Gov. Bill Lee and Commissioner David Salyers of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) today announced two loans totaling $605,000 for the Town of Carthage to improve water infrastructure.

The loans are among eight approved by the Tennessee Local Development Authority, with a loan for the City of Waverly for $580,000, a loan for the City of White House for $8 million, two loans totaling $70,000 for the Town of Alexandria, and two loans totaling over $6.4 million for the City of Westmoreland, making the overall total loans announced today $15.7 million.

“We are committed to supporting infrastructure development and improvement across our state, and we’re excited to see how Tennesseans benefit from this investment,” Lee said. “We are proud to partner with local communities to modernize our water infrastructure.”

“Every community in Tennessee deserves a dependable water system,” Salyers said. “The State Revolving Fund Loan Program works in a way to make improvements affordable to communities needing the assistance, with a positive result for our environment.”

A loan for the Town of Carthage for $470,000 comes from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program and will address infiltration and inflow correction within the wastewater collection system. The loan has a five-year term at 0.18 percent interest.  The Town of Carthage received $235,000 in principal forgiveness with the remainder of the loan amount to be paid back as principal. The loan is associated with the State Revolving Fund Loan Program’s Priority Projects to develop a holistic water infiltration and inflow reduction plan based on the collection system investigative study to outline innovative and resilient practices.

TDEC is exploring such priority projects through the State Revolving Fund loan process to promote community leadership and development of shared solutions to significant water infrastructure challenges. Those communities will receive principal forgiveness, in part, from their in-kind work monitoring project outcomes and sharing the information for the benefit of others. The effort will support TDEC’s mission to enhance the quality of life for citizens of Tennessee and to be stewards of the environment.

The Town of Carthage will also receive a $135,000 loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program. It will address improvements to the water distribution system. The loan has a 20-year term at 0.86 percent interest. Carthage received $27,000 in principal forgiveness with the remainder of the loan amount to be paid back as principal.

Through the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than through private financing. These low interest rate loans can vary from zero percent to below market rate, based on each community’s economic health.

The eight loans announced today begin the fiscal year with $155,000 awarded in drinking water loans and $15,587,000 in clean water loans. In fiscal year 2021, TDEC awarded $7,171,000 in drinking water loans and $77,568,000 in clean water loans for a total of $84,739,000.

Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $2 billion in low-interest loans since its inception in 1987. The state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $300 million in low-interest loans since its inception in 1996.