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Financing v Funding: There is a difference Financing and Funding These sound like the same thing, right? But are they? When it comes to infrastructure investment, these are two separate concepts. Financing is defined as the act of obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise. Funding is defined as money provided, especially by an organization or government, for a particular purpose. For infrastructure investment, however, communities almost always look to external sources for money to complete projects. This money can be in the form of loan (financing), or grant (funding), or donations (funding), or investments from partner agencies (V Trans, for example; funding), or programmatic below market loans (State Revolving Funds or USDA-RD, for example; a mix of financing and funding). Financing sources need to be paid back but funding is often not if the work is performed in accordance with the funding agreement. Further, these two concepts are interrelated in that funding must be present to serve as a source of repayment for financing. Why the distinction? It is important to understand how different sources of capital can and should be used by a community. Questions a community should be asking itself to evaluate a project’s funding package or even a community’s overall capital investment strategy include: What can my community afford? What is the cost to finance? How does funding make up the difference? What are the funding options to make up the difference? And how easy are they to access? Financing is relatively plentiful and easy to access. That, however, does not mean it is a panacea and ultimately, it is funding that provides the source of repayment after securing financing. Financing, in theory, is unlimited. Well, technically, according to Vermont State Statutes, a community's debt capacity is limited to ten times the grand list value—an amount well above current debt amounts in any community. The real limitations to financing are a community's willingness to undertake a project, pass a bond and take on debt. Even after a positive bond vote, a community must choose to apply to financial institutions for financing, including local banks and Bond Banks. Bond Bank provides low cost access to financing that would be out of reach for most Vermont communities on their own. However, just because there is easy access to financing does not mean that projects are affordable given the level of deducted annual funding needed to repay the debt. Fortunately, there are other sources of funding that do not need to be repaid and can bridge the affordability gap. Some things to consider about external funding sources are that those sources may be unreliable. Grant sources are time consuming to access and highly competitive and can obscure the true cost of infrastructure investment. Similarly, with investments from partner agencies, there is only so much funding to go around. Even access to programmatic below market loans, like the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Loans, are restricted in both the amount of money available and in the projects that are eligible. Plus, there are project development, bidding, and procuring requirements that may make those programs undesirable. Alas, there is no such thing as free money. Financing v Funding These sound like the same thing, right? But are they? When it comes to infrastructure investment, these are two separate concepts. Financing is defined as the act of obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise. Funding is defined as money provided, especially by an organization or government, for a particular purpose. For infrastructure investment, however, communities almost always seek external funding sources to complete projects. These sources may include loans for financing. They may also include grants and donations for funding. Investments can come from partner agencies such as V Trans. In addition, programmatic below-market loans are available through State Revolving Funds or USDA Rural Development. Communities must repay financing sources. However, they often do not need to repay funding. This applies as long as they complete the work according to the funding agreement. Further, these two concepts are interrelated in that funding must be present to serve as a source of repayment for financing. Financing v Funding Why the Difference Matters Communities need to understand the difference between financing and funding. Financing must always be repaid. It is a type of borrowed money, usually with interest. It is important to understand how different sources of capital can and should be used by a community. Questions a community should be asking itself to evaluate a project’s funding package or even a community’s overall capital investment strategy include: What can my community afford? What is the cost to finance? How does funding make up the difference? What are the funding options to make up the difference? And how easy are they to access?
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March 30, 2026

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