In an effort to provide solutions to the pressing challenges associated with growth, The Triangle Community Coalition (TCC) Board of Directors recently endorsed the use of public-private partnerships to facilitate the faster construction of schools in the region. The group’s board adopted a formal position (download a copy here*) at its recent quarterly meeting.

The use of public-private partnerships to build schools --where the private sector contracts with the public school system to provide facilities---has picked up momentum around the United States and has been successfully implemented saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Public-private partnerships take the best aspects of the private sector---mainly speed and efficiency---to help meet the public’s pressing school infrastructure needs.

“School systems around the Triangle must find ways to deal with unprecedented growth and capacity needs. We believe that the use of public-private partnerships to build schools quicker will help our region’s school systems meet the demands of continued growth---and save millions of dollars for our taxpayers,” said TCC President Chris Sinclair.

Over the last several years, elected leaders around the region have floated several ideas for funding new schools, including the adoption of school impact fees for new homes and apartments. The TCC does not support the use of school impact fees as a viable alternative to funding new schools.

“Before we go and ask our working families in search of a new home to pay an extra fee, we need find ways to build our schools faster and smarter. We believe that the money saved through the use of public-private partnerships would be more than if counties imposed a regressive impact fee on new homes and apartments,” said Sinclair.

One of the group’s on-going issues is to identify alternative ways for local governments to pay for infrastructure---including new schools. The TCC plans to distribute its position paper---entitled Thinking and Building Outside the Box---to school board members and elected leaders throughout the Triangle, in an attempt to educate them on the use of this innovative alternative.

* (For pdf files, download free Adobe reader)
Triangle Community Coalition www.TRICC.org