EGLE Finance Division sets up communities for success, processing hundreds of new grants aiding local water systems across the state

Several billion dollars in state and federal aid have flowed to Michigan communities over the past five years providing financial assistance to water, wastewater, and stormwater systems that are protecting the environment and health of Michigan residents. 

Communities across Michigan are making progress on upgrading aging water infrastructure.

This unprecedented investment in water systems is regularly highlighted in EGLE press releases, including last week’s announcement more than a quarter-billion dollars in funding to dozens of local water systems, and this week’s roundup of low-interest loan dollars provided to communities for water system upgrades.

But before that money can translate to tangible infrastructure improvements, there is a massive behind-the-scenes effort within EGLE’s Finance Division to set municipalities up for success. That includes creating new grant programs, the 15– 20-month process of a successful loan application, tracking budgets, reviewing reimbursement requests and ensuring payments are processed correctly. Finance Division staff members within the Budget and Federal Aid unit along with the staff in the Water Infrastructure Funding and Financing Section (WIFFS) are in constant communication with applicants, guiding them through the necessary steps towards awarding and receiving these dollars, assuring federal grant requirements are met, and confirming budgets are within limits.

Just within the past 3 years, the Finance Division has processed more than 500 new grants totaling over a $1 billion in funding with another $2.7 billion issued through the Clean Water and Drinking Water revolving funds to programs to more than 240 communities.

“The work our Finance Team does is critical to assure communities have the financial resources necessary for effective protections of public health for these vital water projects,” said Paul McDonald, Finance Division director. “Significant influxes of available funding to distribute has turbocharged our workload, and the unsung heroes within the Finance Division have risen to the occasion.”

“Our team has stepped up in a big way to guarantee this money gets into the hands of communities as effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Kelly Green, Administrator of the WIFFS. “It’s an increasingly daunting workload with multiple funding sources each containing ever changing federal and state requirements. The WIFFS staff must understand the technical aspects of water infrastructure, the accuracy of financial decision making, and have the necessary skills to communicate, think critically, and find solutions to problems in a compressed timeframe. They are simply the best of the best and the success of our programs is completely dependent upon them.”