Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority
WIFA is authorized to finance the construction, rehabilitation and/or improvement of drinking water, wastewater, wastewater reclamation, and other water quality facilities/projects. Generally, WIFA offers borrowers below market interest rates on loans.
As a “bond bank,” WIFA is able to issue water quality bonds on behalf of communities for basic water infrastructure. Through active portfolio and financial management, WIFA provides significant savings due to lower interest rates and no closing costs. WIFA is able to lower a borrower’s interest costs to between 70 and 95% of WIFA’s tax-exempt cost of borrowing.
WIFA’s principal tools for providing low interest financial assistance include the Clean Water Revolving Fund for publicly held wastewater treatment projects and the Drinking Water Revolving Fund for both publicly and privately held drinking water systems.
WIFA also manages a Technical Assistance Program. This program offers funding to eligible wastewater and drinking water systems as part of a loan application. The purpose of the program is to help prepare water and wastewater facilities for construction of an infrastructure project.
WIFA offers its borrowers below-market interest rates. Projects on the PPL are scored to determine the project’s financial subsidy (used to calculate reduced combined interest and fee rate). The scoring is based on:
- proposed project’s water quality benefits;
- current condition of facilities;
- proposed water quality improvements, particularly those addressing compliance issues;
- water and energy efficiency (green) factors;
- local fiscal capacity which includes median household income, average monthly residential fee and system indebtedness;
- prior planning and design grant or design loan from WIFA for the proposed project.
The PPL serves as a guide for funding decisions by the WIFA Board of Directors and does not determine the order in which projects are funded.
