Tuesday, July 9, 2019

PSC to CMU: Show Us the Money

The Public Service Commission told Canton Municipal Utilities to show what happened to money gained through illegal rate increases.  The PSC has not approved a rate increase for CMU customers since 1994.  CMU raises its gas service rates anyway in 2009.  The PSC issued a temporary approval for the rate increase on January 30, 2017.  However, the Commission ordered CMU to provide a "detailed accounting of the total amount of" the unapproved rates.

CMU apparently keeps the city of Canton afloat.  The order states:

CMU toutinelytransferred surplus revenues in its utility fund generated by the unapprovedrates charged to the Commission's jurisdictional customers to the City of Canton's general municipal fund for non-utilityservices as well as the Canton Redevelopment Authority.

The PSC wants to know where the unauthorized rate increases went:

CMU routinely transferred surplus revenues in its utility fund generated by the unapprovedrates charged to the Commission's jurisdictional customers to the City of Canton's general municipal fund for non-utilityservices as well as the Canton Redevelopment Authority.

CMU also illegally raised the water service rates for its customers on October 1, 2012. The PSC ordered CMU to provide a similar accounting for the illegal funds as well.  The order is posted below.





39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello? Shad?

Cynical Sam said...

Will they have to show the lease contracts for their BMWs?

Anonymous said...

I am certainly not a fan of the present CMU organization. However, in fairness, look at the dates. The current administration is having to clean up the illegal mess left by John Wallace. Wallace is the one who illegally raised the rates. John Wallace never followed the law, because nobody would do anything to him. So don't blame Kenny Wayne Jones, etc. for this one. Not that Kenny Wayne is a saint, because he ain't.

Anonymous said...

Soooo, all of those outside of Canton muni but subject to CMU utilities are getting f’d? Is that right?

Anonymous said...

With CMU it is not about saving customers money, but it is more about keeping family and friends happy and employed. The CMU Board is rewarded handsomely for their service. They are eligible for health insurance, state retirement and receive a salary. CMU will go out of it's way to avoid efficiencies in order to keep family and friends employed. Yeah if you live outside the city limits of Canton you are getting screwed. Taxation without representation. The present leadership could change things but they are no more than a puppet. How do you explain the hiring of Canton Alderman Eric Gilkey as safety coordinator? What are his qualifications?

Anonymous said...

Kingfish, seriously can you verify that the board members of these private water entities participate in PERS? I would be shocked.

Anonymous said...

@7:05. CMU is quasi public. Their employees are part of the PERS system. I have relatives who have worked there. To my knowledge, I do believe that their board member are also in the PERS system. I'm 99% sure kingfish is correct.

Anonymous said...

@4:30 has it figured out. That is correct. Lake Caroline is getting gang raped. I just can't believe their residents are not busting down the door at the PSC to protest. They are just laying back and taking it.

Anonymous said...

CMU will have to hire cpas and grave diggers to get these numbers....and Cecil wants it by 8/1/19?

Righttttttt

Anonymous said...

@7:05. Please don't confuse a government entity like CMU with water entities that are rural water associations (North Hinds, East Madison, Fannin Water, Bear Creek Water). While both have a board, rural water associations are not public. Neither their employees nor board members get PERS retirement.

CMU employees get PERS retirement, and I believe their board members do also.

Anonymous said...

Hey if the white folks in lake Caroline won’t to keep paying for the CMU commissioners to drive new BMWs every 3 years then go for it CMU. Hell why not get Bentley’s like your lawyers. The people in Lake Caroline are incompetent.

Anonymous said...

JIM HOOD JUST KEEP LOOKING THE OTHER WAY....

Anonymous said...

Canton Alderman Eric Gilkey voted to appoint ALL of the currently seated CMU commissioners, THEN the same commissioners voted to hire Alderman Gilkey as the GD Vice President of CMU. AND pay him $225,000 a year AND leased him a brand new Lexus. This is how CMU is spending the ratepayers money. IF i were Nissan and the other automobile makers in Madison County I would SUE the AG, State Auditor and the DA for allowing this fraud.

Anonymous said...

Canton City Hall - where the family trees have no branches.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious that someone would attempt to hang this crap on John Wallace.

