The Rumors Page

Welcome to the Rumors Page, where we dispel rumors and correct misinformation. We welcome debate and discussion, and believe great debates are based in fact.

If you hear rumors in the community that need clarification, please contact us at rumors@cityofjackson.org.

The City of Jackson has spent more than $5 million in general funds on demolitions!
The City of Jackson has spent $2.59 million in general funds since 2011 for residential property demolitions within the city. This rumor was started after people learned that more homes were demolished with general funds than with a $5.5 million grant from the federal government to demolish properties.

While more homes were demolished with general fund dollars, less funds were used. This is because it was cheaper to demolish homes five years ago, and because the H4HH federal grant funds are used to both purchase and demolish homes, which makes the costs rise per demolition.

The City of Jackson is the 50th most dangerous city in the U.S.!
You might hear this rumor flying around now and then from people who have either heard it from others or have gone to the source of the rumor. The data used for this designation, though, is flawed, according to the FBI and - frankly - simple common sense.
Site managers admit how they came to designate the Top 100 Most Dangerous cities, saying FBI data was used as well as data from more than the city's police agency - including county sheriff's, state police and public school police, among others. This is all driven over the backdrop of the city's population of roughly 33,000.
This is where the issues come forward in this study. Using crime stats from the entire county and surrounding communities, then wrapping them into the City of Jackson's population alone instead of the entire population of Jackson County, skews the numbers.
Furthermore, these numbers shouldn't be used to compare cities at all, according to the FBI.
"(FBI) data is sometimes used to compile rankings of individual jurisdictions and institutions of higher learning. These incomplete analyses have often created misleading perceptions which adversely affect geographic entities and their residents. For this reason, the FBI has a long-standing policy against ranking participating law enforcement agencies on the basis of crime data alone."

Is the City of Jackson going to install parking meters downtown?
The City of Jackson has no plans to install parking meters in downtown Jackson. Parking along Michigan Avenue will remain free of charge in the near future.