Ohio Creates Water & Sewer Funding Program Linking Infrastructure and Economic Development

The Montrose Group LLC.

The quality of a region’s infrastructure and transportation system directly impacts its chances for current and future economic success. Measures of infrastructure and transportation include a review of major highways, transit and airport systems, and level of traffic congestion that all impact the ability to do business. States like Ohio have a robust highway and roadway transportation network that is mature and serves to connect the urban, suburban and rural markets as well as to major Midwest and East Coast markets.

Ohio, like the nation has work to do related to the quality of its infrastructure. The Ohio Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released its 2021 Report Card for Ohio’s Infrastructure, the Section’s first report in more than a decade. Ohio civil engineers gave 16 categories of infrastructure an overall grade of “C-“, slightly ahead of the national average of “D+” given in 2017. Graded categories included bridges (C+), dams (C-), drinking water (D+), energy (C), hazardous waste (D+), inland waterways (D+), levees (D), parks (C-), ports (C), rail (B), roads (D), schools (C+), solid waste (B-), stormwater (D+), transit (D) and wastewater (C-).  Recent ASCE studies indicate the U.S. needs to invest a total of $109 billion per year in water infrastructure over the next 20 years in 2019 dollars to close the water infrastructure gap and, by 2039, the cumulative impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be a decline of 1.2 percent, translating to a loss of $2.9 trillion. Moreover, more than $732 billion in business sales (output) would be lost over the next 10 years. By 2039, that number will exceed $4.5 trillion. Other studies indicate that building water and wastewater infrastructure in rural and urban communities across the US creates jobs, stimulates investment from the private sector, and increases a community’s tax base. For each dollar spent building water or wastewater infrastructure, about $15 are created in private investment and “$14 added to the local property tax base.

Read more at the Montrose Group’s website: Ohio Creates Water & Sewer Funding Program Linking Infrastructure and Economic Development – The Montrose Group LLC