It all falls squarely at the feet of the 'It's Our Turn' gang. And that includes the Blackmons. Almost included Espy and Rudy but they got run off.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to the MPSC and especially Cecil for looking into this.

Anonymous said...

Where is the DA? Why are my tax dollars paying for a DA who is doing nothing? Madison County wake up. We need a DA that will protect our money and not play politics. OR make excuses.

Anonymous said...

@1:50 the Blackmons, Espy, and Rudy were not involved on August 4, 2009 or October 1, 2012 when rates were illegally implemented. John Wallace was in charge at that time. Also, if you read previous correspondence in this matter, you will see that the transfers to the City of Canton and the Canton Redevelopmnet Authority started over 20 years ago (under John Wallace). They were recently stopped under CMU GM Stephen Thompson. Read all the documents and look at the dates. It ain't hard.

Anonymous said...

Is Elvis still mixed up with CMU?

Anonymous said...

Madison County pays the board attorney $250k per year. CMU pays the Blackmon’s over $1,000,000 per year.

Anonymous said...

Canton is now the Jackson of Madison County. Mary needs to launch a "hostile takeover" before Canton destroys Madison, as Gluckstadt can't hold off the spreading plague of incomptency and likely corruption.

Anonymous said...

@ 5:39pm--it's not just lake Caroline but people living in canton too. Wallace, Montgomery, Buttross and Simpson orchestrated quite a scam on everyone. simpson and staff needs to be investigated for time theft and their expenses audited. CRA has mishandled funds/resources as long as simpson was ex director. Her successor who had no qualifications continued simpson's ways and they both left the organization bankrupt. Her church buddies Montgomery and Wallace covered up for her. Redevelopment owned numerous properties that were all allowed to deteriorate. Ole high school promoted to public as a nice upper end apt facility by a reputable company. That "reputable company" it turns out was developing HUD apartments and Simpson knew it. This "reputable company" is currently not treating their tenants right. All the properties owned the CRA? Follow the $'s! Who did Simpson sell them to and ask what price? Where did the funds from sale of these properties go? Often sold below market value. Simpson retired with full benefits from State retirement system when she knew her gig was up. She stayed on til the high school renovations were well underway in order to allow developers exceptions to ordinances and historic preservation issues. Full benefits for someone who worked less than 20 hrs a week and took extended leaves of absence without docking herself. Yes, people in canton were scammed too as Simpson and CRA failed in their mission.

Anonymous said...

IF the canton school district is dissolved (city officials decide to dissolve) the those students will flood the county schools and you folks in Madison, Ridgeland and Gluckstadt will be back to selling land by the acre. WE need to get a handle on the storm that’s brewing in CANTON.

Anonymous said...

I hope the requested information to MS PSC gives the State Auditor office the door to bust this wide open!!

Anonymous said...

Some people get it and some don't. CMU and Canton currently have some crooks (Eric Gilkey for example). They have been associated with folks like Rudy and Kenny Wayne Jones in the past. So the current group ain't good.

However, you can't blame current crooks for something that happened before their time. For example, you may not like Trump or Obama, but to blame them for Pearl Harbor would be stupid.

The document says that CMU illegally implemented rates in 2009. That was John Wallace as the GM. That was Charles Weems and friends on the board. That was probably Bob Montgomery as the attorney. So don't blame the present day crooks for this one.

Anonymous said...

Per 10:31am---"WE" need to get busy as Canton no longer has functional pro-business groups and their civic organizations has no one interested in taking a stand on political issues. The Chamber/Main Street Program has not done anything in the past 5 years and realistically, the past 20. NISSAN's Pam Confer effectively killed off what was left of the Chamber by using it to promote her singing and her business. The Chamber/Main Street Board was not an educated or informed board and has not had the community or business community at heart in years--all resume seekers. Need proof? Look at downtown Canton--once so vital and now limping alone. The current board is negligent and there appears to be no interest in revamping the organizations with educated people as Ex Director and as board members. Where did their revenue go? The Board was not held accountable for the scope of work that they were responsible for administering. A social media company continues to use the Chamber/Mainstreet page to present the illusion that it is operational when it's not. The City's contract with them should not be renewed as events aren't well attended and news about the community is only limited to what tourism office wants publicized. The coalition mentioned in 9:53am's post effectively destroyed all business and community input by negating anyone who dared to speak up and out. Friends of the coalition will not challenge or
confront them our of fear of recrimination. "WE" is there a plan???

