Public-private partnerships save money, report says
Partnerships between governments and private companies are effectively saving taxpayers millions of dollars, according to the 22nd Annual Privatization Report from the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation. The report, which examines the latest trends in privatization and public-private partnerships on federal, state and local levels, found that, as more than 20 states expect to face budget deficits in 2009, officials will turn the private sector more often to cut costs.
“Democratic [Pennsylvania] Gov. Ed Rendell recently accepted a $12.8 billion bid to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike in what would be the biggest toll road privatization deal in U.S. history,” said Leonard Gilroy, author of the report and the foundation’s director of government reform, in a statement. “Florida has undertaken over 150 outsourcing initiatives since 2005. Leaders of all political stripes recognize privatization is a proven policy tool that can help save money and balance budgets.”
The report also found that there are more than 70 public-private partnership transportation projects, together worth $104 billion, under way in the United States, and it singled out Chicago, which leased out to private companies its Skyway toll road in 2005 and four downtown parking garages in 2006, as a hotbed of privatization. The entire report is available at
www.reason.org/apr2008.