The Birmingham Water Works Board today will vote on spending $360,000 to hire two lobbying firms to influence legislation and decisions by state lawmakers.

The board is expected to hire Fine Geddie & Associates and The Jones Group at $15,000 per month beginning immediately, according to the resolutions.

The move comes just two weeks before the state legislature goes into session on Feb. 6. Last month, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers from the Birmingham metro area requested a state audit of the water works, citing years of complaints about exorbitant water bills, rate increases and dissatisfaction among employees.

A third lobbyist – Pat Lynch – also appears on the board’s agenda today for $5,000 per month payment from a contract approved in 2023.

Water Works officials punted questions from AL.com about the details of all contracts until after the board vote today.

But at a meeting of the board’s executive committee last week, Michael Johnson, general manager of the Water Works, said the lobbyists will be the “eyes and ears to help us better serve our customers and communicate with our customers and those stakeholders out there.”

Both lobbying firms have deep ties to Montgomery with perennial firm Fine Geddie & Associates founded by Joe Fine and Bob Geddie and The Jones Group led by Greg Jones.

Both firms have previously represented the water works. The Water Works Board’s Executive Committee endorsed the contracts during last week’s meeting.

“This is just a part of what we want to do to make sure we are connecting with those that want to know what we are doing,” Johnson told the committee. “We don’t have anything to hide, and we are a part of the community.”

Today’s vote comes weeks after a group of Jefferson County lawmakers sent letters requesting a closer state examination of the utility’s operations.

In letters to state Sen. Greg Reed, the president pro tem of the Alabama Senate, lawmakers in late December cited a recent vote of no-confidence by water works employees among a series of eye-raising concerns and urged a state audit of the agency.

The signatures of 21 Republicans and Democrats represented a rare bipartisan collaboration between lawmakers from the city of Birmingham, its surrounding suburbs, and Over the Mountain communities.

The water works for years has been a divisive political lightning rod as some legislators push for tighter controls over the utility and others push back.

The Water Works Board in December unanimously approved a 4.8 percent rate increase that went into effect Jan. 1. The utility serves about 770,000 customers in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, and Walker counties.

AL.com has requested copies of the proposed contracts for both firms, specifics about their services, and the water works’ legislative agenda. Rick Jackson, PR manager for the utility, said that information would be available later this week.

Johnson during the committee meeting, said the utility is drafting its own legislative agenda with proposed bills. He said the lobbyists will assist in that effort.

“Both of them will be focused on our efforts in the state of Alabama,” Johnson said. “They are willing to help us in a way that makes sure that the Water Works’ position is heard.”

The Birmingham Water Works Board frequently sends a team of lobbyists to the State House each session.

The utility last year had a lobbyist team that included Jones, Pat Lynch and former congressman Earl Hillard.

Bills championed by the Water Works that dealt with public bid laws failed in the last legislative session.