admin, Author at Region3A

What is a Capital Stack? How can Capital Stacking help Municipalities Finance Projects?

admin on July 25, 2023

Large municipal projects often only consider bonding alone or grants and cash as funding sources. While these methods are tried and true, new ways to fund projects are available to innovative municipalities. Today, municipal governments and districts have more options than ever in funding options.

Instead of trying to find one large source of funds, municipalities can use multiple sources of funding to create a “capital stack” by combining different types of funds, grants, and debt to pay for a project. With state and federal governments issuing billions of dollars in grant funding every year and private financing options growing in popularity, municipal project leaders have huge flexibility in tailoring a capital stack to each project. Each financing mechanism has its benefits and drawbacks – the capital stack approach can create more flexibility, responsiveness and enable utilization of the benefits of each.

For example, a water project may earn a state grant that matches 50% of the estimated cost. The municipality could then issue bonds for 25% of the cost, then seek a public-private partnership to utilize private lending for the remaining 25%.

Sometimes, this capital stack approach makes the difference between a project moving forward or not.

Approaching projects with a layered, or “stacked”, financing approach allows municipalities to decrease reliance on large grants while still funding projects in a cost effective manner. Region 3A is ready to help you access grant funding and work with our partners to secure other sources of financing.

Participation opportunity: Regional Application for the U.S. DOT EV Charging Station Grant

admin on March 27, 2023

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has made $700mm of grant dollars available to state and municipal entities to fund the construction of new alternative energy charging stations for vehicles powered by electricity, propane, and hydrogen. Region 3A is ready to help individual counties, towns, and cities apply for this new grant through a regional application for multiple communities. We would like to pursue a regional application due to the minimum project size requirements and because many of the communities that we serve could benefit from this program.

The program, part of the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program), will give half its funding to Community Charging and Fueling Program Grants (CFP) and half to Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants (FCG). CFP grants will focus on charging stations near residential developments, businesses, parks, and similar areas. They have a $500,000.00 minimum award amount, $15mm maximum award amount, and require a 20% local match.

FCG grants focus on building alternative energy vehicle charging infrastructure near areas already designated “alternative fuel corridors” by the Department of Energy. FCG grants will cover facilities that serve light, medium, and heavy vehicles. They have no maximum award amount and a $1mm minimum.

**Region 3-A to apply for federal funds bringing more EV stations to NE Indiana Communities**

Region 3A sees this as an opportunity for northeast Indiana to bolster its already strong passenger and commercial travel arteries. Even if Hoosier businesses and citizens don’t widely adopt alternative energy vehicles, having robust charging infrastructure will encourage vehicles moving interstate to continue traveling, delivering, and spending in Indiana.

If you want to learn more about this program and/or participate in the regional application, please contact Matt Brinkman at mbrinkman@region3a.org or (260) 402-8834.

Region 3A Assists in Securing Grants for Lifesaving Roadway Projects

admin on February 15, 2023

Ten Indiana communities have received funding through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant to complete new roadway projects aimed at eliminating dangerous intersections and roads. With grant-writing assistance from Region 3A, Huntington County was awarded $200,000. Per the USDOT, the funds will be used “to develop a comprehensive safety action plan.” Neighboring Whitley County also secured $60,000 in funds through SS4A. In the state of Indiana, all SS4A funding went to safety action plan development. For more information, check out this article from the Journal Gazette: Federal grants will help communities make roads safer

Region 3A is proud to empower lifesaving programs through successful grant writing. We work with Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash and Whitley counties to streamline the process of securing state and federal funding, bringing the expertise necessary to ensure maximum awards.

For serious traffic engineering projects that depend on state or federal funding, successful grant awards can mean life or death for motorists. Huntington had 26 traffic-related fatalities between 2016 and 2020, according to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The county’s average annual fatality rate per capita is 14. On Valentine’s Day of this year, two drivers were seriously injured in a crash on US-24 in Roanoke. A comprehensive plan and new roadway projects will make crashes like this less likely. With the help of Region 3A, Huntington County is evolving into a safer county. We hope this is just the beginning.