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Meramec Funding Sources

Public Private Partnership

Public-Private Partnership

Aug. 1, 2019
By WSU EFC

Story summary:

  • A Public-Private Partnership allows businesses to fund public projects that help them meet their social or environmental goals to ensure a future that is financially sustainable.

Quick Facts

Community Mission
When implementing a public-private partnership, be sure to show your community how this partnership helps meet the community’s overall mission

Eligible Projects
Planning, Development, Construction, Acquisition, Operation – full range of healthy watershed opportunities

Benefits of Public-Private Partnerships
Lower cost of services
Faster from design to build to operation
Construction costs are often lower
Financing shifted to private partner
May provide access to specialized expertise or technologies

Drawbacks of Public-Private Partnerships
Some communities are forced, by law, to use traditional processes

May decrease access to tax-exempt or low-cost financing options

May give-up some level of project oversight

About

A Public-Private Partnership is a contractual agreement between a local government and a private sector partner to build a facility or an element of infrastructure.

There is no one-size-fits-all public-private partnership. Local partnerships can achieve quick, low-cost project implementation.

There are also a growing number of project banks whose aim is to connect local projects with businesses who want to support healthy watershed or water sustainability projects because it makes good business sense to ensure water quality and quantity in the future.

A 2017 report on green infrastructure in the Great Lakes Basin found that private delivery or financing of large-scale green infrastructure (at least $50 million) can be the least costly approach. The case studies of large-scale projects referenced in that report showed cost reductions of 40 percent to 96 percent gained through economies of scale.

Missouri law, § 70.220 RSMo, provides general authorization for political subdivisions and municipalities to “contract and cooperate” with private persons, firms, associations or corporations as long as the contract/partnership is within the scope of the subject matter, purposes and power of the political subdivision or municipality. Public-private partnership projects may include “planning, development, construction, acquisition or operation of any public improvement or facility, of for a common service.”

 Project Examples

Business for Water Stewardship Project Bank

The Business for Water Stewardship Project Bank is a website that connects river groups with businesses who want to support water restoration projects.

P3 Great Lakes

The P3 Great Lakes Initiative is a resource for public-private partnerships (P3) to promote green infrastructure.

 

 

Consult your community’s attorney and financial advisors prior to moving forward with any of these funding options. Any reference in this website to any person, or organization, or activities, products, or services related to such person or organization, or any linkages from this website to the website of another party, do not constitute or imply the endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of companies or organizations.
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