On Nov. 19, the Birmingham Water Works Board approved an Operating & Maintenance (O&M) Budget of $108,335,378 and a Capital Budget of $81,484,428 for Fiscal Year 2021. The approval comes weeks after the utility’s executive staff presented the proposals before the public at the Board’s Virtual Public Hearing earlier this month.

“We’re pleased that we were able to present budgets that we feel are essential to effectively and efficiently maintain the operations of this great water utility while keeping our customers at the forefront,” said BWWB General Manager Michael Johnson. “Our staff took a close look at everything, department by department.”

Notably, included with this approval, the Board of Directors voted to approve budgets that will not result in an increase in customers’ water rates for FY 2021 and does not include merit raises for BWWB employees this year.

“COVID-19 has really put many of our customers in a financial strain. Through this measure, our employees truly exemplify that we are in this together, and we hope that not having a rate the increase can bring some relief to those who’ve lost so much this year,” Johnson added.

Also, the utility is yet again aggressively reinvesting in its existing water infrastructure in FY 2021 by budgeting $30 million to replace aging water mains.

The approved budgets go into effect on January 1, 2021 and are in accordance with the currently adopted Rates Stabilization and Equalization (RSE) model.