Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB) on Thursday to turn over a handful of documents about its consideration of another rate increase for 2023.
The BWWB is considering recommendations made by consultants and the board's staff, which were presented to the board's Finance Committee in September.
To cover the recommended $128 million budget, a nearly 11% increase from 2022, the board proposed raising rates by an average of 8.3%, well above last year's increase of 3.9%.
Because the BWWB charges its customers based on a tiered structure, the rate increase could be as much as 19% for customers using larger amounts of water.
According to Mike Lewis, the spokesperson for Marshall's office, the Attorney General's Consumer Interest Division requested that the Water Works provide them with baseline budget documents so that it could assess the need for a rate increase.
Part of the BWWB's new budget is supposed to go toward an additional $1.5 million in labor costs, which includes two new PR positions.
Even with the new positions, the BWWB voted to outsource a second PR firm, meaning it is now paying $50,000 to outside firms every month on top of providing salaries for its current PR staff, according to WBRC.
The Water Works has been the focal point of harsh public criticism over the last few months due to billing issues that have left some customers with suspiciously hefty water bills.
Earlier this year, thousands of customers reportedly didn't receive bills for months at a time. Later, they received much larger or multiple bills all at once.
The bills were also not based on accurate meter readings but estimations based on previous months. Birmingham Water Works blamed the issues on a lack of meter readers and insufficient staffing.
The issues have drawn the attention of public figures on both sides of the aisle, including Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, a Democrat, and State Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills).
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