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The term "unfunded mandate" has been around for a long time, and Blair County municipalities have not been strangers to the practice of railing against such requirements.
For the benefit of readers unfamiliar with the term, the mandates in question usually are orders from upper levels of government -- the state or federal government, for example -- that necessitate spending by smaller governmental units -- spending that is not reimbursed by the entity issuing the mandatory order.
There are times when such orders undermine even the best-prepared annual municipal budgets, sometimes even negatively affecting spending planned for subsequent years.
In Blair, this term, often likened to a curse, has now invaded the "world" of the Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee, whose future, looking ahead, might be precarious at best.
Some officials of the organization's 10 municipal members are complaining about the cost of continuing their municipalities' membership. It is reasonable to wonder whether some also are questioning whether they are getting their money's worth.
Whatever those officials are thinking, they need to consider all aspects of the membership factor, including what meeting state stormwater regulations would entail outside the ISC umbrella.
For at least some of the municipalities, it is reasonable to fathom that "doing it alone" could become much more expensive than what retaining their ISC membership might involve.
It is important to note that membership in the ISC is not mandatory.
In his July 21 report, Mirror reporter William Kibler explained the possible ramification from opting not to renew membership by the end of this year, when the current membership agreement involving the intergovernmental committee expires.
"If they don't stay with the group," the July 21 Mirror article said, "the municipalities (still) would be responsible for reaching their share of the collective goal, which is to reduce the amount of sediment that stormwater carries into streams in the urbanized area of Blair County by 10%, or 1.8 million tons over the life of the current permit. That works out to a 1.4 million pounds per year reduction collectively for Allegheny, Antis, Blair, Frankstown and Logan townships; Bellwood, Duncansville and Hollidaysburg boroughs; and Altoona and Blair County."
Those numbers pose a formidable challenge but not a challenge impossible to navigate successfully.
The ISC board is giving its 10 members until mid-August for comments on the two-year successor to the current five-year agreement with the state. ISC hopes approval of the new agreement by the end of September so it can be implemented to coincide with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's two-year extension of its end-of-2023 Blair-related stormwater-control deadline.
The 10 municipalities' annual ISC dues is based on factors such as miles of streams, impervious surface area and population. Reducing stormwater pollution is in all of Blair County's best interests, but attitudes of responsible, right-thinking and knowledgeable leaders about how to attain what is being sought can change over time.
That makes a window for adequate discussion necessary. Based on the July 21 Mirror article, such a window has existed and continues to exist, but now is the time for officials to begin finalizing their thinking, if they have not done so already. Unfortunately, that finalizing-of-thought must be completed without any prospect for cost reimbursements emanating from beyond this county's borders.
Yes, on the stormwater front, unfunded mandates still live.