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The Jackson City Council approved a resolution Tuesday morning urging U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate to “consider” taking a series of actions related to JXN Water operations, billing practices and financial oversight.
The vote occurred one day before Wingate is set to rule on whether Jackson residents will receive a second water rate increase, something that Interim Third Party Water Manager and leader of JXN Water Ted Henifin has been pushing for nearly a year now.
While the vote carries no legal force — only Wingate can issue binding orders governing JXN Water — it formally lays out the council’s priorities and frustrations as the seemingly never-ending dispute between the city and JXN Water intensifies.
The council voted 4–1 to approve the resolution. Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote voted against it, while Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay and Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes were not in attendance.
The resolution urges Wingate to:
- Extend the court’s billing amnesty order through April 30, 2026.
- Require walk-in, in-person customer service without appointments, Monday through Saturday.
- JXN Water currently handles most customer service issues through its call center.
- Direct JXN Water and the city to assign staff to address billing system problems.
- Order an affordability study, rather than a rate study, to guide future decisions.
- Compel JXN Water to immediately remit sanitation fees owed to the city and to do so on a quarterly basis going forward.
- City officials say JXN Water is withholding roughly $14 million in sanitation fees that are typically transferred monthly to help pay the city’s long-term residential garbage collection contract with Richard’s Disposal Inc. The utility has held the funds since spring 2025.
- Credit the city for bond debt and water loss charges the council says should be the responsibility of JXN Water.
- Prohibit the court-appointed monitor from publicly commenting on the city’s efforts to secure alternative funding sources.
- Ensure equitable billing for Byram and other non-Jackson users.
- Those areas receive water from Jackson, but any rate increase would require approval from the Mississippi Public Service Commission, which has not occurred.
- Remove JXN Water employees from the city payroll.
- Align JXN Water’s fiscal year with the city’s Oct. 1–Sept. 30 budget cycle.
One amendment was made to the resolution to soften its language. According to Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson, the title was changed from urging Wingate “to take certain actions” related to JXN Water instead to urging him “to consider” those actions.
Parkinson said the council made the change “out of deference to the judge.”
“We believe in the substance of the issue, but we don’t think it’s our place to tell a federal judge anything,” Parkinson said. “We ask the judge to please consider the items.”
JXN Water’s response
In a Tuesday afternoon statement to the Clarion Ledger, JXN Water Spokesperson Aisha Carson said the utility “is aware of the resolution introduced by the City of Jackson and believes it is important to provide context as the matter proceeds in court.”
“For years, the City of Jackson and members of the City Council had the opportunity to responsibly manage and invest in the water system and failed to do so. JXN Water exists because of that failure,” the statement reads. “Now, after the system is working well — delivering water and keeping raw sewage off the streets — and after the system was removed from the City’s control by the federal courts, the Council is attempting to direct the very entity tasked with fixing what they did not.
“In addition, the unfounded and erroneous claims made about JXN Water’s billing system undermine public trust and weaken collection efforts without acknowledging the conditions we inherited or the progress already made. While Council members continue to advocate on behalf of their constituents, JXN Water must apply its policies consistently to sustain the system for all customers. The full record and legal arguments will be addressed in court.”
The looming decision on water rates
It’s unclear whether Wingate will take up any of the council’s requests or keep the hearing focused on the proposed water rate increase. But anyone who has spent time in Wingate’s courtroom knows the discussion can veer wherever the judge sees fit. As Henifin put it last week, “there is no predicting what will come up during the hearing.”
The proposed water rate increase would raise the average residential water bill from about $76 to $85 per month — roughly a 12% increase — to help cover operating costs and debt service. Henifin has argued the increase is necessary to stabilize the system financially.
Henifin wanted the increase rate to take affect in Dec. 15, 2025, but Wingate temporarily blocked the rate increase in November.
In a Dec. 22 filing, City Attorney Drew Martin argued that a second increase would unfairly burden paying customers, noting that tens of millions of dollars remain uncollected each year.
“The City simply asks that the Court order JXN Water to do what the City must do and what every citizen and ratepayer must do: live within its means,” Martin wrote.
Along with the council, Jackson Mayor John Horhn is opposed to the rate hike. He previously told the Clarion Ledger that JXN Water should first improve collections and cut costs. Roughly 20-30% of customers remain delinquent, according to city estimates.
Horhn could not be reached for further comment regarding the council’s resolution. Jackson spokesperson Nic Lott did not respond to a request for comment.
The council’s action also follows last week’s vote to temporarily cover more than $2 million in trash-collection bills from the city’s general fund after JXN Water withheld sanitation fees residents already paid on their water bills. Henifin has said the utility is withholding the money because the city owes millions in unpaid water bills, largely tied to leaks at the Jackson Zoo.
Wingate previously pressed Henifin on his legal authority to withhold those funds. Henifin acknowledged he had none but said the money would be released once the city settles its debt.
Why Foote voted no
Foote was the lone vote against the resolution. While he has voiced some criticism of JXN Water in the past, Foote has generally declined to support council resolutions aimed at the federally managed utility.
In October, when the council approved another resolution stating that Jackson’s water and sewer systems should be returned to the city and out of JXN Water’s hands, Foote was also the lone vote against.
He explained his reasoning after the meeting.
“I thought the City was better off not making a big news headline with a Resolution confronting a Federal Judge about the operations of JXN Water during the opening week of the Legislative Session, when our focus needs to be the many issues the City has with things we control such as crime, blight, squatters and the ongoing exodus of citizens out of Jackson,” Foote said.
He used one of his familiar lines that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
“Squabbling publicly with JXN Water distracts from the Mayor’s narrative of Jackson Rising,” Foote said.
Charlie Drape is the Jackson beat reporter. Contact him at cdrape@gannett.com.
