Jackson Jambalaya

Henifin has done a great job fixing the infrastructure - getting the treatment plants operating as they are capable of doing and could have been doing for the past decade - and repairing major failures in the water distribution/sewer collection lines.

But he hasn't addressed the third rail of the system, the one that led to the failure of the other two - the collection of bills. During three years at the helm he has raised the collection rate to a paltry 71%, and has only recently started cessation of service to those that don't pay. Many reasons could be floated as to why he has refused to focus on this issue but it appears to revolve around his inability to waive his $40 access fee for those that receive SNAP benefits (a proposal that flies into the face of the recently passed legislation requiring equal charges for all aligined users, but that bridge probably won't be crossed until he actually starts waiving the fee for those "HE"" feels are deserving and not for other residential customers.)

And to be fair, Wingate did not block the creation of a regional utility authority, he only blocked Ted from naming his choice group of followers to be on his board. A regional authority will be the final solution but the board should be named by a wide range of appointers, not Judge Wingate and certainly not the manager of the system.

Start a new project to fix the operational costs.

"At this time"

That $450 million just adds that much to the national debt. Jackson needs to pay their own friggin' bills, slackers!

Harvey J....no further comment

@9:27 unfortunately $450 million is a rounding error for the national debt

Cradle-to-grave welfare for these bums is why I refuse to pay taxes.

KF said at 100% collection rate it would
not be enough money.

That $450 mm needs to be spent to make the plants more efficient. Somehow that money needs to be used to reduce the cost of the service. And rates need to increase 6% - 8% annually

Judge Wingate is fixated on the Siemens settlement but even if he could claw back at best $10-15 million, it would not be enough to scratch the surface.

Agree that it won't solve the problem. My guess is the Judge knows something we don't. Antard said city damaged to the tune of $225+ million from Siemens deal then mere 8 months later he's settling for $89 million and making the effort to claim he "recovered every penny". Settlement and his choice of counsel stunk then and knowing what we now know about Lumumba it stinks even more now.

Unfortunately Wingate doesn’t appear to be able to comprehend that any money he might claw back barely puts a dent in what is needed. Raise the rates now. Here is a link about rates in the metro area. Jackson is not the most expensive and still won’t be with an increase. This makes it even harder to understand Wingate’s issue with raising rates.

https://www.wlbt.com/2025/07/15/analysis-jacksons-water-sewer-rates-rank-fourth-metro/

@912am, I understand reading comprehension is so very hard, but it was stated within this post, plus numerous other times elsewhere, that even if the collection rate is 100% it is not enough revenue to sustain the system because of the debt load.

Too many commenters assume that the collection rate pre-Siemens was stellar. It wasn't. System might have been in the black but it has NEVER collected what was necessary to address the OBC+leakage probs that Henifin has addressed which were also probs pre-Siemens. Also no acknowledgement that Fewell has been saving the day since OBC first went online and masked the myriad of OBC issues that were never publicly divulged. Can't wait until Robert Miller gets to tell the truth.

Thanks to the improvements in water production and fixing of leaks, we are close to the point where we can take Fewell off line. Close to 50% of the water was going into the ground thanks to leaks. Pipes were not mapped and countless valves were shut off and never reopened, thus lowering water pressure.

Do you know KF how much we would save if fewell was offline?

Do your fucking job Congress and get a regional board. This doesn't just affect Jackson.

Please be accurate KF. "100% collection rate would not even touch the debt service". Wrong! 100% collection rate would not even touch the O&M costs (not counting debt) thanks to Ted, Jacobs, et al. I appreciate his initial actions, but he has saddled the future "regional authority" with unstainable costs that will require double water rates or bailouts from the State and/or Feds.

The system was saddled by previous incompetent Mayors. Not Ted Henifin.

@1038am Are you suggesting we bring back the former water system employees who were also incompetent and complicit in the failure of the system rather than having Jacobs operate it who are water system experts and actually know what the hell they are doing?

