JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council voted against a water rate increased that was proposed by JXN Water. All six councilmembers, who were present at the meeting, voted against the increase, but the final decision may not be up to them.

Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 1, said he and his constituents appreciate the improvements JXN Water has made to the city’s water system, but Foote criticized their collection rate.

According to Foote, JXN Water’s collection rate is 70%. He said it puts extra pressure on customers who pay their water bills.

“And I don’t think it’s fair to the 70% of the people who have been following the rules and paying their bills to include the extra excess charges for them to see their rates go up, partly, in fact, because there’s other people that haven’t paid, and the JXN Water hasn’t tracked them down and made right. The collection rate up to a national average, which is around 98%,” Foote said.

Councilmembers also heard from residents about the possible rate increase. Robert Ireland spoke on behalf of a group of apartment owners, warning a rise in water bills could impact renters.

“At the April 8th meeting, JXN Water described the potential rate increase as being about $9 for the average residential customer. Unfortunately, the rate increase is going to be much more than that for the thousands of Jackson residents that live in apartment complexes. Using the same example that JXN Water did, I calculated the rate increase for tenants at $22 a month,” Ireland said.

After the vote, JXN Water released the following statement to WJTV 12 News.

Today’s vote reflects the difficult and emotional conversations surrounding Jackson’s water system — and we understand why. No one wants to ask residents to pay more. But the proposed rate adjustment is not just necessary — it’s responsible. It’s grounded in real operational costs, not politics, and it’s the only way to sustain safe, reliable water service in Jackson.

We’ve heard Council’s concerns about collections, but even if every customer paid in full, current rates still wouldn’t cover what it takes to operate the system responsibly. That’s not opinion — it’s math. What is missing from their comments is the role underfunding has played in getting us here. For years, the billing system was so broken that the city had no way to charge thousands of customers. That ultimately led to operating the system on a less than adequate budget. JXN Water’s job is to fix that, not just temporarily patch it. And while we are increasing enforcement, we will not shut off water to all 15,000 delinquent accounts at once — we’re taking a thoughtful, phased approach to severance that’s fair and avoids triggering another crisis.

Under the federal stipulated order, the final decision on rates rests with the court. Until then, we’ll continue operating transparently and doing the work — putting this system on the solid footing it should have had all along.
Aisha Carson, Lead Communications Officer for JXN Water