Tech Talk; Funding Sources
Tech Talk; Funding Sources
by Mark P. Greaves
I recently attended the annual Evergreen Rural Water of Washington (ERWoW)
meeting in Yakima WA. I attended a class on funding sources
for small water systems.
There were experts on hand from Dept. of Public Works and USDA
Dept. of Rural Development. They discussed the programs and
sources of financial aid and technical assistance that are available to
us for system upgrades and or expansion.
We have talked about this before but it now appears to be more important
than ever. Obviously the economy plays an important roll in all of
this but there are other factors coming into play right now. One
is the “Economic Stimulus Program” that was just signed into law.
All those so-called “Shovel Ready” projects will be considered.
Also the 2010 census will play a roll in setting guidelines based on per
capita incomes, density and other factors they consider when setting
policy. Since the 2000 census is currently being used for the
database it would most likely benefit you to apply for assistance sooner
than later.
At this time there are many millions in funds available in the form of
low interest loans and a few million available for grants. The
grants will have strings attached and are harder to get. The low
interest loans appear to be a very good deal and provide long tem
financing at low rates in the neighbor hood of around 2%. Possibly
even less. These are NOT subprime ARM’s thank goodness.
The application deadline for this year is May 11th 2009. The local
USDA office is at 2021 E. College Way ste. 216, Mt.
Vernon WA 98273-3610 ph 360-428-4322 x 4 fax is
360-424-6172. The area director is Ms. Melanie Drecksel her email
address is
melanie.drecksel@wa.usda.gov. Also I think Ms.
Kitty Weisman with ERWoW would be a very good source of information and
guidance since she gives classes on this.
Happy Hunting & Good Luck,
Mark