Owner of Apartment Complex in Mississippi Owes $400K to the City for Water

Nationwide — Tony Little, an African American entrepreneur who owns the Blossom Flats in South Jackson, Mississippi, is dealing with a monetary nightmare as his advanced owes over $470,000 in water payments to JXN Water, placing its providers vulnerable to being minimize off.

“I don’t thoughts paying you for one thing, however I don’t owe you this,” Little advised WLBT. “There’s no doable manner I can owe you this.”

JXN Water, the utility supplier, has issued warnings of service cutoffs for overdue payments, itemizing Blossom Flats among the many prime 5 complexes with overdue quantities in April, then owing $436,000. Little’s June invoice confirmed $471,000, with $17,549 for June alone.

Nonetheless, Little disputes the invoice sharing for about 83 million gallons of water. He argues that the water utilization — equal to filling over 120 Olympic-sized swimming swimming pools — far exceeds what the property’s 44 occupied items might moderately devour.

“A typical household of 4 makes use of 400 gallons [a day]. That’s what the EPA mentioned,” he mentioned. “You may’t conceal that a lot water.”

Two plumbers inspected for leaks and located only one. Little stays adamant that the meter readings can’t be correct. He declined a cost plan provided by JXN Water, involved it wouldn’t forestall future excessive payments.

“This advanced takes in about $40,000. Now, $4,000 is property taxes. I’ve received insurance coverage; I’ve received payroll,” he mentioned. “How can I pay $20,000 or $17,000 to anybody? The water ought to be about $3,500, on the most, $4,000 a month.”

Including to the issues, Little stopped leasing a dozen flats after a mudslide from a water predominant break flooded the items. Till it’s repaired, he loses $15,000 a month in income and spends $2,000 for clean-up after each rain.

“There was a time for 3 years I forgot I had this property,” he mentioned. “That’s how good it was at one time. It simply turned a nightmare just lately.”