Idaho DEQ explains SRF timeline; Bellevue has about $9.6 million in combined funds, DEQ says

Charlie Parkins of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality presented the DEQ grant and loan sequence and how the State Revolving Fund (SRF) is allocated.

He described the annual cadence: DEQ solicits letters of interest in October, ranks projects after submissions (January—March), issues an Intended Use Plan in March—April, notifies systems in late June, and opens applications at the start of the fiscal year. The regional engineer reviews technical materials; DEQ's state office reviews fiscal paperwork before payment.

Charlie gave a project-specific figure: "The Bellevue the city of Bellevue has about 6,300,000 in SRF funding from us, and they have about 3,300,000 in lending Bridal funding... close to about $9,600,000 total for the project," he said. He added that interest accrues only on funds after they are disbursed and that repayment generally begins about six to 12 months after construction finishes.

On reimbursements, Charlie said consultants and contractors submit invoices to the city, the city files a reimbursement request to the regional engineer, and the regional engineer signs off before the state office pays. He said DEQ does not require a specific public reporting cadence for reimbursements and left municipal-level reporting practices to city policy.

Councilors asked whether the city should use grant funds first; Charlie said it is common to use grants before SRF loan draws to reduce accrued interest. Councilors asked staff to propose internal reporting to keep the public and council informed of reimbursements and drawdowns.