JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A federal suit filed against the capital city over unpaid invoices related to its water/sewer billing system could soon be brought to an end.
On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved paying Mythics LLC approximately $281,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against the city back in 2023.
The city previously brought on Mythics to provide software and professional maintenance and support services for its troubled billing system.
At the time, Jackson was still struggling to address complications brought about by the Siemens contract. Siemens was brought on back in 2013 to completely overhaul Jackson’s water billing system. However, the improvements never worked.
Mythics claimed Jackson owed it around $340,000 in unpaid invoices and another $124,000 in interest and penalties.
The invoices were for work primarily done in 2022 and 2023 before Jackson’s water system and water billing system were taken over by the federal government.
Mythics filed the lawsuit last fall after the company sent multiple demand letters to Jackson seeking payment.
Jackson argued that some claims in the company’s lawsuit were barred by the state’s statute of limitations. It also said that it also did not owe for any work started after the third-party manager took over.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate approved an order taking over Jackson’s water system in November 2022. An interim third-party manager was appointed to oversee the system.
As part of the settlement, Jackson agreed to pay 10 invoices totaling nearly $257,000, and another $24,000 in interest costs and fees, said City Attorney Drew Martin.
The payment is coming from funds left over from the refinancing of a $7 million emergency note issued in 2019 to address billing system problems.
The council voted to refinance that amount in October to avoid having to pay a $7 million balloon payment on November 1.
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