Vicksburg’s Water and Gas Administration office will have one more worker Tuesday.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said he would spend the day at water and gas observing employees and talking with customers who come in to pay their bills.

“We raised the rates. This is the time that was set where most folks who have complaints about it will be coming in, and I want to listen first-hand to their complaints,” he said. “This is my way of assessing what we’ve done. What better way than to be right there and talk to the customer. And at the same time, I want to see what kind of customer service we’ve got. I’ve never been over there.”

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on April 28 adopted ordinances increasing water and sewer rates ranging from 4.9 percent to a maximum of 30 percent for residential and commercial customers based on water use and reducing the city’s garbage rates by 5 percent. The new rates became effective June 1.

Flaggs said the visit is part of his efforts to learn first-hand how the city operates. “You could put something in writing, and it could have the opposite effect of what is practiced,” he said.

The visit to water and gas is the second time Flaggs has worked in a city department.

In March, he accepted a challenge from a sewer department employee and spent the day working with a city crew.

He also plans to work in community development and take a turn working with the city’s community service department.