Financing Through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Interest rate increases have been a big headwind for our project. We recently met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) about the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Plan (CWIFP). FLTF provided input to the rulemaking on this program last year, with $7.5 billion appropriated to this program. Rule making will be completed later this year, and funds available in 2024. These are for very large projects and the USACE was very confident that the FLTF project qualifies. Some of the benefits are listed below, but this would give us a rate below other available financing and get us back to an interest rate much closer to the facilities that were available to the project with the USDA loan. 

• Low interest rates: Rates are near U.S. Treasury rates and will not be impacted by borrower credit or loan structure
• No interest rate risk: Rates are locked at the time of loan closing and fixed for the life of the loan
• No negative arbitrage: Interest accrues only once funds have been disbursed
• Customized repayment schedules: Repayment schedules can be structured to match anticipated cash flows over the life of the loan
• Long repayment periods: Repayment periods of up to 35 years after completion of construction
• Deferred payments: Payments can be deferred through the construction period up to five years after completion of the project
• No prepayment penalty: Loans can be prepaid at any time without penalty

It is a lot of work to obtain this loan, but it would greatly impact the overall assessment financing if we can qualify. We will keep you posted.