The Hudson Valley Infrastructure Gap:

A critical shortage of funding and municipal workers to care for our public works

With the  passage of the of the federal infrastructure bill, federal lawmakers have acknowledged the need to infuse funding into state and local governments for the construction, maintenance, and repair of infrastructure throughout the country. This need exists in the Hudson Valley region where aging infrastructure systems and financially constrained local governments are a common pairing. In recognition of these challenges, The Construction Industry Council of Westchester and the Hudson Valley contracted Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress to prepare this report about municipal infrastructure in the region. While there are many types of infrastructure, this report focuses on the four critical systems of roads, bridges, sewers, and water.

The “Hudson Valley” is defined in different ways by various state agencies. For the purposes of this report, the Hudson Valley region is defined as the nine counties of Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. In this nine county region there are 13 cities, 138 towns, and 90 villages, for a total of 241 local municipalities. These municipalities vary drastically in size and population, but are all tasked with maintaining local infrastructure systems under their jurisdiction. Some towns and counties are further subdivided and fragmented into multiple, separate water and sewer districts. With so many different government entities responsible for their own municipal infrastructure, local needs, capacity, and condition is diverse.

To understand local municipal circumstances related to infrastructure, this study utilized many sources of information, including interviews, surveys, data analysis, and literature reviews. These methods were used to develop the major findings and subsequently inform the best practices and policy recommendations found in the beginning of this report. These recommendations are followed by an analysis of available infrastructure metrics and conditions, funding sources, and trends in infrastructure spending.