Submitted by Morrison City Administrator, Brian Melton
Low-Interest Loan with Principal Forgiveness
On August 21, 2023, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim
announced the issuance of more than $571 million in water infrastructure loans to local governments and water districts for the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2023 (April – June 2023). The Illinois EPA State Revolving Fund (SRF) Program provides low-interest loans which fund wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water projects. More than $53 million in loan forgiveness was also provided to those recipients meeting the loan rules for either the Small Community Rate or Hardship Rate. For fiscal year 2023, Illinois EPA issued over $803 million in low-interest loans for water infrastructure. In addition to the SRF loans, Illinois provided nearly $54 million in funding for lead service line replacement over the last 12 months.
“The Illinois EPA’s robust State Revolving Fund allows us to provide communities with the essential funding needed to upgrade, repair, or replace aging water infrastructure,” said Director John J. Kim. “This funding represents clean drinking water for Illinois residents, technology to reduce environmental impacts from stormwater and wastewater, and the creation of good-paying local jobs.”
Illinois EPA’s SRF includes two loan programs, the Water Pollution Control Loan Program (WPCLP) which funds both wastewater and stormwater projects, and the Public Water Supply Loan Program (PWSLP) for drinking water projects. Both programs provide funding at a low interest rate of just 1.24 percent for State FY23. These SRF programs receive federal capitalization funding annually, which is combined with state matching funds, interest earnings, repayment money, and periodic bond sale proceeds, to form the source of financing for these infrastructure projects. The state matching funds for State FY2020-2024 are being provided through Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan thus increasing the funding capacity of both loan programs.
For more information about Illinois EPA’s SRF, visit https://epa.illinois.gov/topics/grants-loans/state-revolving-fund.html
The City of Morrison has received $1,614,408.36 through the EPA’s Public Water Supply Loan
Program; of which $807,204.18 (50%) is principal forgiveness. This funding is for the watermain
replacement project on IL RT 78 South (East Wall Street, South Clinton Street and Portland Avenue).
This project is in progress, with a final completion date in December 2023. The City of Morrison’s partners in this project are Fischer Excavating of Freeport (General Contractor) and Willett Hofmann & Associates, Inc. of Dixon (Engineering Services).