Billing problems continue to plague JXN Water just as they plagued the City of Jackson for years. However, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate has had enough and laid down the law on JXN Water.
Judge Wingate recalled the Siemens deal that torpedoes Jackson's water system:
Thousands of meters were never properly calibrated. Many failed to register consumption at all. 1O others transmitted faulty readings. The billing software, rather than correcting errors, compounded them by producing erratic and sometimes exorbitant bills. By 2019, the City of Jackson had filed suit against Siemens, alleging fraud and breach of contract. That litigation eventually produced a settlement exceeding $90 million. But recovery of funds has not equated to recovery of competence. The defective meters remain embedded in the system, and to this day a significant percentage of accounts in Jackson are either unmetered, inaccurately metered, or not billed altogether.
Judge Wingate aimed to resolve these problems once and for all in an order he issued yesterday. The Court ordered JXN Water to publicize within 14 days:
a simple reporting mechanism for customers who have not received a water/sewage bill for sixty (60) or more days. Such mechanism must include (a) a dedicated online portal, (b) a staffed telephone hotline, and (c) availability of in-person reporting at JXN Water customer service offices.
The Court authorized JXN Water to offer amnesty from late fees and a "structured payment plan" to customers who "voluntarily reports unfilled usage before December 31, 2025." However, JXN Water does not charge late fees and already has a process for self-reporting. It makes one wonder if the Court is familiar with JXN Water policies.
The city of Jackson must provide JXN Water with all property rolls, occupancy permits, and business licenses.
JXN Water must provide quarterly reports to the Court starting in January 2026. The report must state the number of new accounts, number of customer reports received, and revenue impacts of these measures.
A compliance hearing will be held on September 19, 2026.
43 comments:
Jackson gonna Jackson.
Jxn Water replaced the old meters.
Re-inventing the wheel, one court order at a time.
Jxn Water has a company working on
finding people with no account
Judge needs to order Ted to use federal dollars to pay off debt consistent with the terms of the legislation. Ted can fashion a remedy that will fit the lettering. After that, water rates need to increase 6% annually for a decade.
I wonder where he's getting his info.
Ted's lawyer told court they don't charge late fees. Seems like the
judge doesn't communicate with
Jxn Water.
I'm trying to figure out where he's getting his information.
You think people are gonna self-report.
No. He already has it on their website.
Does the city have the property rolls?
The city doesn't handle the property
rolls do they?
Jackson SHALL provide all property rolls, occupancy permits, and business licenses. Good start to zeroing in on ones who dont have meter/account with Jxn Water.
September 19th 2026 is a Saturday....?
I can easily see Henefin wiping his hands of this mess when his contract is up and suggesting Wingate take over management of Jxn Water. It seems Wingate wants to run it now anyway.
How hard can this be? A meter records usage. Data gets from meter to the billing system. A bill is generated by usage x rate. Bill is sent to user. User pays bill or will no longer receive the product.
The gas company, the electric company, and every other subscription based industry seems to be able to handle this. What makes water so special?
He knows about Jxn Water polices. Ted
tells him in court. I guess he doesn't listen.
How is this gonna solve Jxn Water problems. Ted said there is 5% not
billed. That's not enough.
Judge didn't mention if he found us some siemans money.
Will this fix Jxn Water money issues?
9:21 can't pay debt with money he's got
The good folks at my Bear Creek Water Assoc. are laughing their behinds off.
My total monthly bill: $57.67
Water: $13.02
Sewer - City of Madison Metro $10.06
Sewer - City of Madison $9.95
Garbage (WM through City of Madison) $24.64
"Judge Wingate aimed to resolve these problems once and for all in an order he issued yesterday."
That almost seems comical. If all that was needed to fix Jackson's water problems was a court order, the issues would have been resolved a long time ago. It takes money. The bills have to be paid or the system stops. And unless you can issue a court order to sprout a money tree, what good are court orders?
