Residents in Alabama’s largest county for years have lamented their monthly sewer bills, yearly rate increases, and a lack of aid for people unable to afford the rising costs.

Jefferson County commissioners and their finance team recently completed a refinancing of $2.24 billion in county sewer debt, a move that could provide a bit of relief for customers. Part of the transaction will set aside money to create a customer assistance program.

“It helped stabilize our sewer rates going forward and gives us the opportunity now to establish a sewer assistance program,” Jimmie Stephens, president of the Jefferson County Commission, told AL.com. “So it gives us increased flexibility, it normalizes our debt and our system.”

Commissioners voted on the transaction late last year. County officials said the refinancing, which was completed Jan. 10, saves $1.17 billion throughout the life of the debt, reduces payments, and establishes the new fund. Jefferson County currently owes $2.24 million in sewer debt, financed for the next 30 years.

The transaction also caps the annual sewer rate increases for customers at 3.49 percent a year for the next three decades, officials said.

Part of the savings from the transaction will fund a new low-income Customer Assistance Program. The program will extend beyond bill assistance.

“As an example, one thing that has been discussed for years could be leak repair assistance for low-income households,” said county spokesperson Helen Hayes. “It’s one thing our environmental services people see, a person has a leak they are not aware of, and that causes a high bill. Helping with just the bill doesn’t solve the problem, and those repairs can be costly.”

Hayes said the county is still working on a timeline for implementation, and what the specific details will be.

Commissioner Sheila Tyson said the new assistance fund helps answer a longtime call for help from citizens burdened by costly sewer bills.

“This is something that I wanted, and hopefully it will lower the sewer burden on the citizens who are on the sewer system,” Tyson told AL.com.

Commissioner Lashunda Scales has also called for years for a mechanism to aid residents long burdened by sewer bills.

Most residents of Tyson and Scales’ districts are connected to the county sewer system and have paid an overwhelming portion of its debt, the two commissioners have long argued.

Scales in a statement said the transaction “represents the effectiveness and compassion of the current Jefferson County Commission.”

Jefferson County was saddled by $4.23 billion in debt in 2011 when it filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history at that time.

The county’s financial problems were magnified by corruption where nearly two dozen county officials were eventually convicted of federal bribery and conspiracy charges between 2005 and 2010. The county ended its bankruptcy in 2013.

With bankruptcy years behind them, Stephens said the latest transaction will “rehabilitate the credit and credibility” of the county, years after it earned infamy for the mammoth bankruptcy.

“This is great news for the citizens of Jefferson County. It stabilizes the financial position of the County,” Stephens said. “We made promises when we emerged from bankruptcy to rebuild our credit and reputation; today, we kept those promises.”

Since then, bankers from as far as Norway made offers to buy the county’s debt in the last refinancing.

“The last time we couldn’t sell it,” Stephens said. “That shows you how far we have come.”

Jefferson County sewer customers have long paid annual rate increases because of the bankruptcy agreement. The latest transaction locks in the annual increases at a rate similar to inflation, Stephens said.

As a result, Stephens said annual rate increases will remain capped through 2053.

“This allows your ratepayers and your user to be able to plan. They know what their rate is going to be,” he said.

The bond financing team included: Raymond James and Associates; Stifel, Nicolaus & Company; B of A Securities; Morgan Stanley & Company; Siebert Williams & Shank, Co.; Loop Capital Markets; Jefferies and Piper Sandler & Company.