‘They should be mad’: Macon Water Authority’s nonprofit expenses scrutinized 

A public charity created by the Macon Water Authority to help low-income families pay their water bills spent money for other purposes, including an exclusive jazz festival and a Christmas lights display.

The Macon Water Alliance, a nonprofit registered with the IRS under the name “Macon Water Environmental Education,” has banked $235,900 from donations made by the water authority’s employees, customers and other givers since its creation in 2014, according to financial reports to the board.

At the nonprofit’s regular quarterly meeting on Thursday, June 5, one item on the general ledger caught the attention of county commissioner and water authority board member Valerie Wynn: a $1,500 donation to the Tubman African American Museum for a fundraising event in January.

“This mission of the Macon Water Alliance from its inception has been to fund, maintain, operate and provide environmental enhancement, education and water resource-focused assistance organization to the residents of Middle Georgia,” Wynn said. “I don’t see where a $1,500 donation to the Tubman Museum for their ‘All of that Jazz’ exclusive party fits into the mission of the Macon Water Alliance and I’d like to know who asked for that, who requested that, who approved it and why.”

Wynn went on to say board members were “not even notified” about the donation. The nonprofit’s bylaws require board approval for transactions exceeding $100.

“That’s not money to be given to functions like that, particularly exclusive functions that don’t help the whole community,” Wynn said. “I want to object to that being used.”

Macon Water Authority CEO Ron Shipman told Wynn the board discussed the donation and it was agreed upon, but Wynn insisted that never happened.

The Melody reviewed the video recording of the December meeting during which the nonprofit was discussed, but some parts were inaudible due to issues with the microphones. Board approval of the expense for the Tubman fundraiser is not reflected in notes from meetings since September.

“We don’t have many people here, but I think if we did have a full house as we’ve been having and they heard we spent money that should have been used to help people with their water bills on an exclusive party for just a few people in this community — they should be mad. They should be upset. I’m upset,” Wynn said. 

Shipman said the authority “may have gotten over our skis with this one” and the nonprofit water alliance is “what we’ve been working with since ‘15, so now it’s time to go back and look and see exactly what the bylaws state.”

Board member Elaine Lucas said she was “glad to see this discussion because there are a number of things, a number of items that need to be looked at and revamped. A lot of these documents were put in place some years ago.”

Lucas said she was one of the board members who requested the authority look into supporting the museum in one of its major fundraising events because it “struggles and it has been struggling since it was built.” 

“I thought that since so many other organizations support the Tubman, and it is a community facility, that is just normal. The Macon commission has a table or two at ‘All that Jazz,’” Lucas said. “I didn’t know where the funding came from. …  and I agree with you, Commissioner Wynn, it doesn’t seem like it’s an appropriate place for it to come.”

Lucas mentioned the authority also contributed $5,000 to the Cherry Blossom Festival last year and wanted to know where the money for that came from, but committee chairman Frank Patterson adjourned the meeting before the question was answered.

The Macon Water Alliance pays for the authority’s annual kids’ fishing derby, according to financial reports distributed at meetings. However, public information on what else it pays for is sparse because the IRS yearly reporting requirements are minimal for nonprofits with annual gross receipts of $50,000 or less. Not all of the notes from meetings in 2024 are available online. 

Minutes from the September 2024 meeting show the board voted to approve a three-year partnership between the Macon Water Alliance and Rebuilding Macon in which the alliance would pay $10,000 yearly. The $30,000 commitment will help pay for home plumbing repairs for low-income residents, disabled individuals and seniors. Notes from the same meeting show the board voted to approve a $25,000 donation by the alliance to NewTown Macon for the annual downtown Christmas Lights display.

Dwight Jones, who has served on the water board off and on for the past decade or more, said it was his idea to create a nonprofit subsidiary of the water authority but, “I didn’t have any ambitions it would get this size.”

When the nonprofit was being organized in 2014, Jones said, the county didn’t have diesel fuel for kids to go on a school trip to the water authority, which he thought was “outlandish.” 

“Well, we really didn’t have a mechanism to say, ‘Hey, Bibb County, we’ll give you $500 for the fuel.’ So standing something up like that can support that,” he said.

Jones said he donates the salary he makes from the authority to the nonprofit, which did some work with Habitat for Humanity in the past. The authority has an optional payroll deduction for employees and includes an option on customer bills for donations to the alliance.

When asked how many people the nonprofit has helped with water bills, he said the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services would have that information.

Shipman said the authority transfers money to DFCS, which issues a voucher to the customer, “then they bring that voucher back to the Macon Water, so there’s a tracking mechanism.”

An inquiry to DFCS regarding funding from the Macon Water Alliance was not answered.

‘Your rates are hurting people’

As the authority plans for a possible rate increase, many are struggling to pay the current rate.

“Your rates are hurting people,” Chris Daddario, a mother of four, said during the Macon Water Authority board’s regular monthly meeting. 

Daddario said she asked customer service for help and was handed a piece of paper with contact information for five other entities unrelated to the authority: Salvation Army, the Macon-Bibb Economic Opportunity Council, Family Advancement Ministries, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services and Holy Trinity House of God. At least one of the agencies listed included an old address.

“This didn’t do anything for me — didn’t do anything for my kids,” Daddario said from the lectern after an attorney handed her a copy of the same list of agencies. “I’ve called around and I haven’t received any help.”

A Melody reporter called the Holy Trinity House of God and asked how to go about getting help with paying a water bill. A woman who answered the phone said there wasn’t any money in the account, which is replenished through donations made to the church itself. 

A call to Family Advancement Ministry reached an automated messaging system that said it is no longer taking applications for rent or utility assistance. To request help from Salvation Army, customers must apply in person. 

The Macon-Bibb Economic Opportunity Council website says it offers assistance with water bills, “possibly through our Emergency Assistance Program,” a federally funded program that helps low-income households with energy bills. 

A reporter called the EOC Monday and reached an automated voice message that said its energy assistance funds have not yet been released “due to unforeseen circumstances” and it is unable to accept applications for help at this time.