Sorry, but a $10 Million Sewer System Won't Fix Your Economy

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The infrastructure cult has been particularly ramped up over the last few months, what with endless talk of a federal infrastructure bill. Our national obsession with infrastructure spending—especially when it comes in the form of “free” federal money—induces a level of crazy that compares to almost nothing else.

Consider this story from the Bangor Daily News that recently came across our desks at Strong Towns: Island Falls, Maine (population 781), is hoping to score big with the upcoming infrastructure bill, which they dream will help fund a $10 million sewer project. Their reason for pushing this sewer investment is as odd as the idea of $10 million in new water infrastructure for a town of less than 800 people: tourism. Because nothing draws visitors like high-quality sewer pipes. I know I choose where to travel based on the quality of the toilets!

In all seriousness, though, this is reminiscent of a story my colleague Chuck Marohn covered five years ago in his hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota (population 13,371), where the state fire marshal instructed the municipal airport (which sees barely a handful of flights each day) that it needed to construct a special water line for fire fighting purposes. To the tune of $14 million. All for a system to service an airport that might send a few dozen passengers out every day, and one which could probably be built far more simply and still achieve the same basic goal in the case of a fire emergency. Of all the things to spend precious public dollars on with a vague hope of “travel” and “tourism,” this Brainerd example is just as outrageous as the story from Maine.

Here’s the actual logic for why Island Falls leaders claim a new sewer line will increase tourism: Jutta Beyer, the town manager, says that she and her colleagues on the board of selectmen have, “a vision for the town, and that is to revitalize the town. They just feel that this is going to attract small businesses to their Main Street. And besides the high cost of this, they still feel that for the future, this is something that can bring this town back to where it once was.”

There is a better approach to public investment.

Check out our resources to help you (or your local leaders) make better decisions for your community over at the Strong Towns Action Lab.

Small businesses and a revitalized Main Street? That sounds great! It’s a worthy goal and a potential path toward economic prosperity for this community. But why on earth is a new sewer the chosen method with which to accomplish this goal? At Strong Towns, we can provide about 1,000 other ideas for small, affordable steps a community might take if they want to help encourage small business activity and build up their downtown, and all of them would make a lot more sense before a $10 million sewer system.

This quote from the Bangor Daily News article from Tony Binotto, a member of the town’s board of selectmen, is most telling: “Eventually, this [infrastructure bill] is going to come, it has to. But if it doesn’t pass, in this window of opportunity where we have a chance to get a lot of government funding, we may lose it, and the town will then have to pay for a larger share of it than we would today.” At least he’s being honest. Let me paraphrase: We don’t think it’s worth spending much of our scarce local money on this, but we’re hoping the federal government might fall for it.

Chuck Marohn has dubbed communities like this one “wards of the state.” (And by the way, he uses that label for his own small city of Brainerd, too.)

So what happened when Island Falls put this $10 million sewer investment to a vote with their 781 residents? After a secret ballot referendum, the idea to pursue this sewer project was voted down and the reason why tells us a lot. As The County newspaper reports, “the town would have also had to raise tax rates at least $2 per $1000 valuation, which selectman say contributed to the town voting down the proposed system by a vote of 38 ‘yes’ to 204 ‘no.’” The fact that residents are not willing to add even a few dollars to their own tax bills, while local leaders simultaneously push for millions from the federal budget, shows us this city is not willing to put its money where its mouth is.

How often have you heard someone lament a societal challenge—whether it’s the cost of childcare or the potholes in our streets—and say “the federal government should just pay for it!” At some point, we’re going to need to realize that the federal government is: 1) not coming to save us, and 2) not usually the right mechanism for handling local problems like these.

If this city wants a new sewer system and truly believes that is of vital importance, then it should find a way to pay for it. But I’m guessing the reality is that this sewer system is not their highest priority and there are many other things deserving of local funding and local time. I would point them to our Strong Towns Approach to Public Investment:

1. Humbly observe where people in your community are struggling.

2. Ask the question: What is the next smallest thing we can do right now to address that struggle?

3. Do that thing. Do it right now.

4. Repeat.

Hint: A $10 million sewer system ain’t it.

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