MISI Score
39.0
Watch
Project NC / Polk County
BOTH · Polk CountyDistressedPWSID NC0175015
MISI Score
39.0
Watch
Score Confidence
0.8%
Peer Percentile
92.7th
As of
Apr 23, 2026
EXPLANATION
MARKET INTERPRETATION
Columbus is a smaller community water system, serving approximately 2,489 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 at the top of its range 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.
7 active stress signals are attached to this system, including 2 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 93rd 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
SL 2020-79
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
ACTIVE SIGNALS
A shrinking served population weakens the customer base and raises infrastructure cost per customer.
Score impact: 10.0 · Family: Revenue Fragility
Parent-government debt, pension, or operating stress can constrain infrastructure support and governance flexibility.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Governance Risk
Repeated or serious compliance failures often indicate rising operational and infrastructure stress.
Score impact: 6.0 · Family: Operational Stress
Active drought conditions stress source-water availability and treatment operations.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Operational Stress
Lead and copper exceedances and replacement obligations can drive near-term treatment and capital pressure.
Score impact: 5.0 · Family: Capex Pressure
Recurring monitoring or reporting failures often signal weak administrative capacity or deteriorating operational discipline.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Operational Stress
HISTORY
Latest
39.0
Trend
+39.0
Observations
20
Days Cash on Hand
199
Days Cash As Of
Jun 30, 2023
Population Served
2,489
Elevated drought and flood exposure raises outage, source-water, and infrastructure reliability stress.
Score impact: 6.0 · Family: Operational Stress