FUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Funding Agency Comparison
USDA
When working with USDA, we are able to provide the necessary funding for a wide range of rural water and sewer projects. There are several requirements that must be met to ensure that your town or community can receive funding from USDA. One of the major requirements is that the population must not exceed 10,000 people to be considered eligible.
With several applications and deadlines, it is important to note that USDA prioritizes funds on a greatest need first outlook. With that being said, Eastern Engineering details, designs, and establishes credibility with every project submitted to ensure that we can edge out competing projects and quickly secure funding.
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Projects take long enough without unwanted delays due to an inadequately detailed water or sewer system design. That is why we handle this entire process. We know what the funding agencies want to see in a project and how to make sure each design is up to their standards and describes the town's major needs.
When funds are granted, most commonly they are to be used for the construction phase of the project. In some cases, extra funds are allotted for legal and other costly endeavors involved with the project. These funds are mostly distributed in loan form with a payback period of up to 40 years.
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Contact us with any and all questions when it comes to funding. We will quickly get back to you with what you need to know and start hashing out funding possibilities.
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To view the entire project process for town officials, check out our Municipal Roadmap Page.
CDBG
Along with our guidance, CDBG helps economically-distressed and low income areas receive necessary funding for rural water/sewer projects where the need is most severe. To make this clear, this organization only provides grants to communities that are on a low-to-moderate income level. If your community is in the center of Charleston, Columbia, Florence, etc., then this agency would not consider providing funds.
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For the communities within these low income areas, this grant is a little complex. They have several guidelines they follow to choose the correct projects to provide funding for every year. These include ensuring applications come from, low income rural area, and they have a guideline sheet on how the project must be detailed and how much it should benefit the community.
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However, as with all other funding agencies, we design and outline the project and submit the application after your approval. This agency will fund sewer, stormwater, drinking water, and many other forms of projects.
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Overall, if you are in a rural area where the income is low, and you are in need of repair or new system construction, we can apply to this funding agency for you.
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Contact us so we can answer any questions personally in relation to your project needs and funding requirements. You can also check out the town official's role in the entire process on the Municipal Roadmap page.
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Don't wait until your system encounters a failure. It happens more than you would like to think, and the fix is a lot more expensive and time consuming than a proactive start is.
RIA
We work with RIA to receive funding for repair and rehabilitation solutions for water and sewer systems in communities where the need is severe.
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This grant equals out to $500,000 and is only available for South Carolina projects. Working with RIA is recommended for rehabilitation projects, and it can be combined with other funds when needed.
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RIA chooses to award a certain community out of their applicants based on need, economic development, most efficient project (for the cost), and based on how many people the project will affect.
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The typical application deadline runs from the fall to the spring. Applicants are chosen in the summer. We will take care of the application and design for you, let you okay the report, and send it off.
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Contact us to ask questions and/or talk to us about your project needs! Check out our Municipal Roadmap page with timelines, town officials' roles, our process, and more.
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SRF
When we work with SRF, we work to rid communities of water systems with constant violations and high risks. With this funding agency, we cater to the immediate needs of the community and ensure that a new system is established and maintained.
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When it comes to SRF, they use a ranking system to decide who gets the most funds and when. Like other funding agencies, they prioritize funds based on need, design of the project, money efficiency, and time/cost to implement.
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SRF will keep a project that has been accepted on board for 3 years(no construction has taken place after being granted funds), and then the project will need to be resubmitted to ensure it still meets the SRF credentials.
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Because this is a loan, they do not have guidelines such as low income levels, population size, and rural vs. urban areas. They will fund any cities and municipalities that have a sewer or drinking water need.
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Generally the loan is for 20 to 30 years depending on the income and agreement of the town. The fee is calculated as a percent of what is borrowed. Principal forgiveness is also a possibility with SRF loans. Overall, this is a great funding option to combine with other funding when a large scale project is needed. Again, we take care of this entire process for you.
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If you want to know more about the funding process or how we can help, we can answer any and all questions very quickly here!
We have helped our clients achieve an average of 50% grant funds for their larger Infrastructure project needs, with some achieving 75% grant funding.
USE OUR FUNDING PROCESS
It's Free If We Don't Get You the Money
We do not charge you for a funding application that does not receive funding. That is how sure we are that we will get you the money you deserve. We only get compensated for the actual design and construction of your projects. So if we do not get the money, you do not have to pay a thing! Contact us today to see how we can help.