Butler County municipalities have a new, unique opportunity to receive state funding through an agreement ratified by the county government Wednesday.

County commissioners on Wednesday approved an agreement with Delta Development Group to “develop an innovative sewer and water funding program,” which Commissioner Chairwoman Leslie Osche said will likely be a first in Pennsylvania.

“Our understanding is that there is no other entity, no other county or other entity that has that process in place today,” she said. “This is a pretty unique and amazing opportunity for our county, for our municipalities. As you read, there are many, many of them working on water and sewer projects right now, so this allows us to assist them in an even bigger way in making that happen for the residents.”

The funds will stem from PennVEST, or the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, with Delta Development working to identify eligible projects, review proposals with municipalities and assist in the development and submission of applications. Commissioner Kim Geyer said the program has far-reaching potential impacts in some of Butler’s more rural areas.

“Whenever water and sewer infrastructure is installed or implemented in a certain area, growth and development always follow,” Geyer said. “They go hand-in-hand with one another.

“We have a lot of areas in the northern tier of our county that have failing infrastructure systems or that don’t have infrastructure systems at all; they have individual septic tanks or systems, so this could provide those municipalities a mechanism to be able to produce an infrastructure system in their municipality in a cost-effective manner.”

Municipalities’ planning and development policies will more directly determine the impact of these utilities, Osche said, as the county will not force growth as a result of water or sewage funding obtained through the program.

Although the Butler County Infrastructure Bank — essentially a low-interest loan made available through the county, with the county subsidizing interest rates — currently provides funding to similar projects, Osche said the funds coming from the state, rather than the county, will help the creation and development of additional infrastructure projects.

Mark Gordon, the county’s chief of economic development and planning, said PennVEST funding has an additional benefit: The state can fund higher-cost projects. Infrastructure bank loans have a 10-year term, which Gordon said is sufficient for most infrastructure investments.

“That becomes a challenge for a municipality if we’re talking a larger project, a $25 million or a $30 million project, because to try to fund that over a 10-year term, the debt service is extremely high,” Gordon said.

PennVEST funds have more limitations than those provided through the county’s infrastructure bank, Gordon said, as the state funding can only aid in water or sewage. But, Gordon added, the funds “can be used for all aspects of water and sewer,” such as the construction of or improvements to drinking and storm water facilities or sewage.

Geyer said assistance via the new program could decrease the public’s cost of investing in the system. In the case of a newly constructed water or sewage system, state loans or grants could lower a municipality’s expense in building the infrastructure, in turn shrinking the cost of tapping into a new system.

Through the agreement, the county will pay Delta Development $6,000 per month for 18 months.