jackson residents who haven’t gotten a water bill in months will soon get one, according to Public Works Director Robert Miller.
And if they can’t pay the past due amount all at once, the city will be offering a lenient repayment plan.
Recently, the Jackson City Council approved amending its $91 million “energy performance contract” with Siemens USA, more than a year after much of the initial work wrapped up.
The amendments will mean Siemens and three of its subcontractors will be returning to the city to help officials sort out problems with the water billing system.
“I have no specific timeline, but the first bills should be going out in the next two weeks,” said Miller.
The water billing system was upgraded as part of the city’s initial contract with the firm, which was approved in 2012 under former Mayor Harvey Johnson.
Since the upgrades, the city has struggled with billing challenges. Some customers have not received bills in months, while others have received incorrect bills.
Problems also stem from the fact that some incorrect meters were installed as part of the initial contract.
Goals in the next few months will include: ensuring some 20,000 customers receive regular statements, ensuring the meters and billing software are working properly together, and retraining city employees to properly use the software, Miller said.
Subcontractors were expected to begin earlier this week.
The firms have until September 30 to complete the work.
The top priority is addressing the backlog of stranded bills.
More than a third of the city’s water and sewer customers are not receiving bills, some of whom have not received statements in many months.
“Those who have not been getting their bills for the longest time will get theirs first,” Miller said.
Customers won’t have to pay off past due amounts immediately.
Rather, they’ll have an amount of time equal to the time they weren’t receiving statements.
“If you haven’t gotten a bill for six months, you’ll have six months to pay it,” Miller said. “If you haven’t gotten a bill for eight months, you’ll have eight months to repay.”
The work will cost the city approximately $1.12 million.
The funds will come from an escrow account set aside to cover Siemens related expenses.
“I identified a scope of work that had not been accomplished or (something) they were not directed to do within the $91 million contract,” Miller said.
Jackson issued $89.9 million in bonds to help pay for the contract. The funds were put in a special account and paid out to Siemens as work was completed.
The 20,000 customers account for between $18 million and $20 million in lost revenues for the city.
The funds go into a special enterprise fund and are used specifically for water and sewer expenses.
Recently, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s administration had to ask the city’s one-percent oversight commission to help prop up the account, warning that it was about to go bankrupt.
The commission awarded the city nearly $7 million, which was used to reimburse the water/sewer fund for emergency projects dating back to September 2016.
With those funds, the water/sewer fund is expected to stay afloat until the summer.
