Our Not-So-Modern Struggles with Infrastructure Maintenance: A look back at GFR in April 1987.

• Position: Rewind

In April 1987, GFR was helping readers understand and implement GASB Statement No. 3 [we're on Statement No. 101 now, for those who are counting], and we were also helping governments in an area that is all still very much a problem area: infrastructure.

We've been hearing for years--maybe decades--that our aging infrastructure is a disaster, and the implication is that this disaster is a modern issue. The United States built and maintained its infrastructure brilliantly until it lost its way in recent years. But then there's this, from 35 years ago: "As our nation's cities have aged, the maintenance and repair of roads, bridges, sewers, and water systems has become a major concern."

That's from the introduction to an article detailing a case study from Dayton, Ohio, about its comprehensive multi-year capital plan to identify and meet its growing capital investment needs for its infrastructure. The city won the 1988 GFOA Awards for Excellence in Financial Management award for the initiative, which still holds up.

Dayton emphasized the use of policies, infrastructure inventories, condition assessments, and replacement schedules in making difficult resource allocation decisions, creating an efficient capital allocation process. "Much has been written about the nation's decaying infrastructure and the need to repair and maintain it," according to the article. "In Dayton, officials may not agree with all the dire descriptions of the magnitude of the problem, but they accept the premise."

A frequent problem that responsible governments faced [and still face] is "to bring both city policymakers...