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High resolution Report Summary (30.5 MB)
"Local Community Financial Management
Strategies: Examples
from throughout the region" (Appendix E)
The Appalachian region of the United States
runs through thirteen states, from Alabama to New York. It has
long been heralded for its uniqueness. What is rarely recognized
are the connections between Appalachia and the rest of the country.
The waters of Appalachia demonstrate this connectedness quite
tangibly. Appalachia is the headwaters for the entire east coast
and the eastern side of the Midwestern United States. Appalachian
waters are ultimately the source of surface drinking water for
a huge percentage of Americans that drink from surface systems.
And Appalachian communities present a range of demands and issues
for water use that span the gamut of problems faced by communities
across the country: rural areas that are under served by water
and wastewater, older urban areas whose infrastructure is in dire
need of repair and replacement, and areas where the pace of growth
is outstripping the capacity of present day water and wastewater
systems.
The
Appalachian Regional Commission contracted with the UNC Environmental
Finance Center (EFC) to carry out a water and wastewater infrastructure
needs and gap assessment in the 410-county Appalachian Region.
The main purpose of the project was to provide policy makers and
local officials with detailed information on future water and
sewer investment requirements and financial strategies to meet
those needs given the fiscal capacity of individual communities.
The research goal is to understand the
adequacy of funding for water and wastewater needs in Appalachia.
In part, this was a test to see whether the predictions of infrastructure
funding gaps at the national level hold up when examined at a
community level. In other respects, it was a policy analysis that
has shed light on a much larger issue: whether the headwaters
of the eastern half of the United States are making the investments
in water and wastewater that are needed to meet the needs of its
population.
In particular, the project sought out to answer questions such as:
"Will there be a significant gap between funding needs and spending levels for water and wastewater infrastructure in Appalachia over the periods from 2000 to 2019?
"If so, what is the size and character of the needs and available resources relative to that predicted at the national level?
"Given existing data, what can be said confidently at regional, county, and community levels in Appalachia regarding infrastructure needs?
"How useful are policy prescriptions made at the national level, in conjunction with the published gap analyses, for state and local policy makers in Appalachia?
"Are the financing strategies and approaches that are being introduced in other parts of the country relevant or likely to be successful in Appalachia?
"Will an analysis of the problems and attributes of communities in Appalachia suggest a set of unique policies and financing strategies?
The major components of the project included:
- Creation of a baseline financial needs
database for the region. The EFC used existing national,
state, and local needs assessments to create a database of
baseline information that was used to quantify and characterize
the needs of the region and its communities particularly counties
which due to the socioeconomic status are characterized as
distressed.
- Assessment of existing (internal and
external) financial resources available for water and sewer
infrastructure. The EFC carried out a comprehensive
assessment of the available financial resources ARC communities
have available for meeting their water and wastewater capital
needs. The EFC created a funding database that tracked all
of the major sources of public and private capital used in
the region for water and wastewater infrastructure. As part
of this task, the EFC also collected detailed information
on the fiscal capacity of local communities to access commercial
and subsidized capital markets and to generate funds for direct
infrastructure expenditures. The fiscal capacity analysis
part of this task took into consideration socioeconomic data
such as income levels, unemployment as well as data on existing
water and sewer expenditures and outstanding debt.
- Water and wastewater finance consultations.
The EFC also facilitated a series of informal consultations,
round tables, structured interviews to identify what public
officials, funding agencies (private and public), and communities
saw as the major infrastructure finance challenges in the
ARC region. The EFC worked with these groups to develop an
inventory of current infrastructure finance practices, policies,
and strategies used in all or select parts of the region.
The consultations were designed to facilitate the exchange
of ideas regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of existing
policies and practices and the identification of new or expanded
strategies. Special attention was given to policies and practices
that were implemented in a particular part of the region that
might have applicability in other areas of the region.
- Preparation of infrastructure finance
case studies. The EFC prepared a series of infrastructure
finance case studies that demonstrated the range of issues
and strategies within communities throughout the ARC region.
The EFC worked with the ARC and other organizations involved
with infrastructure finance to identify individual communities
in the region whose situation and circumstances illustrated
specific financing challenges and strategies.
The final project reports were published in Autumn 2005 and are available in Adobe PDF format below:
ARC Project: Additional Analyses and Research Findings
ARC Project: Financing Water and Sewer Services
ARC Project: Regional Characteristics
Examination of the Relationships Between Public Funding for Water and Sewer Infrastructure and Indicators of Need in the Appalachian Region
Map
of Locations for Community and System Level Case Studies
Funding for this project provided by:
For more information on the project contact:
Jeff Hughes, Director
UNC Environmental Finance Center
UNC-Chapel Hill
Campus Box 3330
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
919-843-4956
jhughes@sog.unc.edu
Greg Bischak, Appalachian Regional Commission
1666 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20235
202-884-7790
gbischak@arc.gov
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