CHICAGO-Public-private partnerships created for infrastructure improvements are looking more attractive to municipalities, counties and states facing increasing pressure to balance unstable budgets. Leaders, once loath to give up control of infrastructure issues, are now seeing the benefit of private firms being able to finance a needed community need for a later profit, according to experts from locally based Navigant Construction.

Many states have been battling high budget deficits, forcing cuts to local community payments and in turn putting many cities near bankruptcy. The Great Recession came at an inopportune time, as many communities that grew during the early part of the 20^th century now see that infrastructure in need of maintenance, repair and even replacement.

Public-private partnerships, where companies fund a big part of a project for the right to collect future fees, are not new in the United States, as toll roads are popular throughout the country in areas where cross-country commerce needed a better, newer path to travel. Private companies operate and maintain our rail lines and power grids, though with some public subsidies.

However, taxpayers in United States have typically desired to hold ownership on local infrastructure. Scott Gray, a managing director with Navigant, says there’s a reluctance to give up control. “The consumer just hasn’t been ready that a lot of projects today just can’t be done unless there’s a public-private partnership. These are heavily used throughout Europe today, but the idea is still limping along here, there needs to be a major educational process to get US taxpayers used to the idea,” he tells GlobeSt.com.

The time for acquiescence by the taxpayers may be now, he says, as budget cuts are taking away both the funds to repair and maintain infrastructure, as well as the salaries of those who oversee it. Public funding is running out for even basic needs, such as water treatment and sewer lines, roads and bridges, and other publicly-maintained needs, Gray says.

“I think we may be close to a paradigm shift, where taxpayers will embrace public private partnerships out of necessity and then will realize it’s a smart thing. The decision will be made because they’ll realize if a project doesn’t go private, it won’t get done,” he says.

He cites a few examples, such as the Madrid-based Actividades de Construcci

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Public Deficits Push Private Partnerships

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