MISI Score
32.0
Watch
Project NC / Gaston County
Belmont
BOTH · Gaston CountyDistressedPWSID NC0136015
Score Confidence
0.9%
Peer Percentile
76.4th
As of
Jun 2, 2026
EXPLANATION
Score Drivers
- MISI score is 32.010 (Watch).
- PFAS Contamination Risk adds 5.998 points. PFAS contamination contributes +6: detections=8, max result=0.003600 ng/L. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 6 to 5.998.
- Climate Hazard Exposure adds 5.398 points. Operational climate hazard exposure contributes +6: FEMA NRI composite score is 84.8600. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 6 to 5.398.
- Lead & Copper Rule Risk adds 4.997 points. Lead and copper risk contributes +5: lead sample exceedances=0, copper sample exceedances=0, legacy action-level exceedances=0, open LCR violations=0. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 5 to 4.997.
- Days Cash on Hand adds 4.044 points. Days-cash contributes +5: current days cash on hand is 78.990 days from connector-sourced ws_days_cash (as of 2024-06-30). variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 5 to 4.044.
- Missing or unresolved factors: Infrastructure Capital Gap, Project Status Staleness.
MARKET INTERPRETATION
What the data suggests
As a community water provider for roughly 17,477 residents, Belmont falls into the smaller tier of scored systems. At the latest reading, Munimetric flags the system as showing early but meaningful signs of structural stress.
The score is being driven mainly by Operational Stress, with Capex Pressure adding further pressure. The pressure is distributed rather than concentrated in a single dimension.
7 active stress signals are attached to this system, including one at high severity. The breadth of active signals, even without concentrated high severity, suggests pressure across more than one dimension.
Within its peer cohort, this system ranks around the 76th percentile on measured stress, placing it above most of its peers on measured stress, though not yet in the most extreme tier.
Recent score history has been relatively steady, consistent with the system's overall profile.
This summary is based on structured, source-backed public data and is intended for research and monitoring only. It is not investment advice, a credit opinion, or municipal advisory guidance.
SCORE STACK
Family Contributions
Operational Stress13.3 / 20.0
Capex Pressure11.0 / 20.0
Revenue Fragility4.0 / 20.0
Rate Constraint0.0 / 20.0
Governance Risk3.7 / 20.0
SL 2020-79
SWIA Assessment History
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
ACTIVE SIGNALS
7 Signals
Days Cash on Hand
Weak unrestricted liquidity reduces the utility's ability to absorb rate, capex, or operating shocks.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Revenue Fragility
Climate Hazard Exposure
Elevated drought and flood exposure raises outage, source-water, and infrastructure reliability stress.
Score impact: 5.4 · Family: Operational Stress
Current Drought Severity
Active drought conditions stress source-water availability and treatment operations.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Operational Stress
Lead & Copper Rule Risk
Lead and copper exceedances and replacement obligations can drive near-term treatment and capital pressure.
Score impact: 5.0 · Family: Capex Pressure
PFAS Contamination Risk
PFAS detections can force expensive treatment retrofits and accelerate capital plans.
Score impact: 6.0 · Family: Capex Pressure
Compliance Escalation
Repeated or serious compliance failures often indicate rising operational and infrastructure stress.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Operational Stress
Parent-Government Fiscal Stress
Parent-government debt, pension, or operating stress can constrain infrastructure support and governance flexibility.
Score impact: 3.7 · Family: Governance Risk
HISTORY
Score Trend
Latest
32.0
Trend
+28.0
Observations
50
NC TREASURER FBA
Financial Benchmarks
Population17,356
General Fund Expenditure$21.2M
Fund Balance Available$20.6M
Fund Balance %96.7%
Cash & Investments$31.3M
Assessed Valuation$3338.0M
Tax Rate0.5
Effective Tax Rate0.4
Tax Collection %99.6%
Amount Uncollected$68K
Days Cash on Hand
79
Days Cash As Of
Jun 30, 2024
Population Served
17,477