The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) this month announced a nearly $8 million loan to construct a new drinking water treatment plant in Cloquet. The 20-year, 1.128 percent loan from the Drinking Water Revolving Fund will save Cloquet taxpayers $1.27 million compared with the cost of a conventional loan.
“Our region faces serious challenges from a financial standpoint as it relates to upgrading infrastructure that provides clean drinking water,” said Senator Tony Lourey (DFL-Kerrick). “When the state is able to partner with smaller cities and towns to finance major construction projects, it prevents dramatic property tax hikes that would otherwise fall on local small businesses and families. This is a big deal for Cloquet and it will make a positive difference in people’s lives for decades to come. There are several additional important local projects I will continue working on.”
The PFA is a multi-agency authority that provides municipal financing expertise and infrastructure financing programs to enhance the environmental and economic vitality of the State. The authority makes low-interest loans and grants available to finance infrastructure that might otherwise be unaffordable to communities if they had to borrow money for the projects at market rates. Since inception in 1987, the PFA has financed $4.5 billion in public infrastructure projects in communities throughout Minnesota.
More information about the PFA is available at www.mn.gov/deed/pfa.
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