater than the total decline of competency and effectiveness from Ditto to Yarber.
I love the comment "we pay bills when they make sense".
I got a shut off notice in the mail myself. I pay monthly but not the full amount.
I’m actually happy. Shows they are finally doing their job and enforcing bills instead of asking for ridiculous increases while there’s millions of uncollected money on the table.
They have been cutting customers
off for nonpayment. They cut off
people getting water with no account
set up. They sending out 1000 letters
a week. We may not hear about it
but been doing shutoffs for a long
while.
They want to say that Jxn Water didn't
communicate with them. The lady
who testified said they had been
communicating with Jxn Water for
a year and half. And they had put off
disconnecting the apts time and again.
I don't think it's been brought up in court that I know, but they have no
idea how their tenants use water.
The customer has the burden of
proof when disputing a water bill.
If I was Ted Henifin, I would be sooooo gone.
Their is no honor among thieves.
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