Action Please By:
April 25, 2008

NACWA is pleased to announce the launch of its tenth triennial Financial Survey: A National Survey of Municipal Wastewater Management Financing and Trends.  NACWA’s public agency members and public affiliates will be receiving their customized 2008 Financial Survey questionnaire in the mail in the next few days. Instructions for online submittal of the survey are included in this Member Update.  Your completed survey form is requested by April 25, 2008.

2008 Financial Survey Charts Wastewater Treatment Trends

Since its inception in 1981, the NACWA Financial Survey has provided a comprehensive overview of public wastewater treatment utility financing and management trends, assisting wastewater agencies in identifying utilities of similar size and type for performance benchmarking and goal setting purposes.  Data collected on the questionnaire will be used to prepare the 2008 survey report.  As in years past, the report will present a comparative analysis of 2007-2008 data with historical industry trends.

The Financial Survey questionnaire, developed by a workgroup of the NACWA Utility Management Committee, addresses a variety of questions regarding budgetary challenges at all levels of government that continue to impact the financial resources of clean water agencies, such as:

• What user charges are the nation's major clean water agencies assessing their customers?
• What percentage of funds are allocated to the operation and maintenance of treatment facilities?
• What is the level of outstanding debt service for clean water agencies?
• How have rates, operation and maintenance costs and debt service changed in recent years?
• How do utility employees' salaries compare with other clean water agencies nationwide?

In addition to these questions, the 2008 NACWA Financial Survey requests utility-specific information on member service areas, operation and staffing, asset management, security financing needs, as well as information on revenue, expenses and capital improvement needs.

Each agency survey form has been customized to include the organization’s past survey information.  If an agency participated in the 2005 survey, the most recent responses are shown on the survey form.  If historical information is missing or inaccurate, utilities are encouraged to add or modify this data directly on the survey form.  Again, each agency will receive its customized questionnaire by mail in the next few days.  More detailed instructions for completing the survey are included on the questionnaire.

Online Survey Available to Member Agencies

To facilitate survey participation, an online response form has been developed for you to submit your survey responses electronically.  New features have been added to the online survey form this year.  Users may now save responses and return anytime to finish working on the survey.  Also, when a utility completes its survey, a new feature will allow the user to print all the agency’s responses.  NACWA encourages its members to take advantage of these new features and complete the survey via the CleanWater Central™ website at http://www.cleanwatercentral.org.  To enter the website, you will need your agency’s user id and password (same as NACWA website user id and password), which can be obtained by contacting Mark Hoeke at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 202/361-7446.

Responses via hard copy are also welcome.  You may complete the enclosed survey form and return it via U.S. mail or fax by the April 25, 2008 deadline to:

Chris Hornback
NACWA National Office
1816 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington, DC  20036
Phone: 202/833-9106
Fax: 202/833-4657

If you have any questions on the survey questionnaire form or the survey website, please contact Mark Hoeke at 202/361-7446 or mhoeke@dfinet.ch This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Thank you in advance for your participation.

* Please note: The completion of the survey questionnaire is intended for NACWA Public Agency and Public Affiliate Members only.  This Member Update is provided to NACWA Private Affiliate Members for information purposes only.