MISI Score
20.0
Stable
Project NC / Cleveland County
Lawndale
BOTH · Cleveland CountyDistressedPWSID NC0123045
Score Confidence
0.8%
Peer Percentile
46.1th
As of
Jun 2, 2026
EXPLANATION
Score Drivers
- MISI score is 19.955 (Stable).
- Days Cash on Hand adds 6.470 points. Days-cash contributes +8: current days cash on hand is 19.150 days from connector-sourced ws_days_cash (as of 2024-06-30). variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 8 to 6.470.
- Compliance Escalation adds 5.929 points. Operational compliance contributes +6: 4 violations or enforcement actions have been recorded within the last three years. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 6.000000 to 5.929.
- Current Drought Severity adds 3.957 points. Current drought severity contributes +4: USDM severity index is 0.5000 as of 2026-05-26. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 4 to 3.957.
- Climate Hazard Exposure adds 3.599 points. Operational climate hazard exposure contributes +4: FEMA NRI composite score is 70.0100. variance weighting adjusted headline contribution from 4 to 3.599.
- Missing or unresolved factors: Infrastructure Capital Gap, PFAS Contamination Risk, Project Status Staleness.
MARKET INTERPRETATION
What the data suggests
Lawndale is a smaller community water system, serving approximately 660 residents. At the latest reading, the system shows limited signs of structural stress.
The score is being driven mainly by Operational Stress, which is running high in the model, with Revenue Fragility contributing at a lower level. In other words, Operational Stress is doing most of the heavy lifting in the headline score.
4 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 46th percentile on measured stress, placing it near the middle of the peer group on measured stress.
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 Stress13.5 / 20.0
Capex Pressure0.0 / 20.0
Revenue Fragility6.5 / 20.0
Rate Constraint0.0 / 20.0
Governance Risk0.0 / 20.0
SL 2020-79
SWIA Assessment History
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 9 |
ACTIVE SIGNALS
4 Signals
Days Cash on Hand
Weak unrestricted liquidity reduces the utility's ability to absorb rate, capex, or operating shocks.
Score impact: 6.5 · Family: Revenue Fragility
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: 3.6 · Family: Operational Stress
Current Drought Severity
Active drought conditions stress source-water availability and treatment operations.
Score impact: 4.0 · Family: Operational Stress
HISTORY
Score Trend
Latest
20.0
Trend
+20.0
Observations
48
NC TREASURER FBA
Financial Benchmarks
Population570
General Fund Expenditure$863K
Fund Balance Available$35K
Fund Balance %4.0%
Cash & Investments$676K
Assessed Valuation$24.7M
Tax Rate0.3
Effective Tax Rate0.2
Tax Collection %95.0%
Amount Uncollected$4K
Days Cash on Hand
19
Days Cash As Of
Jun 30, 2024
Population Served
660