Contractors are making progress in addressing Jackson’s water billing crisis but fell well short of the first month’s goal of recovering 4,200 stranded accounts.
As of May 31, Siemens and its subcontractors had recovered nearly 2,700 accounts.
The number accounts for around 13.4 percent of the more than 20,100 stranded accounts, and nearly $2.4 million in uncollected water and sewer revenue.
However, contractors will have to pick up the pace if it hopes to fix all of the city’s stranded accounts by September 30.
“Origin Consulting will be (adding) more staff shortly in order to accomplish the project on deadline,” said Public Works Director Robert Miller.
It was not clear if the city had seen an increase in water revenues as a result of the corrected bills.
In April, the city amended its “energy performance contract” with Siemens USA, to bring the firm back on to help address its water billing crisis.
The firm was brought on in 2012 to completely overhaul the city’s aging water system. Work was completed in 2016.
The project included installing some 65,000 resident water meters and 5,000 commercial meters and updating the city’s water billing software.
Work was designed to help Jackson improve its collections.
Since the project wrapped up, though, collections in the city have continued to drop.
In the spring, the city asked for an allocation from the city’s one-percent oversight commission to help keep the water enterprise fund afloat.
The city also learned that some 20,000 customers were not receiving regular water bills.
The Jackson City Council approved bringing Siemens back on in late April to help correct the problem. The work is expected to cost around $1.12 million.
The firm and three of its contractors began work on April 30.
Subcontractors include Origin Consulting, which is tasked with addressing the billing software, and Mueller Systems and Pedal Valves, Inc., which are responsible for making sure the water billing software, water meters and transmission devices are working together, Miller said.
Work is slated to end on September 30.
Miller told the oversight commission previously that the goal was to correct around 4,200 accounts a month.
