Faced with significant problems with their community’s sanitary sewer system, leaders in Sac City are opting to tackle the situation instead of leaving it for some future generation to deal with.

And they’re doing it with the help of a $1.28 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

That combination of local resolve and federal money will be a winner for Sac City, in our opinion.

Sac City isn’t the only Iowa community with mounting infrastructure problems. In fact, decaying roads, bridges, sewers and water mains plague cities across the country. It’s a problem that’s made worse by officials who fail to do anything about it.

That’s not the case with the current group of Sac City leaders. City Administrator Jamie Lawrence said the decision has been made to ”deal with these problems now, head on, before further damage occurs.”

That’s a refreshing approach that other communities could learn from.

An engineering study last year revealed the extent of the problems, including sanitary sewer lines plugged by tree roots.

Fixing all that comes at a high price, especially for a small community like Sac City.

That’s where the United States Department of Agriculture comes in. Its Rural Development branch has a Water and Environmental Program that provides grants and loans to help with such projects.

A lot of things the federal government spends money on can and should be questioned, but there’s no doubt that the $1.28 million grant to Sac City will provide real benefits to the people and businesses there.