The city of Jackson provided an update on its financial status during the annual audit meeting, revealing a $32.5 million water and sewer deficit owed by JXN Water from 2023.Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay said this audit for 2023 is completed, noting some concerns but overall improvement. One significant point of discussion was the $32.5 million deficit from JXN Water. Clay said she was not surprised by the figure, explaining it is an estimate since the 2024 audit has not been conducted yet. “That is a number that didn’t shock me because we know the number is bad because of the collection ratio, so once the collection ratio is better than that number should improve,” Clay said. “That’s money that JXN Water will give to the city of Jackson to operate, so right now we are operating, considering we don’t know the real numbers.”For several weeks, JXN Water has been denied by federal judge Henry Wingate the ability to raise water rates to collect more money from customers. The company reported that 9,000 to 10,000 customers have accounts but do not pay their water bills.Despite these challenges, Clay said the city has improved its bill payments since implementing a new procurement system last year. “When I came into the office, they were way behind. You may have gotten a bill that was as old as a year or two behind, now most of the bills we get at worst case scenario are 90 days behind,” Clay said. “So, we do have a new procurement system, and it’s working well.”Clay emphasized the city’s goal to catch up on all audits to continue receiving grants, federal funds, and bond ratings.
The city of Jackson provided an update on its financial status during the annual audit meeting, revealing a $32.5 million water and sewer deficit owed by JXN Water from 2023.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Clay said this audit for 2023 is completed, noting some concerns but overall improvement. One significant point of discussion was the $32.5 million deficit from JXN Water. Clay said she was not surprised by the figure, explaining it is an estimate since the 2024 audit has not been conducted yet.
“That is a number that didn’t shock me because we know the number is bad because of the collection ratio, so once the collection ratio is better than that number should improve,” Clay said. “That’s money that JXN Water will give to the city of Jackson to operate, so right now we are operating, considering we don’t know the real numbers.”
For several weeks, JXN Water has been denied by federal judge Henry Wingate the ability to raise water rates to collect more money from customers. The company reported that 9,000 to 10,000 customers have accounts but do not pay their water bills.
Despite these challenges, Clay said the city has improved its bill payments since implementing a new procurement system last year.
“When I came into the office, they were way behind. You may have gotten a bill that was as old as a year or two behind, now most of the bills we get at worst case scenario are 90 days behind,” Clay said. “So, we do have a new procurement system, and it’s working well.”
Clay emphasized the city’s goal to catch up on all audits to continue receiving grants, federal funds, and bond ratings.