Under some conditions, Maryland Environmental Service can help our partners finance environmental projects.
MES can help with equipment lease financing for the projects we operate and has the authority to issue taxable and tax-exempt debt to finance both large and small capital projects. Debt terms can be structured so that debt service is based on project revenues or other funds made available to MES. We can also administer grants that our partners have received.
MES also has the legal authority to create service districts that combine smaller utility services and provide more efficient services for communities.
The Darlington Water System, constructed in the 1950s, had long served the needs of the Darlington community. However, like any system, time and use took its toll and in the mid-1990s the system was desperately in need of repairs and upgrades. Harford County approached MES about purchasing the system and improving it to ensure Darlington residents would maintain a high level of water service. MES agreed to the purchase and, in 1998, began to retrofit the water system. The Maryland Department of the Environment funded part of the retrofit through a grant, and MES helped secure the rest of the funding necessary to modernize the system. To this day, MES continues to operate the service district.
