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SPONSOR: |
Larranaga |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
864 |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Fund |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Kehoe |
|||||
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
$3,000.0 |
|
|
|
Non-Recurring |
General
Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue |
Subsequent Years Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
|
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
$3,000.0 |
|
|
Non-Recurring |
WFCRLF |
$13,000.0 |
|
|
Non-Recurring |
Federal |
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
Environment Department (ED)
LFC
Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Bill 864
appropriates $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the Wastewater Facility Construction
Loan Fund for the purpose of making low-interest wastewater construction loans
to eligible entities.
Significant
Issues
House Bill 864 appropriates $3 million to the
Environment Department (ED) to match federal funds totaling $13 million to
capitalize the Wastewater Facility Construction Revolving Loan Program
administered by ED for the purpose of constructing wastewater collection and
treatment facilities in the state to eligible entities. The Wastewater Facility Construction
Revolving Loan Fund (WFCRLF) is restricted to low-interest loans with a current
interest base rate of three percent to one percent, with some communities
qualifying for hardship interest rates of zero.
Eligible entities include municipalities, counties, sanitation
districts, and Native American tribes or pueblos with resources to repay the
loans.
To date, the state matches and federal allotment
of funds to
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The $3,000.0
appropriation contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense from the general
fund to the Wastewater Facility Construction Revolving Loan Fund. Any
unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall
not revert to the general fund. The
state has until September 2003 to provide a $3 million match to qualify for a
federal allotment of $13,000.0 for the Wastewater Facility Construction Revolving
Loan Program.
DUPLICATION
House Bill 864
duplicates HCOR 1250 and SCOR 781.
However, HCOR 1250 and SCOR 781 requests severance tax bond funding as a
match for the program rather than general funds.
The Executive capital
recommendation includes a $3 million match from Rural Infrastructure Fund
balances for the Wastewater Facility Construction Revolving Loan. However, provisions of the Rural
Infrastructure Act require that funds be used to make loans and grants to local
entities, individually or jointly, for “water supply” or “wastewater
facilities.” The Wastewater Facility
Construction Revolving Loan Program is intended for constructing wastewater
facilities only. The commingling of the
two funds may violate the intended purpose of both Acts.
House Bill 864 should be amended to reflect that
the $3 million appropriation is a state match for a federal Environmental
Protection Agency grant of $13 million.
The following amendments are offered:
On page 1, line 11, between the word
“appropriation” and “to”, insert the words “for a match”
On page 1, line 16, between the words “fund” and
“to,” insert the words “to the state environment department for a state match
to a federal Environmental Protection Agency grant”; and
On page 1, line 16, change the word “to” to
“for”
LMK/njw