Authorizing the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding Public Private Partnerships.

WHEREAS, Since the Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike – the first long-distance paved road in the United States – was first used in 1795, public infrastructure and other projects with broadly shared benefits have been the result of partnerships between governmental and private entities; and

WHEREAS, From those auspicious beginnings, many great advances have been made by public private partnership (“P3”), including the founding of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the building and operation of the Erie Canal, the creation of the interstate highway system, and the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project initiated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation; and

WHEREAS, The citizens and City of Philadelphia have and continue to benefit from P3s, including the ongoing work of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, notably at the Navy Yard, alongside the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia has made providing quality pre-K education a priority for the cCty, which will nurture growing minds during critical years of development, and will ensure that all children arrive to kindergarten ready to learn, and is able to achieve this goal through existing providers; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Water Department has used P3s to great ends, including generating energy from their cleaning process, recycling solids, and the forthcoming update of water meters; and

WHEREAS, The proposed Liquefied Nitrogen Gas Project by Philadelphia Gas Works (“PGW”) will allow PGW to produce fuel for new customers, creating a new revenue source, upon selection of its partners; and

WHEREAS, P3s have potential drawbacks, depending on the risks, timelines, and disparities in expertise at hand, as has been seen in the wake of the Chicago Parking Meters deal, which provides no ongoing revenue for the city, the so-called “Thom Tillis Tholl Roads,” which privatized toll roads in North Carolina without producing ongoing revenue for the state, and the Indiana Toll Road, which declared bankruptcy just 6 years after entering a P3; and

WHEREAS, The value of P3s – past, ongoing, and future – merit consideration; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby authorize the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding Public Private Partnerships.

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