Jefferson County is still bogged down by the potential loss of a major revenue source supporting its budget and billions of dollars in auction- and variable-rate sewer bonds that haven’t been restructured. But newly elected commissioners are moving to overhaul the county’s finances.
Commissioners are considering hiring a turnaround firm to help the county review its finances, according to the Birmingham News.
The discussion about hiring a firm came up recently as the commission trimmed more than $30 million from the current budget due to a looming court decision to throw out an occupational tax that supports the budget. The cuts are less than half of what is needed to fill the gap from the loss of the tax.
In addition, the current budget was balanced with the $25 million received from Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a fair-fund distribution in a settlement with JPMorgan late last year, according to published reports.
That fund was established to compensate victims of the county’s sewer debt crisis. JPMorgan sold the warrants and participated in swaps, but never admitted any wrongdoing in the settlement.
While commissioners consider budget problems, a receiver in charge of Jefferson County’s sewer system reportedly is advising state lawmakers that a special-purpose entity needs to be established to take over the system so that the sewer warrants can be restructured.
