March 2026, two Mississippi cities raised their water rates. Ridgeland increased its typical residential bill by $6.31 a month. JXN Water increased its by $8.88. Similar numbers. Very different decision processes.
Ridgeland commissioned an independent engineering study, held a public meeting, and put the question to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen — elected by the residential rate payers. Some residential rate payers also attended the meeting.
The Mayor said: "Water and sewer systems are foundational public services that must be planned and funded with a long-term perspective." Ridgeland’s increase was one in a series of annual increases of about 2% going back over a decade.
JXN Water's rate increase was made by a federal judge.
His decision looked like more cowbell — another rate increase in response to another cash flow crisis. It wasn’t part of a long-term plan. It was the third cost increase in three years. It made JXN Water's small residential customers pay two to seven times more than Madison's — depending on meter size, not water used.
Elected local politicians are responsible to local voters who elect them. They make decisions accordingly. A democratic process. Messy and inefficient, but it works.
A Federal Judge is responsible to someone (I guess) — but not to JXN Water customers. He makes decisions accordingly. As Churchill said: "Democracy is the worst form of government — except for all others." All others include JXN Water's Water Czar and his boss, the Judge.
So, will the new Water Board do a better job for JXN water customers?
Mark Twain: "In the first place, God made Idiots. That was for practice. Then He made School boards.” He might have added: “Then He made appointed City Water Boards.” He might have said: "Any certifiably sane person on an appointed city water board has lost a bet or owes a serious political debt."
Judging by Jackson Jambalaya’s reader comments, there’s a fair amount of Mark Twain-like skepticism about four of the five appointees to date. The essence of their skepticism: one appointee (the engineer) seems to bring some useful competence to the board. The others seem to have attributes that the politicians who appointed them like.
In theory, the board’s mission is to find and hire a competent manager to fix JXN Water’s problems. The Judge’s laundry list of those problems is daunting. It’s also incomplete — so incomplete it may be destructive.
Philosopher Yogi Berra said: “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.” In theory, the Water Board and the competent manager it hires know what’s broken and needs to be fixed and how to fix it. In practice, they may not — especially if they go by the Judge’s laundry list.
In theory, the Water Board can assess a prospective manager’s competence to fix problems and character to vet the fixes. In theory, assessing competence is just a matter of looking at the prospect’s won-lost record. In practice, it’s harder. Otherwise, every head coach with a winning record hired to turn around a losing team would be a winner. Very few are. There are always unknowns — about the problems to be fixed and the fixer’s competence and character.
Character matters. Assessing it is hard. Why does it matter? Just look at the incumbent Czar’s decisions. Some are numerically right — but morally wrong. His Water Availability Charge increases revenues. But it charges some more — a lot more — than others for the same amount of water. It deprives many struggling small customers of what little discretionary income they have. It is unfair and unjust. It fails the character test.
In theory, Water Board members will be diligent and take their jobs seriously and contribute even if they understand nothing about the technical issues. In practice, that’s not likely. There will be worker members and drones. If the drones just sit there and let the workers work, the Board may be functional. If the drones showboat or assert their ignorance, the Board will be dysfunctional. What happened in Mark Twain’s day still happens.
In theory, the Water Board will represent JXN Water customers. But the Mayor of Jackson has only three of nine appointments. The understandable reason for that is the track record of prior mayors. The Mayor’s appointments are answerable to voter customers because the Mayor is answerable to voter customers. In practice, the Mayor’s three appointments will only have a small minority influence. Kind of like taxation without representation. That once led to a rebellion somewhere.
The Judge wants to hand off JXN Water’s death spiral to someone. The Mayor says he wants it. (Be careful what you wish for.) The City Council says the Judge needs to fix the billing issues first. But the City Council is dysfunctional too. One member moved to appeal the Judge’s rate increase to the Fifth Circuit. The City Council waited too long to vote on the motion — and the time limit to file expired.
As Casey Stengel allegedly said: “Can’t anybody here play this game?” He was lamenting the 1962 Mets — who lost 120 games (a record broken 62 years later by the White Sox who lost 121).
You could make JXN Water a comedy of errors too — if it were just a game. It’s not. It’s deadly serious for water-boarded customers, for the State Capital, and for Mississippi’s image and reputation as a good place to live and work. Jackson is already the fastest-shrinking city (of over 50,000 residents) in the country. Flint and Detroit, Michigan, are cautionary tales about the effects of failed municipal water systems.
Those of us captive customers to JXN Water’s dysfunctional monopoly must root for the Water Board — despite its imperfections. But even if it were perfect, it may have a mission impossible. It needs some help.
More about that in the next installment of this series.
Kelley Williams is a Northsider.
