THE REYNOLDS REPORT

Tag: Utilities

  • The Truth About Funding for Water Valley Utilities

    The Truth About Funding for Water Valley Utilities

    Facts regarding utility funding must be stated for the benefit of our wonderful city.

    Over the last five years, at no cost to Water Valley taxpayers, the Electric Department of the City of Water Valley has been blessed with $7,250,000.00 in funding and commitments from the Mississippi Legislature and the federal government to maintain and improve utility services for our residents.

    LOOK AT THE FACTS

    Year 2022

    • The Mississippi Legislature appropriated $500,000, allowing the City of Water Valley to purchase two transformers to help prevent catastrophic electrical disruptions like the one our city suffered in 2022.
    • This appropriation also helped secure an additional $300,000 federal grant toward the purchase.
    • Total Funding: $800,000.00

    Year 2023

    • The Mississippi Legislature appropriated $750,000 to fund improvements to the Water Valley electric system, enabling needed pole replacements across the city grid.
    • Approximately $480,000 of these funds remains in the city depository, waiting for the Utility Department to apply it toward pole replacements or other essential upgrades.
    • Total Funding: $750,000.00

    Year 2024

    • During my first week as Mayor in 2024, I sought to include the City of Water Valley in the TVA Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. As a result, the federal government committed $2,000,000 in funding for electric grid improvements and repairs on our municipal system.
    • The Mississippi Legislature also appropriated $1,500,000 for utility improvements. Of those funds, $400,000 was used to clear 41 miles of municipal electric rights-of-way, completed shortly before the recent ice storm. WHERE WOULD THE CITY OF WATER VALLEY BE IF THIS HAD NOT HAPPENED!
    • Total Funding: $3,500,000.00

    Year 2026

    • The Mississippi Legislature appropriated $1,200,000 for the maintenance and improvement of electric department services.
    • The city also secured a grant from the Delta Regional Authority for approximately $1,000,000, utilizing matching funds appropriated by the Mississippi Legislature.
    • Total Funding: $2,200,000.00

    TOTAL FUNDS ALLOCATED TO THE CITY ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT NOT PAID FOR BY THE TAXPAYERS OF WATER VALLEY IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS: $7,250,000.00

    HOW ON EARTH ARE WE IN THIS MESS WITH ALL THAT FUNDING?!?!

    For the past generation, the Water Valley Electric Department has paid a “fee in lieu of taxes” (as many other cities do) to help support essential city departments that do not generate direct revenue. This includes funding for the Fire Department, Police Department, Street Department, city building maintenance, and other vital municipal services.

    Nearly 11 months ago, the Utility Commission halted these fee-in-lieu payments. That decision has nearly depleted the city’s long-standing revenue reserves, creating the budget shortfall we face today.

    Next, the Utility Commission, which has been given so much money by the State of Mississippi and the United States of America, determined not to provide the funding necessary for the city to deliver essential services at the level our residents expect. This could result in drastic cuts to Fire, Police, Street, and other necessary city services. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN, and it could result in increased fire insurance rates for our citizens as well as a reduction in POLICE PROTECTION.

    Utility services are important to our citizens, but so are our Police, Fire, and other necessary services. Those in our city who put their lives on the line for us all every day could earn much more money if they were employed by surrounding cities for the work they do. In fact, they have not received a pay raise for their necessary services in the PAST THREE YEARS, at a time of greatly increasing costs for us all.

    Our city budget is balanced if all revenue-generating city departments contribute to the necessary funding of the budget, as shown in the budget. This should be demanded by all of our citizens. Remember, the amount of money sought from the Water Valley Utility Department is LESS BY FAR than what has been paid by the department in past years. Also remember, the Utility Department has been allocated, in the past five years, more than the total annual city property tax revenues per year in additional funding from state and federal sources.

    If our city is to succeed, we must all work together. Utility services are a treasured part of our city resources, but so are our Fire, Police, and Street services. We must not shortchange any of our crucial services if we are to succeed in our common goal of making our city the best it can be for all our citizens.

    /s/ Tommy Reynolds, Mayor

  • Standing Together for Water Valley: Gratitude, Progress, and the Road Ahead

    Standing Together for Water Valley: Gratitude, Progress, and the Road Ahead

    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