An alarming yet hazy remark during the latest Jackson Housing Task Force meeting caused some reporters to pull out their phones and start recording.

Brian Burns, an attorney who chairs the committee, said that about 9,000 Jacksonians live in rental properties with landlords who have past-due water bills. The disclosure signals to the large number of people who could be impacted by water shutoffs as private utility JXN Water continues its crackdown on delinquent accounts.

But it lacked much context. What kind of complexes? How many? Which ones and where are they located? How much does each complex owe? 

Committee members raised concerns about the figure.

“Do you think 9,000 is the number? Like we’re having a crisis with 9,000 tenants?” asked Jennifer Welch, a local property manager who co-chairs the taskforce. “Because we haven’t really said that number.” 

Members of the task force then learned that JXN Water had issued final notices last week to four apartment complexes with past-due bills, one of the last steps before the utility stops service if the owner does not pay within 21 days. But Carla Dazet, JXN Water’s representative on the task force, did not say the name of the complexes. 

Fewer than 1,000 residents live at those four complexes, but after the meeting ended, Burns and Welch would not say which four complexes were poised to lose water. 

“We are not releasing that information,” Welch said after the housing task force concluded its meeting. “If you would like to know that, you should contact JXN Water.”

JXN Water spokesperson Aisha Carson did not respond to a request for comment before press time. The private operator that manages the city’s water utility is not subject to the Public Records Act, and its administrator Ted Henifin has been selective about which information to share with the public.

READ MORE: After first publicized shutoff, JXN Water won’t say how many others have happened

Water shutoffs at apartment complexes with past-due bills totaling more than $200,000 began over the summer, displacing some residents. Jackson Mayor John Horhn had convened the task force in part to coordinate relocation assistance to tenants who were forced to find a new place to live. 

Some members of the committee seemed hopeful the owners of the four unnamed complexes would pay up and spare their tenants the same fate. During the meeting, Victoria Love, the manager of the city’s rental registry, said one of the complexes was federally funded with 156 units and three vacancies. The rest were market rate. 

“With Blossom Apartments being the example, I don’t feel like owners will press their luck,” Love said.

Soon after this discussion, the task force elected to go into executive session. Under the Open Meetings Act, an executive session is a legal justification that public bodies can use to limit members of the public from certain discussions, such as prospective litigation, personnel issues or confidential business decisions.

Welch said the task force was going to review a “delinquency sheet” and that she did not know the names of the four complexes.

“We do not know the answer to that,” Welch said prior to the closed portion of the meeting. “We are going to go into executive session to discuss that.”

But when two reporters sought the reason why the task force voted to go into executive session, city spokesperson, Nic Lott, said the task force was discussing “ongoing policy issues,” which is not a reason listed in the act. 

“There’s no action taken in executive session,” Lott said. “It’s just an ongoing discussion.” 

After a few minutes, Lott returned from the closed session and said that while he agreed the Open Meetings Act applied to the city’s housing task force, “our lawyers tell us that we don’t have to say anything about executive session.” 

“We’re told that we don’t have to reveal the discussion of the executive session,” he added. 

Toward the end of the closed meeting, from behind closed double doors, reporters could hear a member attending over Zoom ask the task force, “why not invite Ted to answer some questions?”

Lott then asked the reporters to sit in the lobby of the city’s administrative building, citing the fact that the Zoom could be heard outside the room. 

When the meeting ended, Burns said the task force had entered executive session to discuss “strategy related to the housing issue, the upcoming housing issue that might be occurring,” including the “water shutoff and humanitarian issues.” 

“If you displace Jackson residents out of apartment complexes, that is extraordinary,” Burns said. “So we’ve got to have the funding to help some of those people.” 

Welch said closer to 600 people may to be impacted, but she directed most questions to JXN Water. 

“It’s such a large, complicated problem that there are not great solutions with 600 people who are going to be affected from a lack of water,” she said, adding “whatever the number might be at these supposed four apartment complexes.”  

The task force is still working to understand JXN Water’s policies for notifying impacted tenants, which include putting a “sign in the yard,” Welch said.

Burns said that in the event JXN Water shuts off service to another complex, the city is looking to secure federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help tenants who want to move to an apartment with water. He did not think the ongoing government shutdown would impact the funding. 

The task force is focusing on the complexes that are causing the biggest issues for the city, but Burns said there are more than 80 rental properties, ranging from multifamily properties to duplexes and single-family homes, with past-due water bills. 

“We don’t want to be putting out information from JXN Water for JXN Water,” Burns said. “We want that information coming directly from JXN Water.” 

Environment reporter Alex Rozier contributed to this report. 

CORRECTION 10/6/25: This story has been updated to reflect that Burns is an attorney.