Auditor surveys municipalities to assess water system costs

Municipal officials are being urged to respond to an online survey being conducted by the Division of Local Mandates in the state auditor’s office to examine the cost impacts of local water infrastructure maintenance.
 
In a letter to municipal officials, the Division of Local Mandates said the purpose of the survey is “to update the estimate of our state’s water infrastructure investment gap and to examine potential best practices, regulatory strategies and funding mechanisms designed to help close that gap … as well as to solicit local input on the current use of various funding sources and the embrace of new water system strategies and technologies designed to improve efficiency and manage costs.”
 
The survey, which was launched on Nov. 9, asks about drinking water funding and improvement programs, wastewater funding and improvement programs, and stormwater compliance and capacity programs. The auditor’s office will use the survey results to report on the ways that regulatory changes, climate change, and a growing backlog of water system upgrades are affecting municipal budgets.
 
In a 2012 report, the Massachusetts Water Infrastructure Finance Commission identified an estimated funding gap of $21.4 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years: $10.2 billion for drinking water and $11.2 billion for wastewater.
 
These figures do not take into account new requirements that could be placed on municipalities through the state’s Sustainable Water Management Initiative (SWMI) and changes to federal Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit standards. It was estimated by the Water Infrastructure Finance Commission that it could take an estimated $18 billion in stormwater investments over the next 20 years for communities to meet the regulatory requirements.
 
MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith said the Division of Local Mandates survey “comes at a critical moment in the discussion of water-related challenges” for many cities and towns.
 
“The MMA has been pushing hard for greater awareness of the importance of enhanced water systems – drinking water, wastewater and stormwater – to the continued economic and environmental health of cities and towns,” Beckwith said. “We hope the survey will provide the data needed to understand the scope of challenges facing municipalities and the strategies needed to meet them. It’s time to take a fresh look at these costs, as well as exploring ways for the state to work with cities and towns to develop innovative, cost-effective, long-term plans to address this looming challenge.
 
Beckwith said local officials are looking for a “holistic approach to water infrastructure funding and regulation” that allows communities to plan their long-term investments to achieve the best possible use of limited resources.
 
“With Gov. Charlie Baker calling for a full review of state regulations and creating a Community Compact Cabinet to promote better accountability, best administrative practices, and closer partnerships with local government,” Beckwith said, “it is critical that our members participate in this important survey so that it accurately reflects the true cost burden of these unfunded mandates.”
 
Under statutory authority granted by Proposition 2½, the Division of Local Mandates periodically issues “Municipal Impact Studies” that document major fiscal effects of state laws, regulations and policies on local governments. The two most recent studies – on cost impacts of the state’s hotel/motel homeless shelter program and the state’s dam safety law – both led to changes in state funding and administrative procedures designed to ease local fiscal impacts.
 
The survey is expected to close soon.
 
For more information, contact Tom Champion at the Division of Local Mandates: thomas.champion@sao.state.ma.us or (857) 242-5427.