Bill that could help Jackson better manage water collections on its way to governor
Legislation would require Public Utilities Staff oversight on program rules.
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A bill that could help Jackson better manage its uncollectible water debt is again on its way to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk.
Sunday, the House and Senate adopted a conference report for H.B. 359, a bill that would give the city more flexibility in addressing high bills and uncollectible debt, clearing the way for the measure to head to the governor.
“We’ve worked closely with the governor’s office to find something he agreed to sign,” said District 26 Sen. John Horhn. “A lot of behind the scenes work has gone (into) that.”
The bill is similar to a measure that garnered unanimous support from lawmakers in 2020 but was ultimately struck down by a veto by Gov. Tate Reeves.
Unlike previous renditions of the bill, though, H.B. 359 comes with significant state oversight, including a requirement for the city to work with the executive director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff to draw up rules governing payment plans and debt set-asides, as well as a provision requiring the city to give state leaders an update on its collections efforts in January 2022.
It was not clear whether those changes were put in place in relation to the governor’s 2020 veto, where Reeves slammed the bill for not having safeguards in place.
In a Facebook post last June, the governor said he vetoed the measure because it would allow “politicians to say that individuals are not responsible for paying their water bill. It’s supposed to be for the impoverished or the needy, but there are no safeguards in place to make sure that’s the case.”
Horhn, who introduced the 2020 bill, introduced a modified version of that bill this session.
This year’s bill was drawn up based on recommendations made by the governor’s staff. Among changes, the bill would have applied to all municipalities, not only Jackson.
The bill, though, failed to make it out of a Senate committee.
Meanwhile, a similar bill, H.B. 359, had passed the House. In the Senate, it was amended to include the language from Horhn’s 2021 legislation. That measure passed out of committee and was passed on the floor.
From there, it was sent back to the House for concurrence.
Instead of concurring, though, the bill was sent to a conference committee and was again amended, with members removing all of Horhn’s language, and rewriting the bill to apply to cities with populations of 150,000 people or more, or in other words, Jackson.
Under the conference committee’s version, Jackson would have the ability to put uncollectible water and sewer debt into a separate category on its balance sheet, something that could, in turn, help improve municipalities’ credit ratings.
Provisions also would allow Jackson’s water department to offer payment plans in certain cases and to stop collections on debts in some circumstances.
The bill also came with significantly more state oversight than any previous renditions of the measure.
The bill mandates, for instance, that the mayor, public works director, and executive director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff work together to set up program rules before any new collections policies are implemented.
The deadline for putting those rules in place is July 1 of this year.
Jackson also would only be allowed to stop collections on bills in three instances:
- where bills are incorrect due to equipment failure, process failure, or billing failure;
- where billing errors are brought about by natural disaster or other emergencies and customers did not receive water;
- and, in cases where it can be “reasonably adjudged” that the customers cannot pay their overdue balances.
In the latter circumstance, the city must require that customers pay a portion of the overdue amounts before moving the remaining balances to a special column on its balance sheet.
Another provision requires the city to provide a report on the program to the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker, and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff by January 1, 2022.
Among items to be included in that report, the city must provide details on revenue collections, the number of accounts deemed uncollectible, the number of customers participating in installment plans, the number of accounts that are overdue, and the effect the program has on water/sewer revenues.
Committee members included Reps. Ronnie Crudup Jr., De’Keither Stamps and Randy Rushing, and Sens. David Blount, Mike Thompson and John Polk.
A copy of the conference report is shown below.
Meanwhile, the city will have to count on federal sources to help address its immediate water needs.
As part of its capital expenditures fund, state lawmakers awarded Jackson $3 million for water repairs.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba could not be reached for comment.
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