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WASHINGTON, DC-Support for infrastructure program finance is coming from an unusual and unexpected source: US voters, apparently tired of the crumbling bridges, roads and facilities they must use. So said Urban Land Institute senior resident fellow Maureen McAvey in a webinar Wednesday morning, in which ULI discussed the findings of its newly-released "Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership." The report was co-authored by Ernst & Young LLP.

“We think the public may well be ahead of public officials in this area,” McAvey said. “We’ve seen ballot initiatives all across the country, many passing with high approval ratings, raising taxes for projects via bonding authority, sales taxes or higher property taxes. Voters are willing to pass higher or new taxes to pay for infrastructure.”

This trend dovetails, to a certain extent, with recent political events playing out on the global stage, namely pushback from voters in France and Greece against austerity plans. Some—much—of this was a revolt against the deep economic pain residents in these countries are experiencing. However, there is also a recognition that investment in a country’s infrastructure and services is key if it wants to attract business and develop growth, said Malcolm Bairstow, E&Y’s global infrastructure and construction leader, during the call.

In short, financing for infrastructure around the world has embraced and adapted its own version of the buy-local movement--in this case, pay local. Cities and regional governments are experimenting with new forms of project structure and finance, the report says, accessing local funds and investors as much as possible. They are also using, to the greatest extent possible, new technology to push these projects forward. Whether these measures have been enough to counterbalance the clear retreat from federal government spending on infrastructure is unclear—and probably will prove to be insufficient in the end.

“In both the US and Europe, the era of massive infrastructure investments may be over,” said global real estate leader Howard Roth. And while local governments may have success in doing more with less, he said, “the overall state of the infrastructure in these nations will deteriorate unless the political will and funding to make the needed investments materializes.”

Still, though, these local finance measures augur the beginning of what the report authors hope will be a long-term trend. Canada, for example, “has done a fabulous job of using 3Ps,” McAvey said--that is, public/private partnerships. “India is another example of innovative local initiatives. When we look at this issue around the world we see an opportunity for leadership and innovation, as well as creative financing and the use of new tools.”

Some strategies local governments are trying out, in some cases for the first time, include public-private ventures financed by user fees and tolls. Other locales are financing projects via increased sales or gas taxes or bond issues—many approved, as McAvey said, via ballot initiative. One interesting trend is the linkage of infrastructure, land use and conservation.