MISI Score
32.4
Watch
Project NC / Bladen County
Bladenboro
BOTH · Bladen CountyDistressedPWSID NC0309015
Score Confidence
0.8%
Peer Percentile
84.8th
As of
Jun 2, 2026
EXPLANATION
Score Drivers
- MISI score is 32.384 (Watch).
- Population Served Decline adds 9.106 points. Population trend contributes +10: five-year population change is -11.497590%. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 10 to 9.106.
- Lead & Copper Rule Risk adds 7.994 points. Lead and copper risk contributes +8 because direct lead sample exceedances were recorded: lead sample exceedances=5, copper sample exceedances=0, legacy action-level exceedances=0, open LCR violations=0. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 8 to 7.994.
- Compliance Escalation adds 5.929 points. Operational compliance contributes +6: 8 violations or enforcement actions have been recorded within the last three years. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 6.000000 to 5.929.
- Climate Hazard Exposure adds 5.398 points. Operational climate hazard exposure contributes +6: FEMA NRI composite score is 84.5700. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 6 to 5.398.
- Missing or unresolved factors: Infrastructure Capital Gap, PFAS Contamination Risk, Project Status Staleness.
MARKET INTERPRETATION
What the data suggests
Bladenboro is a smaller community water system, serving approximately 3,175 residents. 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, which is running high in the model, with Revenue Fragility adding further pressure. In other words, Operational Stress is doing most of the heavy lifting in the headline score.
5 active stress signals are attached to this system, including 3 at high severity. That signal mix points to a system where several warning indicators are firing at once, not just one extreme outlier.
Within its peer cohort, this system ranks around the 85th percentile on measured stress, placing it among the more stressed systems in its peer group.
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 Stress15.3 / 20.0
Capex Pressure8.0 / 20.0
Revenue Fragility9.1 / 20.0
Rate Constraint0.0 / 20.0
Governance Risk0.0 / 20.0
SL 2020-79
SWIA Assessment History
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
ACTIVE SIGNALS
5 Signals
Population Served Decline
A shrinking served population weakens the customer base and raises infrastructure cost per customer.
Score impact: 9.1 · Family: Revenue Fragility
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: 8.0 · Family: Capex Pressure
Compliance Escalation
Repeated or serious compliance failures often indicate rising operational and infrastructure stress.
Score impact: 5.9 · Family: Operational Stress
Climate Hazard Exposure
Elevated drought and flood exposure raises outage, source-water, and infrastructure reliability stress.
Score impact: 5.4 · Family: Operational Stress
HISTORY
Score Trend
Latest
32.4
Trend
+32.4
Observations
48
NC TREASURER FBA
Financial Benchmarks
Population1,625
General Fund Expenditure$2.2M
Fund Balance Available$1.5M
Fund Balance %70.0%
Cash & Investments$3.3M
Assessed Valuation$106.4M
Tax Rate0.6
Effective Tax Rate0.5
Tax Collection %91.7%
Amount Uncollected$57K
Days Cash on Hand
367
Days Cash As Of
Jun 30, 2024
Population Served
3,175