Egg Harbor City Water & Sanitary Evaluation

About The Project

RVE provided engineering consulting services to the City of Egg Harbor to examine the sale of their water and wastewater utility. The increasing debt service along with reduced revenue and increased regulatory requirements was making ownership of the utility difficult. The City was unsure of their need to sell the system or how the resultant sale would impact the utility. Accordingly, the City authorized RVE to complete various studies. The analysis indicated that while the City had completed upgrades, the age of the system along with operational issues was requiring additional improvements and subsequent rate increases over the next 20 years. RVE presented the Water Infrastructure Protection Act (WIPA) option for sale. This method of sale had not been attempted or approved by the NJDEP. Sale through the WIPA process and Emergent Condition determination has stipulated deadlines and timeframes which must be followed. These deadlines and regulatory requirements were outlined for the City, the required resolutions, regulatory public participation, and NJDEP WIPA documents were prepared and submitted. RVE completed the valuation utilizing the following methods: Replacement Cost New Less Depreciation (RCNLD) and Market Value. These valuation methods resulted in a utility system value greater than the debt service for the utility.