We work with small communities across the country that don’t have the rate base revenue to keep up with the rising costs associated with planning, funding, designing, constructing, and operating water utilities. However, the critical services provided demand both ongoing maintenance and infrastructure investments that often cannot be overlooked despite budgetary constraints. We have seen this struggle play out for decades, and now with our fiscal solutions team, we are developing creative, sustainable financial solutions so our clients can ensure continuity of these essential services.
Whether or not we collaborated with our client on their master plan and capital investment plan, we start with these documents to identify the financial needs of prioritized projects in parallel to utility revenue and available public grants and loans to develop alternative funding scenarios and the impact, if any, to existing ratepayers. This process informs the development of a financial initiative plan that is then approved and adopted by our client to pave a pathway forward for critical projects while unburdening ratepayers who might previously have borne the brunt of the cost. This process has proved successful many times over, allowing our clients to secure billions of funding dollars to move infrastructure projects from design to construction. Two examples of this success are in Florida communities where we provide contract operations for water and wastewater services — Groveland and LaBelle. Both cities have experienced recent population growth, with more expected, stressing their existing systems.
Successful financing for critical infrastructure
Groveland’s population is expected to triple by 2050. To meet this growth, the comprehensive master and capital plans identified nearly $300 million in capital projects. The new $20 million Villa City Water Treatment Plant will have a capacity of up to 6 million gallons per day (MGD), drawing from the Lower Floridan Aquifer. In addition to a new industrial pretreatment program designed to reduce overtaxing of the system by industrial users, upgrades to the Sampey Road Wastewater Treatment Facility and new Northern Wastewater Treatment Facility will increase treatment capacity significantly. Through the financial initiative plan, the city found key funding opportunities, securing nearly $50 million in grants and principal forgiveness loans and $50 million in low interest State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans to move these projects forward. The funding includes a combination of state and federal appropriations from more than five programs across a period of five years.
While LaBelle is a much smaller community, the master and capital planning process identified nearly $150 million in projects. Two key projects identified include a new wastewater treatment facility and upgrades to an existing water treatment plant. The new $60 million wastewater treatment facility will accommodate an increased maximum daily flow of 1.05 MGD while the reverse osmosis drinking water facility upgrades to meet demand will cost an estimated $20 million. The city of LaBelle was also successful in receiving a combined $90 million in grants and principal forgiveness for various water and wastewater capital improvement projects, leveraging half dozen distinct funding programs across multiple funding cycles.
The payoff of planning
While the process of developing a master plan, capital plan, and financial initiatives plan may seem arduous and an added expense for small communities, the payoff is worth it. State and federal agencies are more likely to support projects that are well planned and substantiated by an alternatives analysis than projects that lack the basis for need or are already too far along in the design process. Furthermore, some funding programs also offer grants and loans that cover the cost of planning or provide significant principal forgiveness, reducing the cost of planning efforts for the community.
By partnering with Woodard & Curran, clients can leverage the expertise of our fiscal solutions team who keeps track of state and federal funding opportunities and understands how to match what is available with capital needs. We are better positioned to help manage short- and long-term funding strategies that align with the key project attributes and project schedules so our clients can focus on delivering uninterrupted service to their communities.
Want to learn more? Justin deMello is presenting this topic at the WEF/AWWA Utility Management Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Don’t miss his session “Small Communities, BIG Needs; No Problem.” at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
