Jackson city officials issue new plan to reduce high water bills

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - City leaders met Monday afternoon to discuss a hot topic: high water bills.

City officials voice their concerns on the issue saying thousands of Jackson residents are left wondering what it would take to get the help they need.

Officials now saying they might have a solution for those frustrating water bills.

They held a meeting because of the daily phone calls and emails from concerned Jackson residents looking for answers.

“We spent time reviewing our past practices on collecting water bills, what has been effective and what are we going to do next,”said Public Works Director Bob Miller.

Miller says right now 11,500 people are not currently receiving bills due to the lack of readings from the automated metering system.

He says it’s going to take a long time to enhance the system’s performance, but they are working to stabilize the meter billing system and obtaining accurate manual readings.

They also discussed big plans customers will start seeing as early as next month.

“We have customers who have not been receiving any bills. We are working to get them a bill every month.”

This means customers that don’t receive a bill will receive a flat amount charge of less than $60 a month; ensuring customers receive a bill every month.

Something Jackson City Councilman De’Keither Stamps says has been a long time in the making.

“I am overjoyed we are moving forward with this. We suggested about 5 years ago that we should have a flat rate for services if you can’t get an accurate bill.”

Councilman Stamps wants to re-focus on investing in better services for the community, all while gaining new customers.

“We have to make sure the administration is doing what is necessary to get accurate bills, affordable bills, reliable bills, and that they actually make common sense. We are gonna work hard everyday to get this service better.”

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