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The Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB) has scheduled a public hearing November 9 where customers can comment on proposed rate increases before BWWB announces next year’s budget.

The board, which announced the hearing at its regular meeting Wednesday, also scheduled an additional October 19 meeting for 11:30 a.m. to discuss the budget further.

An earlier media report that the board was considering an 8.3 percent increase for rate payers was referenced by board member Ronald Mims who said the increase was just a proposal.

Mims said members of the press needed to wait until the board released a formal public announcement of a rate increase before they report on it and blamed reporters in the meeting for people being concerned about higher rates.

Local media have reported, and local politicians have publicly bemoaned the fact that roughly 13,000 Birmingham Water Works customers in the metro area have had or continue to deal with billing issues, such as multiple billing or overestimated meter charges, as far back as October 2021.

The board has been roundly criticized over management decisions, customer service issues and questions about personnel by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, a growing chorus of customers – some taking to social media – and in some media reports, anonymously quoted employees and former employees of the board.

At the meeting yesterday, board member George Munchus expressed his opinion that the rate increase would be much lower than the suggested percentage.

The possible budget increase included a hike in both the capital and operating budgets. WBRC has reported that consultants expect BWWB’s water demand to actually decrease as much as 3%.

BWWB spokesperson Rick Jackson previously told AL.com that although the finance committee meeting was public, the proposed budget would not be posted online because it is “very preliminary.”

“Everything is just a proposal,” Jackson responded to requests for a copy of the budget. “The board will go through budget workshops and a public hearing before voting on a final budget proposal.”

Longtime civil rights activist, community leader and former Birmingham police officer, Rev. Gwendolyn Webb attended this week’s meeting. She said senior citizens can’t afford any rate increases considering the high bills many customers have already received for the better part of a year, largely due to billing estimation issues.

Webb said she herself had received a bill for over $1,000 recently while a friend of hers had received one for $3,000.

“If companies and organizations don’t have their business right, I know they don’t have our business right,” said Webb.

On the same day as the meeting, WBRC reported on a former employee -who had been fired after accusations of falsifying water meter readings – who claimed that BWWB management was well aware of problems with customer billing in Dec. 2021.

Jackson said the board will have an immediate response plan for billing issues coming out in the next few weeks.

Jackson did not say if this response was prompted by the completion of the financial audit from former BWWB general manager Macaroy Underwood with Underwood Financial Consultants LLC.

The audit, a detailed review and analysis of customer billing and collections from Jan. 1, 2022, through July 31, 2022, was approved in August but the results have not been released.

Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills), who has previously criticized the BWWB’s operations, demanded a public release of the audit in an interview on Tuesday with WBRC.

Jackson said that in addition to the upcoming billing plan, the recently hired public relations agency O2 Ideas has offered plans for BWWB to be more interactive with customers on social media. Jackson, the BWWB’s primary spokesman, added that the utility had been able to reach out to 41 customers – out of the 13,000 – who issued complaints on social media to offer assistance.

Tyson said she will be in attendance with people from her district at November’s public hearing to air grievances about the high bills they say they have already been receiving for a year and the proposed rate increase.

“If you can’t get their rates right, if you can’t charge your customers correctly, how can you increase it?” Tyson said previously. “How fair is that?”

BWWB also voted in this week’s meeting to end their agreements with several local banking institutions and switch to other options outside of the city according to General Manager Michael Johnson.

Board directors Lucien Blankenship and Munchus expressed concern over taking business away from local enterprises even though they agreed the local banks may not offer the best rates.

The directors said they intend to renew the certificates of deposit BWWB has with Citizens Trust Bank and Alamerica Bank that matured this year, totaling nearly $21,000,000.

“I would like to see us continue to keep deposits with local banks even though it might not yield the best result,” said Blankenship.

BWWB Secretary-Treasurer Larry Ward argued that the utility’s job was to manage people’s money the best they could, not to use local banks. He added that the more income the board has, the lower customers’ rates will be.

Blankenship countered that the amount of money the board has and the rates customers pay are unrelated.

The board passed the agreement through a roll call vote, although Blankenship, Munchus and Mims all voted no.

Jackson did not respond to requests for additional comments on Wednesday’s board meeting.