This whole thing is insanity. They hired Ted to clean it up. Ted is trying his best to clean it up and make it run. Wingate is tying his hands. You can't fix it and fight it at the same time. If I were Ted, I chunk deuces and tell 'em KMAG YOYO.
It's Jax City water.
More kicking the can down the road. How does one become a federal judge before the filibuster was nuked without having a basic understanding of finances and simple math? Is there a way to remove Judge Wingate? If so, it is time to explore it.
Let us see: City of Jax owes Jax water some $6.8 million for a leak at the chimpanzee moat at the Jax zoo which has no chimps in the moat and no paying customers and loses a $million or so a year. Jax city will not pay Jax water but Jax water collects the Jax garbage fees along with water bills. So Jax water will withhold the garbage money from Jax city, so Jax city will not be able to pay Jax garbage so the garbage will stop in Jax city.
NET: soon, no water, no garbage collection, and no chimps except those running all these entities.
Thankfully, we are all beginning to see that JXN Water isn’t perfect and holding appointees accountable. Late stage capitalism at its finest.
"The good folks at my Bear Creek Water Assoc. are laughing their behinds off." Cheer all you wish now, but that isn't nearly enough to improve and maintain your water system's infrastructure with the constant rising costs of inputs.
They may have replaced some meters, but are they working? JXN Water has failed to provide a functional website, and their billing is a mess. Homeowners that want to sign up for an account can’t, people that want to pay their water bills can’t even receive an accurate one… much less get a straight answer if one manages to get someone to answer the phone. Glad we have clean water but all of this is part of JXN Water’s responsibility.
Normal people want to do the right thing, it’s part of being a good citizen and a Christian.
The court needs to do a forensic examination of the entire operation.
Judge Wingate is going to find out how much power he really has if all the contractors walk away due to non-payment.
Bear Creek Water Association is a non-profit so nothing can go wrong.
9:39 - Agreed. Ted's been asking for data like this for forever. Here's the question: Once he has that data, is he going to enforce payment or shut offs?
Funny that Jackson has refused to pay what they owe for water while Chumpalumba claimed the State didn't pay for the same but was proven wrong by Kingfish.
Courts don't do forensic examinations. They can order it, but then who will pay for it? That's the whole issue. Wingate is already outside his swim lane. Courts aren't suitable for running water systems either...as we are about to see all too clearly.
Website is a joke and no one answers the phone or if they do they tell you they will have to call you back, and then don’t!
Are you talking about the expensive out of state vendors Ted hired on no-bid contracts?
@11:12 If the poster @10:12 is paying $13.02 for water, he only uses 2300 gallons which is extremely minimal. Most customers use around 6000-7000 gallons. So I'm guessing the poster is a household of 1 or 2 people. The sewer charges and garbage charges he quoted are from the city of Madison. That tells me the poster has Bear Creek water service, but has Madison sewer service rather than Bear Creek sewer service. I can assure you that Bear Creek raises the rates regularly (normally annually). Honestly, it's a necessity. Also, Bear Creek is currently constructing a new 2-million gallon elevated water tank and paying cash from reserves set aside for this exact purpose (no debt will be utilized). Also, no debt was utilized when drilling two new water supply wells just a few years ago. So we try to maintain good service, plan for the future, and run this place like a business. We are certainly aware of the rising costs in the industry. I assure you we are.
Nolan Williamson, P.E.
General Manager
Bear Creek Water Association
Part of the problem for many Jacksonians is that it’s practically impossible to set up a water account, the website is not functional and it’s rare when a human answers the 601-500-5200 number and if they do answer, they tell customers they will get back to the person calling and then they don’t…
To set up an account with Jxn Water all
you have to do us go to their website.
Click 3 blue lines in top right corner. They do answer the phone cause they
are there 24 hrs. I have called them.
This will not solve Jxn Water money
problems.
It is not hard to set up an account with
Jxn Water. It's on their website. It is
easy to do. Just follow instructions.
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