Anonymous said...

I have lived in Canton for the last 50 years and yes CMU is an agency of the City. It has been a total rip off for all those 50 years. Lawyer Montgomery set the framework for this scam but the last few years thing have gotten really out of control.

TheClintonscantsuicideusall said...

It is just not CMU. All of the city Agencies need to have forensic audit's. Canton, in my opinion, doesn't really want to be all inclusive city. Shame.

Anonymous said...

Where is the audit CMU was to produce months ago for 2018????

Anonymous said...

@4:20pm

I don't think there are many towns/cities in America that want to be inclusive.

Anonymous said...

It’s Canton. CMU will ignore the order

Anonymous said...

@4:20 my understanding is that CMU has one or more audits that the auditor will not finalize. This is because of some potential pending liabilities from several pending lawsuits. Such as their lawsuit against them from Rudy Warnock. Will CMU win and owe Rudy ZERO, or will CMU have to pay Warnock $6,000,000 million dollars? How should the auditor book that potential unknown claim?

Anonymous said...

@7:21, What is Elvis/Tim J's connection to CMU?

Anonymous said...

Canton Tourism Board was mentioned above. Director and Board Chair live in Rankin County. At least one of the other four board members doesn’t live in Canton.

Anonymous said...

@5:05pm. Don’t forget about the lawsuit against them files by the Madison county wastewater board for overcharging the customers over $2,000,000.

Anonymous said...

@ 6:56pm. You are correct. Padgett is a first class narcissist. May Flea Market was a disaster as she did not want to cancel it out of pride. Padgett had the audacity to tell people not to listen to meteorologists and come to the Flea Market. Yet, other communities in the metro area were canceling and rescheduling their events. Vendors lost thousands of dollars. She put many people at risk with the lightening and flash flooding. Complaints were promptly deleted from Tourism's FB page which is conveniently managed by the son of one of her employees. @2:38pm--correct in that all agencies need to have a forensic audit. Montgomery is also the attorney for Tourism.

Anonymous said...

@10:56... showing your hand this easily? There were at most 5 people that didnt' agree with Canton Tourism about NOT cancelling the Flea Market. The Canton Flea Market isn't some mom & pop weekend flea market. You can't just cancel it 3-5 days in advance because a chance of rain.

Anonymous said...

All you guys are delusional and prove that Canton, MS is nothing more than a dysfunctional community. This post started off about CMU and somehow it has turned into a personal attack of the few good people that are trying to accomplish something in Canton. First of all 6:56 the director and chairman you refer to of Canton Tourism has a large stake in Canton with 2 successful restaurants. So what that he doesn't live in Canton, the Police Chief doesn't either, nor do half of the other department heads and alderman. 10:56, Jan Padgett does a pretty good job of running things based on her budget. If it weren't for her you wouldn't find anyone coming to your corner to rent space for the flea market The spring flea market had a lot of rain, but there were still people driving up from Louisiana to shop. How many came by your booth? Did you help her with the Balloon Festival? Sure it is not what is use to be, but it is a lot better under her watch than under the Parks and Rec. Department for the City of Canton. 12:45 your problem isn't the lack of a Chamber/Main Street, your problem is you. All you want to do is complain and blame your problems on everyone else when in reality you are the problem. If you would offer solutions and not throw rocks at everyone you may have customers in your store. Your mom and dad were pillars of the community, you are a roadblock. Come on people wake up! Canton can be a better community. We need leadership and not stone throwers!

Anonymous said...

Re: post made 7/11 @ 11:41pm
7/11 @ pm. Find another target for your frustrations as you have the wrong one!

People hesitate to speak up/out in Canton due to the ramifications of doing so including unjust attacks like yours. A new FB thread gripes about the lack of good restaurants in Canton. Are these posters negative or "road blocks" because they express their opinions & discuss the problems and realities of Canton?

Canton does need a Chamber of Commerce and/or Main Street.
These programs are usually beneficial to a community when they are properly organized and managed. Enough said.




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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

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This is definitely a Beaver production.


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Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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