JXN Water hearing debates rate hikes and unpaid bills at federal court in Jackson

An emergency JXN Water hearing was underway Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Jackson.The hearing is focused on unpaid bills from apartment complexes and a push to raise customer rates.Third-Party Administrator Ted Henifin has been trying to increase rates for months. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate questioned Henifin during the hearing about the progress JXN Water has made with upgrades and repairs to the city’s water system. Henifin said the water system went from a 7 to a 10 since he took over, citing proof from the Mississippi State Department of Health. Henifin said there has not been any contaminated water or a legitimate boil-water advisory for two years. The water loss has gone from 36 million gallons to 18 million gallons. Henifin said 4,000 water valves have been repaired to get them in the correct position to allow water to flow properly without leaks.JXN Water has hired more licensed water operators. Henifin said there has been some difficulty recently paying the operators. Henifin said JXN Water is creating a system to repair fire hydrants. A digitized map has been created to show which hydrants have water pressure and which ones need to be repaired. Henifin said that before he took over, only 10 percent of the city’s fire hydrants were working. Now, more of them work, likely because of increased water pressure. Ward 3 City Councilman Kenneth Stokes and a handful of residents were outside before the hearing holding up signs in opposition to a rate hike. Jackson Mayor John Horhn attended the hearing.