How Jefferson County Pulled Off a Billion-Dollar Refinancing to Help Stabilize Sewer Rates and Regain Trust

BY SOLOMON CRENSHAW JR. | For The Birmingham Times Jimmie Stephens remembers he wasn’t proud of Jefferson County when he took office as a county commissioner in 2010. “I was embarrassed and ashamed of what Jefferson County had become and what its reputation was, in the state and in the nation,” recalled Stephens, now the president of the commission. Jefferson County had become by most accounts one of the worst financially managed governments in the nation laying off more than 1,000 of its employees and filing the then-largest municipal bankruptcy in November 2011. But Stephens, his fellow commissioners, county manager and department heads no longer feel that sense of shame and embarrassment, they say. Last month, Jefferson County got positive reviews from investors and financial publications that would have been unimaginable more than 10 years ago. The county completed refinancing $2.24 billion in sewer debt that had been in place since its exit from bankruptcy in 2013. This saves $1.17 billion throughout the life of the debt, reduces debt service payments, creates a customer assistance fund and stabilizes rate increases. The $2.24 billion in bonds drew a whopping $26 billion in orders, prompting positive headlines that the county hasn’t seen...