Jackson got themselves into this mess. Jackson should get themselves out of this mess. They chose to elect mayors for the color of their skin rather than their ability. The people of Jackson would rather let their city continue on it's downward slide than to elect people for their ability to get the job done. Every cent the feds put into Jackson is a waste until the people finally wake up.

@10:38 AM. Good point. That's because it actually costs money to operate and maintain a system. The stuff ain't free. And it's gotten a lot more expensive in the last 5 years. Jackson could operate it cheaper because they didn't fix or maintain anything. So it was cheaper in the short run, and now it's proven more expensive in the long run. Financial tip: you can save money on oil changes in your car if you never change the oil.

Here is the real problem that Ted and the folks that take over after him will face. It takes money to run this stuff. It's not cheap. Rates have to go up, and the citizens of Jackson should pay them and fund their own water/sewer system in a manner consistent with other water/sewer systems. However, the per capita income is very low and many simply can't afford the higher rates. That is the big issue. However, they can afford nails, eyelashes, tattoos, iPhones, etc.

And that attitude is the problem...A million here and a million there and pretty soon we are talking real money.

@10:06 am - this is 9:12, to whom you were replying. I do not disagree at all that the collection rate was terrible when Henifin took over - best I recall it was at 60-61%. Hell, back when Miller rode into town it was less than 50%!.

My point was that increasing from 60 to 70% in three years over a major failing of the system is not reason to justify raising rates. Fixing the treatment plants (when you have tens of millions to do so) was a great success and great use of the Fed dollars. Same is true for stopping leaks and collapses. Buying a Headquarters- ok, because at least it pissed Lumumba off for not being in the hood, but minor deal.

The third rail (after treatment and distribution/collection) is --- COLLECTIONS. And, that appears to not have been a focus of efforts, which it must be to have an operational system.

Yes, I believe rates needed to be increased (something the City 'fathers' never had the balls to do -for decades) but they don't need to be increased on the 70% that pay their bills, they need to be increased on everyone and everyone forced to pay. Utility systems all over the country do this - and a contractor could be found to fix this third rail of the system.

But - appears this has not been a priority, just as it was not even a consideration under the city's management.

9:51 has summarized a hunch that I have had since Judge Wingate, himself, issued those subpoenas. It appears that Judge Wingate has a suspicion of wrongdoing re: the Siemens settlement. Going to the substance of the agreement.

Do not disagree. But - collecting from 95+% is required of any reasonably operating utility. And with three years at the helm, the rate has only increased from 61% to 71%. Yes, rates will still need to ge increased, no argument there. But the rates should be paid by all, not just the ones Henifin think should be required to pay for this utility. One must remember his early statements, when he was promoting his Association's mantra that water should be paid for by the rich to support the poor - and he wanted to charge based on the square footage of one's home regardless of the amount of water used.

Love the job Henifin has done on the operational system - but won't wear blinders to his unwillingness to make 'everyone' pay for the water they use (to which the city is dependent on collection of trash puckup.)

"However, the per capita income is very low and many simply can't afford the higher rates." The proposed rate increase is not a large increase; It's a $9-$12 per month increase. That's one less fast food meal a month for those folks you are saying cant afford an increase FOR WATER - a necessity.

Jxn water had to rebuilt the billing system from scratch.

Jacob’s has brought back competent employees the politicians ran off.

In Rankin county, we always have running water for an affordable price. Maybe, Jackson's brightest will figure this out one day. They are on the case!!

KF--can you do a deep dive on the last 30%. And what percentage of that 30% is trash landlords like Tony Little and Blossoms apartments that were using HUD money running housing for vulnerable people who were paying rent that included water--but the landlord was not paying the water?

Agree Kingfish. Jacob's has done a great job.

Yeah, just like Tubberville wasn’t leaving Ole Miss for Auburn or Saban leaving LSU for Alabama. Yeah, we can believe Henefin wants to stay right here.

Its not Congress's job - but it is the Mississippi Legislature's!

No, thats not factually correct. But even if it was - they have had three years which is plenty of time to 'rebuild' the system from scratch - if that had been a priority.

Saban didn't leave LSU for Alabama. Saban left Miami for Alabama, and we were glad to have him.