LITTLE ROCK — A legislative committee voted to add $25.2 million to a revolving loan fund for safe drinking water projects.
The majority of the funds will be loans, but local water systems can apply to have the principle forgiven.
The state Division of Natural Resources brought the funding request to legislators on the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee (PEER).
Legislators on the committee, especially those who represent rural areas, emphasized the need for the Natural Resources Division to extensively publicize the availability of the funds. One senator said that the water systems that most need financial help are most likely to be the ones that are not aware of the availability of grants and loans.
Legislators asked for copies of the application form to share with water systems and small cities in their districts.
The Natural Resource Division uses a formula to determine whether or not a water system qualifies for forgiveness of the principle. Rates paid by customers are a factor, so that rates are held down as much as possible. The formula takes into account the per capita income of ratepayers and a system is considered “rate burdened” if customers pay 1.5 percent of their income on water bills.
The action by PEER is the latest in a series of efforts to improve the infrastructure of water systems throughout Arkansas. Last month the Natural Resources Division announced that $42 million would become available for water systems serving 22,000 people.
In other action PEER recommended approval of $1.7 million for the state Workforce Services Division to strengthen its fraud prevention team.