A Public Statement from Mayor Tommy Reynolds
To the Citizens and Neighbors of Water Valley,
Our community is defined not by the storms we face, but by how we come together to weather them. Looking back at the severe winter ice storm we endured earlier this year, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for the spirit of Water Valley. In moments of extreme trial, our community showed its true character—neighbors helping neighbors, utility crews working through freezing nights, and volunteers stepping up to serve.
During that difficult week, my family’s experience was no different from yours. Our power was out, our home was cold, and we were navigating deeply concerning and challenging times along with our entire community.
In times of crisis, personal challenges must not stand in the way of public duty. Everything my wife, Liz, and I do is a joint effort in service to this town, and we were grateful to throw our full hearts into the relief efforts. Together with incredible partners and volunteers, we worked tirelessly to ensure our community was fed:
- We personally requested the support of the American Red Cross, unlocked City Hall, and worked side-by-side with volunteers to distribute 350 meals a night over three consecutive evenings.
- We partnered with Operation Barbecue Relief and local volunteers to host community feeding sessions at Fountain Square, serving 500 hot meals nightly to residents and visiting utility crews.
- We opened our family’s business facilities to support logistics and coordinated the delivery of excess blankets, pillows, and supplies to our neighbors.
True leadership, however, requires more than managing a crisis in the moment—it means fighting for the long-term solutions that prevent the next one. This fight for our local utility is not new to us.
In 2022, when our electric system was in dire straits and needing urgent remediation, then-Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley convened a meeting in Batesville with a representative of Tallahatchie Valley EPA, Water Valley Mayor Donald Gray and himself and pushed hard for the city to transfer to Tallhatchie Valley EPA the Water Valley Electric Department.
At the time, former Mayor Donald Gray stood firm and refused to support the sale, believing that our town must retain control of its own public assets. I agreed with him completely. When I was subsequently contacted to help, I went to work immediately to secure the state funding needed to purchase transformers to prevent catastrophic power outages, begin critical remediation, and save our utility.
Through that persistent, determined advocacy in Jackson, we successfully staved off that sale. Our work has since brought home over $4,000,000.00 in state funds to protect and strengthen Water Valley’s city-owned electric system, including:
- $500,000.00 in 2022 state funds specifically to build and install two massive transformers to prevent catastrophic outages.
- $750,000.00 in 2023 for necessary pole replacements and to aid broadband facilitation in our town.
- $1,500,000.00 in 2024 for use by the Water Valley City Electric Department.
- $1,200,000.00 direct state appropriations that will arrive by wire transfer within the next 30 days for the Water Valley City Electric Department.
Finally, I want to address the recent concerns raised regarding our city budget and our emergency departments. Let me be unequivocally clear: I stand in unwavering support of the Water Valley Police Department, our Fire Department, and all our first responders.
The safety, security, and well-being of Water Valley’s families, police officers, firefighters, and street workers are my absolute, non-negotiable priority. I want to reassure our dedicated city employees and our citizens that I will veto any proposed budget that forces proration or cuts to our public safety and emergency services. To prove my commitment to keeping our first responders on the job, I have formally offered to reduce my own mayoral salary for a one year period to $1 a month to preserve city positions.
Our current budget discussions center around the historically approved and audited Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) from the electric system. As is the case with many other TVA cities in Mississippi, this transfer is fully legal under the Mississippi Code and is explicitly permitted under our contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Under Mississippi law, when public bodies have administrative questions regarding fund transfers, the correct and responsible path is to maintain payments to ensure vital city services are not interrupted, while concurrently seeking a joint, orderly determination (such as an Attorney General’s opinion). Unilateral withholding of funds only places the burden on our first responders and our citizens.
Simply stated, rather than seek lawful, judicial guidance from appropriate authorities before doing so, the Utilities Commission continues to choose to not make the payments it owes to the city in lieu of taxes. Why? They disagree or have a different opinion about how the amount owed was determined or optionally when, if, or how it should be paid. I’m sure more than a few reading this would like to have the option to not pay a debt of taxes because we don’t like the amount we owe or how it’s determined, but that’s not how things work in real life in general, but especially in the situation where our city and others all over the state have operated this way for decades.
This is the “questionable accounting practices” that you may have heard is taking place. That description has been intentionally, disingenuously used to lead our citizens to believe something somehow nefarious is occurring. When, in actuality, it is the failure of the electric department to pay amounts it owes, amounts previously agreed upon, and amounts the city relies upon to meet its obligations that is questionable. Especially since they’re doing so without having first obtained or sought any sort of official legal determination from the state as required regarding the accuracy of their opinions, beliefs, or disagreements with the statutes cities all over Mississippi have operated under for years.
However, let’s remember what we can achieve when we focus on solutions rather than differences. Through cooperative efforts, we have secured over $5.4 million in state funding for Water Valley over the last four years.
I am unwavering in my support of our police, fire, and street departments and in finding a path forward that protects our workers and keeps our town growing. We are all the City of Water Valley – we are the same team, and working together is the only way forward.
Now is not the time to focus on differences or get dragged into political division. Now is the time to focus on solutions. By continuing to work together with optimism, determination, and mutual respect, there is no challenge Water Valley cannot overcome.
Mayor Tommy Reynolds
City of Water Valley, Mississippi