The Birmingham Water Works Board is $500,000 over budget as it reaches the halfway point of the fiscal year, which one board member said he feared could mean more rate increases for customers.

The reason for being overbudget is apparently connected in part with the BWWB’s continually growing costs for public relations services, according to the utility’s financial officer.

The BWWB, besides a growing in-house PR staff, has also contracted with outside agencies. At the meeting yesterday, the board approved a $96,000 payment to local PR firm CBG Strategies for digital and mailed advertising, which is connected to the utility’s new “Better Billing Campaign.”

The approval of the $96,000 CBG payment brought the utility to a total of around $500,000 over their proposed 2023 budget so far this year, according to BWWB Chief Financial Officer Iris Fisher.

The other $400,000 was a combination of lobbyist fees and organizational assessment costs, Fisher said.