Luncheon Description:
Funding significant one-time capital improvements can be a challenge for many utilities. This challenge has increased in recent years for many water and wastewater utilities, whether due to growth, regulations, water source diversification, or age of the backbone facilities. When combined with inflationary price increases and higher borrowing costs, the difficulty in funding projects without substantial increases in rates and fees seems even more daunting. External capital funding sources are often a valuable mechanism to help mitigate rate and fee pressure while spreading the cost recovery over a longer time period consistent with the benefit of the facilities.
Marnin Lebovits will provide an overview of the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Financing Infrastructure Act (WIFIA) program. Marnin will review the WIFIA process, project eligibility requirements, approval, and terms of the different funding programs available to water and wastewater utilities. We will also provide an overview of two local projects that have been approved to receive funding through the WIFIA program.
Marnin has been a senior underwriter for the WIFIA program of the EPA since 2018. He came to EPA from the private sector. He has over 30 years' experience in municipal and project finance. Over his career he has closed over $15 billion of transactions, including many water and sewer utility financings across the nation, while working at large international financial institutions, a state finance authority and in renewable energy development. Marnin has a strong track record of business development and client relationship management, and is very experienced in credit underwriting, credit monitoring and risk management. Prior to his municipal finance career, Marnin previously worked as a CPA and earned his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Presenters:
Marnin Lebovits, WIFIA Program Underwriter, US EPA Luncheon Format and Location:
This month’s luncheon will be held virtually Sorry, you must bring your own lunch. 😊 Instructions on how to register are in the next paragraph. The presentation will begin at 12 noon on the above date (Mountain time, of course). The presentation will be broadcast using Microsoft Teams. Folks who have registered for the luncheon will receive an email the day before with a link to the meeting. Please be sure your microphone is muted, and camera turned off when you join the meeting. The first is obvious and the latter is to reduce bandwidth required. At the end of the presentation, we will hold a Q&A session. For Q&A, please post a message in the Chat window that you have a question, and Steve will call on folks in order. You don’t have to state your question in the Chat area, but you can if you want. Otherwise just turn on your microphone when Steve calls on you. Registration:
A registration fee of $10 is being imposed for all attendees. This is reduced from our typical registration to reflect the online nature of the event. Registration and payment for TAC luncheons will be handled as in the past on line at: TAC Registration[PS1] . Registration may be made for a single attendee or for multiple attendees in a group. It is requested that each individual in a group either register individually or are included in the count for a group registration, and that multiple parties are not partaking in the presentation without registering. If for some reason you are unable to register online, please contact Steve Polson (303-748-0931, or steve.polson@jacobs.com) to arrange for paying with check or cash.
The registration deadline for this event is Wednesday, July 12, at COB. We will send out the link for the luncheon to the email addresses per the registration site by the end of the day on Wednesday. Please note the Teams program does not need to be installed on your computer to participate. When you click the link provided in the email, an option to participate through your browser is offered. There will also be a call-in number, but it is hoped that nobody is forced to do that, as you will only receive the audio. If you registered but do not receive the email on Wednesday, please call Steve Polson (303-748-0931) on Thursday morning to determine how to get you the link.
Details
How to register: - Click on "click here to register for this event". - Enter your email address - Enter your contact information If you are an RMWEA member you will be directed to select a registration package. Select a member package. If you are NOT an RMWEA member you will be asked if you want to become one. If you DO NOT want to become a member click "No, not at this time". As a non-member you will see a note that says you cannot purchase a membership package. If you are an RMSAWWA member IGNORE this and select a member package. If you are a non-member select a non-member package. At this point you may add another attendee of complete the registration.