The Infrastructure Reckoning
Across the United States, state and local governments are confronting an uncomfortable reality: much of the infrastructure that underpins daily life is aging faster than it is being replaced.
Roads, bridges, water systems, public buildings, transit networks, ports, and stormwater systems built decades ago are reaching the end of their useful lives. Deferred maintenance, historically postponed in favor of balancing budgets in the short term, is now surfacing as emergency repairs, service disruptions, and public safety concerns. Add intensifying climate events—flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, and storms—and the cost of inaction grows exponentially.
For public-sector CFOs and finance leaders, infrastructure investment is no longer simply a capital budgeting exercise. It is increasingly a matter of fiscal resilience.
BDO USA
by Lee Klumpp
Assurance National Technical Principal
August 11, 2026