 |
|||
| Triangle Community Coalition Board Announces Support for School Construction Initiatives | |||
 |
|||
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Sinclair Triangle Community Coalition
Board Announces RALEIGH, (June 19, 2006) – Backing creative ways to address the region’s critical need for school construction, the Triangle Community Coalition’s (TCC) Executive Committee announced Thursday its support for the upcoming Wake County School Bond and endorsed Senate Bill 2009, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for Schools, as the best ways to fund new school construction. The PPP Senate bill, sponsored by Senators Malone and Stevens of Wake County, is an initiative that the TCC helped introduce to the community and has been urging local governments to push for in the General Assembly. The TCC has traditionally supported bond initiatives geared to building new schools, and plans to be a strong supporter of the upcoming school bond. “School construction issues are overwhelming our community. The time for discussing options and weighing alternatives has passed. Wake County and surrounding communities need to take action by supporting important solutions like PPPs and the Wake County School Bonds to face a critical need – new school construction,” said David Lazzo, Chairman of the TCC. Known as PPPs, public/private partnerships use private capital, public interest and a combined risk to help build schools quicker and with less money. PPPs are proven in other communities to be successful, saving taxpayers significant money and often shifting debt responsibility and risk to private partners – helping the community avoid debt. A PPP does not require asking for additional money, simply supporting the change in law to allow local communities to take control and build schools quicker, more efficiently and at less cost. “Fluctuations in the housing market make other funding options like impact fees and transfer taxes unreliable streams of income, unable to keep up with growth. In Wake County alone, there will be a need for approximately 20,000 additional seats for new students over the next five years. The combination of the school bond and PPP legislation is important to help our community resolve the pressing issue of school growth,” Lazzo said. “These are solutions the Triangle can’t afford to ignore.” The TCC is the only regional organization dedicated to finding solutions to growth issues that balance the needs of economic development, the environment and communities while protecting the rights and interests of property owners. For more information on the TCC, visit the Web site at www.tricc.org .
|
|||
|
*
(For pdf files, download
free Adobe reader) |
 |
||