West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 167 - Infrastructure And Jobs Development Council › Title 167 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA INFRASTRUCTURE & JOBS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL › Series 167-01 - Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council › Section 167-1-5 - Infrastructure Fund Administration

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.1.
				Administration of Infrastructure Fund. The Water Development Authority shall
				administer amounts in the Infrastructure Fund.
5.2. Sources of Money for Fund. The
				Infrastructure Fund shall consist of infrastructure revenues; any
				appropriations, grants, gifts, contributions, loan proceeds or other revenues
				received by the Infrastructure Fund from any source, public or private; amounts
				received as payments on any loans made by the Water Development Authority from
				the Infrastructure Fund to pay for the cost of a project or infrastructure
				project; insurance proceeds payable to the Water Development Authority or the
				Infrastructure Fund in connection with any infrastructure project or project;
				all income earned on moneys held in the Infrastructure Fund; all funds
				deposited in accordance with the Act; and all proceeds derived from the sale of
				bonds issued pursuant to W. Va. Code §§
									31-15B-1 et seq.
5.3. Use of Moneys in the Fund. Upon the
				written recommendation of the Council, and subject to the restrictions set
				forth in the Act, the Water Development Authority shall use money in the
				Infrastructure Fund to make loans, loan guarantees or grants, or any
				combination thereof, and to provide financial, technical or other assistance as
				necessary to finance all or part of the costs of infrastructure projects or
				projects to be undertaken by a project sponsor.
5.4. Council Determination. Prior to the
				Water Development Authority's making any loan, loan guarantee, grant or other
				assistance, the Council shall determine that the loan, loan guarantee, grant or
				other assistance and the manner in which it will be provided are necessary or
				appropriate to accomplish the purposes and intent of the Act.
5.5. Eligible Grant Recipients. The Council
				shall not authorize the Water Development Authority to make grants for any
				project to any project sponsor (i) which is not a governmental agency or a
				not-for-profit corporation, or (ii) where the project, if funded, will provide
				subsidized services to certain users in the service area of the
				project.
5.6. Grant Requirements.
				The Water Development Authority may make a grant to a project sponsor for a
				project if the Council in its sole discretion determines and finds that (1) the
				level of rates for the users would otherwise be an unreasonable burden given
				the users' likely ability to pay; or (2) the absence of a sufficient number of
				users prevents funding of the project except through grants. Prior to awarding
				any infrastructure grant money to a project sponsor, the Council shall
				determine that no other funding is available for the proposed grant portion of
				the project.
5.7. Grant Criteria.
				In determining whether a grant should be offered, and, if so, what proportion
				of the financial assistance offered should constitute a grant and what portion
				should constitute a loan or other loan assistance, the Council shall consider
				the ultimate effect that financing a project's costs will have on the rates
				that users will be required to pay.
5.7.1. In
				performing this assessment, the Council shall review the mandatory minimum end
				user utility rate that must be met by the project sponsor before grant
				assistance may be awarded. This mandatory minimum end user utility rate shall
				be based upon a uniform statewide percentage of the median household income as
				determined and published by the United States Department of Commerce, Census
				Bureau, American Community Survey (5 year), or other successor survey,
				performed or sponsored by the United States Census Bureau, for the geographic
				area which the project will serve and upon an average customer usage adopted by
				the Council on an annual basis. The uniform percentage rate shall be .6% of the
				median household income. The Council shall base its determination on the median
				household income for the Census Bureau established minor civil division (MCD)
				or other Census track established by the United States Census Bureau most
				closely related to the geographic boundaries of the project sponsor as
				established by law. If the project sponsor provides service to two or more
				MCD's but does not serve an entire county or if a municipal project sponsor
				serves outside its corporate boundaries, then the Council shall compute the
				minimum end user utility rate based on an average of the information available.
				When determining median household income of a geographic area of the project to
				be served, the Council shall also consider any surveys of the income of the
				households that will be served by the project.
5.7.2. The Council may further consider
				factors including, but not limited to, the financial condition of the
				applicant, including revenues, expenses, debt structure, reserve balances,
				available collateral and financial condition of the project sponsor, and the
				inability of the project sponsor to secure grant funding from other
				sources.