Greetings Commissioners Bowman, Brown, Carrington, Knight and Stephens:
We, the residents of the Huffman neighborhood, Birmingham (Jefferson County), Alabama, are encouraged by the recent ruling issued by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Blackburn; that is, the ability of sewer customers to continue an appeal of Jefferson County’s bankruptcy exit plan. Although we are heartened by the new opportunity that the ruling offers, hope is overshadowed by the reality and existence of the current exit settlement. we remain deeply distressed regarding the $14.7 billion sewer bankruptcy settlement and appalled at the ensuing sewer rate increases. The $14.7 billion financing plan, payable over the next 40 years and financed by increased sewer rates, will prove detrimental to residents, organizations and businesses in Jefferson County as well as any others served by that utility system. Yearly exponential increases in sewer rates will devastate the budgets of utility users.
The amortized $ 14.7 billion financing plan, which includes $6.6 billion in debt service, $4.4 billion in operating expenses and $3.7 billion for extra coverage is excessive. We consider this current financial plan and the conditions surrounding it unacceptable. In addition to the financial burden and disadvantage imposed on ratepayers by the plan, its conditions are inflexible and nonnegotiable for future county governmental agencies.
We deem it unconscionable that the communities embroiled in this travesty will pay for services and goods that were minimally, if ever, realized; that is, federally mandated sewer system repairs. In any case, future residents and we are the victims who will pay for a venture that was spawned in poor judgment and corrupt practices. The rate increases will greatly jeopardize the financial stability of households, businesses and possibly entire communities.
The income of citizens in Jefferson County is decreasing. The poverty rate increased in Jefferson County from 12.8 percent in 2000 to 18.6 percent in 2012. The current sewer fees are not affordable and residents are having to cut medical and food necessities in order to meet the increased utility expense. There are horror stories already that sewer utility charges double water utility costs. Sewer utility costs are projected to quadruple the water charges in the near future. Jefferson County residents currently lack both legal representation and support in finding a fair solution to the ever-increasing sewer utility debt problem.
The current District Court ruling by Judge Blackburn provides a measure of hope for Jefferson County sewer ratepayers whose plight has, until now, been fundamentally ignored. With the exception of one, all County Commissioners concur with the current bankruptcy exit plan, an unsettling scenario for sewer ratepayers. Alabama’s Attorney General has failed to intercede on behalf of sewer utility ratepayers and citizens of Jefferson County. The Alabama Public Service Commission (created to ensure that that Alabama residents receive reliable, affordable utility and transportation services at fair and reasonable rates) regulates privately owned corporations that provide electric, gas and water services to the public. If sewer services are not covered by the Alabama Public Service Commission, we, the consumers and ratepayers, are not protected. We are, in fact, at the mercy of profit-oriented businesses that can force sewer utility rates higher and higher.
The Jefferson County Commission must take immediate action in obtaining legal services that represent the interest of sewer ratepayers and residents of Jefferson County. The fate of Jefferson County cannot be left on the shoulders of the Attorney General, who has demonstrated neither interest nor concern for citizens of Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Commission’s failure to act will lead to an abandonment of property, houses, businesses and, ultimately, the eventual death of this one-time thriving and productive County.
It was the past commission that got us into this problem, but it is the current commission who has the responsibility of keeping the citizens of Jefferson County from drowning in a debt of sewage.
The Huffman Neighborhood Association &
The Future Vision Committee
