Archives › Financial Management
A new report issued by the Johnson Foundation called Financing Sustainable Water Infrastructure concludes that the financial health of our water systems is directly linked to their long-term sustainability.
Frequent readers of our blog will know that we often discuss the gap that exists between the need for capital investment in the water/wastewater sector, and the availability of both the necessary capital as well as the ability to repay debt. Indeed, our most recent blog post, Water Rate Affordability (Dec. 26, 2011), presents a [...]
I will be presenting at the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association’s 103rd annual meeting thisweek in St. Petersburg, Fl. I will be talking about industry trends and opportunities. Here is an advanced copy of the show! Water Industry Trends View more presentations from stepwiseadvisors
So much has been said about our nation’s failing water infrastructure that another blog post would hardly do the topic justice. We’ve done plenty of them here already (here, for example). There have been many who have done well to help us identify the problem, and the problem is an imminently solvable one. We know [...]
We’ve said before that affordability is going to be one of the primary challenges faced by water and sewer utility managers in the coming years (Why Affordability is the New Challenge for Water and Sewer Utility Owners, July 2010). The story that is unfolding in Jefferson County, Alabama (home to Birmingham) sheds some light on [...]
We are glad to announce today that we’ve released a free service from our website that will allow water and sewer utility managers to receive a free 4-page report of their utility’s financial health. Our free 5-point checkup will give you a broad overview of your financial position in direct comparison to median benchmarks from [...]
Readers of this blog know by now that the financial impact of water and sewer infrastructure needs in local communities is a big one. For moderately sized utilities, the impact is big enough, for very small utilities, the impacts can be completely unmanageable as seen in the below linked article from The News Star in [...]
With all the discussion right now over the federal debt ceiling, the topic of government debt has rightfully been placed in the public square for debate. Regardless of your position on the federal debt ceiling or on the federal budget deficit in general, it is a fallacy to equate all government debt as having been [...]
Water and wastewater utilities in the public sector are often under fire for increasing rates, but strong financial health is becoming more and more important in today’s changing credit markets. Access to credit for utilities is as vital as it is to any business, and maybe more so due to the capital intensive nature of [...]
StepWise Utility Advisors is proud to be a Gold Sponsor for the upcoming Wyoming Association of Municipalities conference in Sheridan, Wyoming. The conference will run from June 8 through June 10th. We will be participating in all of the conference activities and presenting a 90-minute presentation during the technical session. Jason Mumm, president of StepWise [...]
President Obama’s 2012 budget will include provisions for a national Infrastructure Bank. In comments provided at the US Treasury blog, Treasury Secretary Geithner said that the bank would leverage private money to “…support projects that produce significant returns on our investment.” The structure of the infrastructure bank, based on the blog post, appears to include [...]
I recently gave an interview to writers at Waterwideweb.org. The resulting article is worth a good read, as are the comments.
One of the interesting debates in the water industry these days is how, when, why, and how much private equity can be brought to bear to address our growing water investment needs. As readers of our blog would note, US water systems are faced with daunting shortfalls in financing for developing new water supplies, and [...]
I had an opportunity to speak on a very distinguished panel of experts today at the Colorado Contractors Association. The topic was funding of water and sewer infrastructure in the US and the panel was presented by WIN Colorado (http://wincolorado.org/). Other panelists included Ann Terry (Colorado Special District Association), Sam Mamet (Colorado Municipal League), and [...]
Public Works magazine is one of many, perhaps the latest, reporting on the huge gap in funding between our water and sewer infrastructure needs and current annual spending. The problem isn’t new. Water and sewer infrastructure have been aging unabated for 50 years or more and its no surprise to anyone that water pipes, pumps, [...]
Tough economic times have put water and sewer rates under a lens. As the economy continues to flounder in many aspects, not the least of which is lingering unemployment, the job of providing basic utility services goes on. In Wichita, a recent 8% water rate increase was met with its share of public outcry. The [...]
A while back, we raised the question of whether or not deflation (not IN-flation) was going to ruin the predicted economic recovery (Is Deflation a Real Threat?). Since we wrote that interesting post, the Fed has continued to increase money supply in the economy, resulting in no material change in unemployment and reports that corporate [...]
If you watched 60 Minutes (CBS) on Sunday 12/19 then you heard a story about how the States are in big trouble with their budget deficits that renowned Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney says is likely to lead to a wave of municipal bond defaults. The prologue for failing municipalities looks like this: the State [...]
For most of all people now living, inflation has been a normal part of life. Slow, steady, reliable inflation: in the single digits for the most part. Even today, as the US economy continues to struggle through a recession that started back in 2007, inflation remains the norm. But the level of inflation has fallen [...]
Water utility rate consultants are in the business of helping their clients figure out how much the rates need to be adjusted. Once that first determination is made, the consultant is able to address other issues, like how to allocate costs to customers and develop equitable rates, but the first step is to know where [...]
At last count (and still counting), the US Federal Budget deficit stands at $1.43 trillion, and the national debt is now $13.2 trillion. Those are big dollars, but the US is a mighty economic engine even in these recessionary times. Still, the national debt is now over 90% of the nation’s entire economic output for [...]
In the water and sewer utility, costs tend to pile up quick and they are seemingly endless if not formidable. As an industry, water and sewer utility services are among the most capital intensive anywhere. There are very few industries in the world where one has to invest so much capital to produce even the [...]
I recently participated in a brief discussion about potential rate impacts in Gary, IN. The gist of the story is that Gary, IN is facing some very large capital costs to separate its sewer system into two parts: one for sanitary sewer needs, and the other for storm water drainage. Currently, like many older cities [...]
Eventually the piper must be paid. For municipal governments, balancing the budget is these days a constant concern and budget cuts are starting to hit core services as the recession plods along. In Washington, however, balanced budgets are not a concern, nor it seems is the staggering deficit that comes with massive spending programs that [...]
In a report published in February, the US Conference of Mayors is predicting that spending on water and wastewater systems will increase by by as much as four times. Depending on how fast the country’s population grows, spending could double, triple, or quadruple, according to the report. We’ve posted the full report here, which is [...]
1 of 2