17736_Authority_August

As a regional authority, we know the cost savings and economies of scale that come from inter-governmental coopera Ɵ on well. We commissioned a feasibility study from Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) to determine if WVSA could lower the cost of MS4 compliance for our municipali Ɵ es if we submi Ʃ ed a joint Pollu Ɵ on Reduc Ɵ on Plan and shared pollu Ɵ on reduc Ɵ on credits for the BMPs. We could fund these services with a stormwater fee. HRG determined that a regional approach led by WVSA could save municipali Ɵ es up to 70% on the cost of implemen Ɵ ng BMPs in the first 5 years and up to $274 million on opera Ɵ ons, maintenance, and improvements over the next 20 years. All these savings are delivered with one of the lowest stormwater fees in the state. Our wastewater user rates are also among the most a ff ordable in the Commonwealth. Strengthening our own finances You might wonder how we can provide all these added services and s Ɵ ll keep rates so a ff ordable. It is, in fact, because we provide these services that we are able to keep rates compe ƟƟ vely low. When the municipal infrastructure connected to our plant is properly maintained and func Ɵ oning, our treatment plant operates more e ffi ciently and cost-e ff ec Ɵ vely. We’ve taken other steps to strengthen our finances, too. Partnerships are one of our best cost-saving tools. WVSA partners with 36 municipali Ɵ es to deliver wastewater services to customers and 32 municipali Ɵ es to manage stormwater. We’ve also partnered with agencies like the Luzerne County Flood Protec Ɵ on Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete projects more a ff ordably: partnerships that would be harder for an individual municipality to make. And we partner with private sector businesses like Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services. Mericle owns a large number of proper Ɵ es that are subject to WVSA’s stormwater fee, and they have a vested interest in reducing those fees. WVSA needs to build stormwater BMPs to help their municipali Ɵ es meet their Pollutant Reduc Ɵ on Plan requirements. Mericle can build these BMPs more cost e ff ec Ɵ vely than WVSA because they have the land and use their own labor and equipment. We o ff ered them credit on their stormwater fees to build these BMPs and s Ɵ ll saved money versus what it would’ve cost if we built the BMPs ourselves. Partnerships provide many financial benefits: • More customers and more services means more revenue coming in. • Economies of scale ensure revenue climbs faster than costs associated with those addi Ɵ onal customers and services. For example, purchasing or leasing maintenance equipment is a large fixed cost, but the cost per user decreases as it is spread over a larger user base. We can provide opera Ɵ ons and maintenance services to our member municipali Ɵ es much more a ff ordably than they could if they each had to incur those costs individually. • We can address problems more cost-e ff ec Ɵ vely because we can address them holis Ɵ cally. We can do one large, more e ff ec Ɵ ve solu Ɵ on instead of several, expensive band aid solu Ɵ ons that don’t address a problem at its root. • We’re in a be Ʃ er posi Ɵ on for grants and loans. Agencies and decision-makers want to allocate funds to projects that will impact the greatest number of people, so they prefer to support regional solu Ɵ ons. Over the past several years, we’ve been successful obtaining State and Tribal Assistance Grant funds from the U.S. EPA as well as American Rescue Plan Act funding. Capital improvement planning is another great cost-saving strategy. A capital improvement plan is a priori Ɵ zed list of major, non- recurring costs associated with your infrastructure and a funding strategy to cover those costs. Projects are priori Ɵ zed based on objec Ɵ ve condi Ɵ on assessments and the poten Ɵ al risk of service disrup Ɵ ons or failure. Our plan helps us make the right investment on the right project at the right Ɵ me in order to minimize the life Ɵ me cost of our assets. We’re able to budget for expenditures in advance, which helps us avoid higher costs associated with emergency repairs and op Ɵ mize our opportuni Ɵ es for grants. ConƟnued on page 36.