U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate again pushed back a decision over whether to increase rates on Jackson customers’ water bills during a status conference on Wednesday.

Jackson officials requested more time to review the financial records of JXN Water, the third-party utility running the city’s water and sewer systems. The city and utility reached an agreement over access to the records just prior to the status conference.

Jackson City Attorney Drew Martin told Wingate the city would have an official response to the court on Dec. 19 after presenting its findings to the city council on Dec. 16.

JXN Water first brought up the need for a rate increase in a financial report in February in which it said the utility was quickly running out of money. It then formally proposed the increase — which it said would be come out to about 12% on the average bill — in April. The Jackson City Council unanimously voted it down.

Mayor John Horhn, who took office in July, has also spoken out against the increase. Under Wingate’s 2022 order appointing Ted Henifin to take charge of the utility, Henifin doesn’t need the city’s approval to move forward with the proposal. The order only requires JXN Water to present the increase to the city, and that it wait 365 days between increases.

Despite the mayor and city council already speaking against the proposal, the city argued in court that it needed access to JXN Water’s financial records to offer an informed opinion. The city’s agreement with JXN Water gives Jackson’s financial adviser full access to the utility’s records, with a stipulation that the city not release any information from the records publicly without first consulting Henifin.

Wingate’s 2022 order shields JXN Water from any public records requirements, although intervenors in the case, represented by the ACLU, argued against the exception.

Mitch McGuffey, attorney for JXN Water, emphasized the need to enact the rate increase before the year ends. Waiting would push back when the utility could increase rates again because of the 365-day requirement, he said. In addition to the 12% increase this year, JXN Water plans to implement smaller increases in 2027 and beyond to keep up with inflation.

Overall, the utility is losing $1.2 million a month from a lack of revenue, McGuffey added. Henifin also pointed to funds needed to repair two large sewer overflows, one on Mill Street and another along I-55 in north Jackson.

In the end, Wingate sided with the city, and kept an injunction in place preventing JXN Water from advertising a rate increase. Under the judge’s order, the utility needs to inform the public of any increase 30 days before it goes into effect. If the judge were to allow JXN Water to go forward with the increase on Dec. 19, the earliest it would go into effect would be Jan. 18, 2026.

By the time of the next meeting, the city may also have new information on restructuring its bond payments as well as on any efforts from the state Legislature to provide new revenue to JXN Water, Martin, the city attorney, added. McGuffey agreed that such changes could reduce how much the utility needs to raise rates.