Montana | Montana League of Cities and Towns’ 86th Annual Conference
The Environmental Finance Center will be at the Montana League of Cities and Towns’ 86th Annual Conference to present about rates and reserves, capital planning, and the drinking water state revolving fund. Full agenda and registration for the conference can be found here. The conference will be from Sept. 27-29 in Great Falls, MT.
Presentation 1: Rates and the Importance of Reserves for your Water System
Time: Thursday September 28, 1:30pm-2:30pm MT.
Description: Rates should be the primary source of revenue for local government water systems, not taxes. And rates should reflect the full cost of providing water service, which includes operating costs, capital costs, and reserves (which can be used for future capital expenses, or to cover unexpected revenue shortfalls, or to repair the system in times of emergency). Shadi Eskaf from UNC will stress the importance of having rate setting objectives and talk about different elements of rate structures (the base charge, volumetric charge, customer classes, billing frequency, etc.) that go into meeting those objectives. The goal is to have sufficient revenues to cover the cost of service.
Presentation 2: Capital Planning for Water Systems and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Time: Thursday September 28, 4:45pm-5:30pm MT.
Description: All local governments with drinking water or wastewater systems must plan for the eventual expensive rehabilitation and replacement of the assets. This presentation by Shadi Eskaf will start with basic steps in capital planning and budgeting. To fund the capital projects, local governments should consider taking advantage of state and federal subsidized loan and grant programs. This presentation will also review these programs in Montana, with a specific review of the requirements for eligibility for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
Presenter: Shadi Eskaf, Senior Project Director– Environmental Finance Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Who Should Attend:
These sessions are designed for water systems serving 10,000 or fewer people (though systems of any size may attend), especially targeting local government systems facing financial challenges. Owners of privately owned systems, consultants and technical assistance providers serving water systems are also invited to attend.
Partners:
