(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee approved adding more than $732 million into its budget for the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund that funds the Clean Water Fund Program.
That program provides loans at below-market rates so that local wastewater and drink water capital projects can be completed. The loans start at 2.2%, below the 4.0% market rate, for the loans while some smaller communities can receive rates of 1.3% or lower rates.
Committee Co-Chair Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said that this funding will clear up the unmet demand for funds from the program for the state for the next four years.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, said that the state’s Department of Natural Resources received $89.9 million more in applications for funding for projects than the fund could award.
“Communities across Wisconsin are facing aging infrastructure and new contaminants such as PFAS,” Wimberger said in a statement. “With these additional funds, municipalities will be able to access low-interest loans to modernize their water systems, saving local taxpayers millions of dollars and keeping their water clean for years to come at the same time.”
Wisconsin Conservation Voters said that the funding was one of its largest priorities and that there are more than 1,000 projects already planned hoping for funding across the state.
“Everyday around this state, cities and villages with populations ranging from less than 100 to over 500,000 work tirelessly to ensure the delivery of safe and drinkable water to homes, schools, and businesses, and consistently ensure wastewater effluent is safe and clean for release back into the environment,” Toni Herkert, the Government Affairs Director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, said in a statement. “This is not only a labor-intensive process, but is also capital-intensive. The result of this work ensures that three quarters of the state’s residents and nine-tenths of the state’s businesses continue to have unimpeded delivery of these critical municipal services.”
