JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A new lawsuit alleges the state intentionally deprived Jackson of millions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds, while at the same time allowing its water infrastructure to inch closer to disaster.
Last week, the Jackson Branch of the NAACP and others filed suit against the directors of three state organizations for “knowingly and intentionally” enacting policies that would prevent Jackson from receiving millions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds designed to help it and other cities address critical infrastructure needs.
The suit says that the actions have denied equal protection under the law to the residents of Jackson, the state’s majority-Black capital city, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“The latest litigation comes as part of SPLC’s years-long efforts to ensure ARPA Funds sent to Mississippi in 2021 are made available to Jackson without the state throwing up discriminatory roadblocks,” Crystal McElrath, senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement.
“Jackson citizens’ daily life has forever changed since the water crisis began in 2022. Hundreds of Black Jacksonians are being displaced from their housing due to water shutoffs and expensive water bills which are not their responsibility,” she continued. “Decades of neglect, policy failures and blatant discrimination have led to one of the most catastrophic — yet preventable — environmental disasters in this nation’s history.”
The suit was filed by Doris Glasper, Nsombi Lambright and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Jackson Branch. Attorneys for SPLC are representing the plaintiffs.
Defendants include Christopher Wells, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Liz Welch, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, and Mississippi State Treasurer David McRae.
It alleges the state implemented a discriminatory policy designed to limit the amount of ARPA funds Jackson could receive. It then required Jackson to follow additional requirements for using its ARPA money that were not required of other municipalities.
The program in question is the Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant Program.
Under terms of the program, cities and counties would receive dollar-for-dollar matching grants from the state for every dollar of local ARPA funds used on qualifying infrastructure projects.
Lawmakers initially set aside $450 million of the state’s $1.8 billion ARPA allocation to fund the program.
Jackson was approved for $35.6 million in matching dollars for water infrastructure projects.
[READ: Jackson receives $35.6 million in grant money from MCWI program]
However, the suit alleges Jackson has yet to receive the money and is in danger of losing the funds if they are not spent by January 1, 2027.
JXN Water released a statement Friday afternoon refuting the claim city had not received the money.
Instead, JXN Water says it’s received $23 million in ARPA funds held by the city of Jackson as match for the infrastructure grant program.
“This occurred at the time responsibility of the system was transferred to JXN Water as a result of the federal stipulated order,” the utility said in a news release.
JXN Water also said that it “applied for and received grant approvals for a drinking water grant and a wastewater grant [and that] projects associated with those grants are underway.”
“JXN Water does not know the details of the lawsuit against the state. From JXN Water’s perspective, the state has met its obligations to the city of Jackson’s water and sewer systems,” the release continued.
The NAACP goes on to allege Wells changed the rules of the program after Jackson received its matching funds to waive the matching requirements for future applicants.
Court records state 76 percent of MCWI applicants submitted requests for funding during the second round, and applicants who received funding in round one could not apply for additional funds in round two.
“Consequently, Defendant Wells and MCWI effectively operated two competitions – one for Jackson, and a separate one for the majority of applicants,” the suit states.
Association officials also allege that the state discriminated against Jackson by requiring its grant funding to be deposited in a “Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund” under the control of the state treasurer, rather than going directly to the city.
“No other municipality was singled out in this way or had its ARPA award withheld,” the suit states. “Three years later, as Jackson continues to wait for the awarded ARPA funds and hundreds of low-income Black renters in Jackson face forced relocation due to water shutoffs, the disproportionate harm caused by S.B. 2822 is neither happenstance nor unforeseeable accident.”
S.B. 2822 is the measure that created MCWI. The measure was passed back in 2022, months before the Jackson Water Crisis.
In August of that year, Jackson’s main water treatment shut down, leaving tens of thousands of people without running water for days. The state stepped in to help restore the plant under a state of emergency.
[READ: MEMA, National Guard to distribute water as city’s main water treatment plant fails]
Months later, in November the federal government took over the city’s water system and placed it under the control of Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin.
The suit goes on to allege the state’s failure to provide Jackson with additional ARPA money has led to rate increases, proposed rate increases, and water shutoffs.
In 2024, Henifin implemented a new tiered water rate structure designed to increase revenues for the water system. He is now seeking U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate’s permission to again raise rates, saying the utility is running out of money.
[READ: Judge wants answers on Siemens settlement before ‘saddling the public’ with rate hikes]
“JXN Water’s rate increases were accompanied by promises to ramp up shut-offs – all aimed at addressing the utility’s cash flow challenges and collection rates, which have been averaging just above 65 percent,” the suit states.
“While testifying in support of this rate increase, Henifin reported that the $35.6 million in ARPA funds has not yet been disbursed.”
MDEQ and DFA declined to comment for this story. We have also reached out to the State Treasurer and are waiting to hear back.
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