State singles out Jackson for extra oversight of its COVID relief funds

Jackson is the only Mississippi municipality the Legislature made subject to oversight of how it spends American Rescue Plan Act funds for water and sewer project and the only one that will risk losing ARPA funds not spent over the next five years. Shutterstock

By Todd A. Price
Mississippi Clarion Ledger

The Legislature, in a last-minute move, imposed extra state oversight of Jackson's American Rescue Plan Act funds used for water and sewer projects.

No other city in Mississippi will receive the same scrutiny from the state's Department of Finance and Administration. Jackson also runs the risk of losing ARPA funds from the state if they are not spent by Jan. 1, 2027, a deadline no other city faces.

Mississippi received $1.8 billion allocation from ARPA, which the Legislature decided how to allocate in the most recent session. The money can be used for infrastructure projects.

Cites and counties also received funds directly from the federal act. Jackson received $42 million in ARPA funds and plans to use $25 million of that money for water and sewer infrastructure.

Senate Bill 2822 allows cities to apply for a one-to-one match for water and sewer projects paid for with their own ARPA funds. Smaller municipalities that received less than $1 million in direct ARPA funds can request a two-to-one match.

Hinds County plans to transfer $5 million to $8 million of its own ARPA allocation to the city of Jackson for pipe projects in south Jackson. The city can also request a one-to-one match for the money from Hinds County, so potentially Jackson could receive up to an additional $33 million from the state.

The Legislature also established a special designated fund for Jackson's water and sewer needs with House Bill 1031, which was authored by Rep. Shanda Yates, I-Jackson. The original plan was to provide Jackson with an additional $42 million in ARPA funds beyond what it might receive from the state's matching funds.

WATER AND SEWER PROJECTS: This new bill would create state fund for Jackson water and sewer projects. Here's how

The companion bill, HB 1064, that would have allocated $42 million to the dedicated fund, however, died in committee. The Legislature adjourned without sending money to the dedicated fund.

"I was very disheartened by the city not being able to get the funding that it needs from the state now," said Charles Williams, Jackson's city engineer.

A final change to SB 2822 said that "any funds awarded to the City of Jackson under this section shall be deposited in the Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund of the State Treasury."

That is the fund that was established by HB 1031. Money in that fund is overseen by the Department of Finance and Administration. Any money in that fund not spent by Jan. 1, 2027, reverts to the state's general fund.

"Jackson will have to race through the process just to make sure projects can get from design to implement," said Quincy Mukoro, a legislative lobbyist for Jackson, in an email.

Other cities in Mississippi will not be subject to that oversight nor will they risk losing ARPA funds not spent over the next five years.

"This is not the outcome many of us wanted, but it is what the end result was after much push back about setting aside more than a dollar-for-dollar match for Jackson," said Yates in an email.

This story was produced in partnership with the Community Foundation for Mississippi’s local news collaborative, which is independently funded in part by Microsoft Corp. The collaborative includes Mississippi Today, MCIR, the Clarion Ledger, the Jackson Advocate, Jackson State University and Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit news organization that is exposing wrongdoing, educating and empowering Mississippians, and raising up the next generation of investigative reporters. Sign up for our newsletter.