An interesting thought hit me tonight as I read this article at the Indy Star. It's amazing that Hamilton County will save their taxpayers almost $9 million over projected costs due to bid for construction that was much lower than anticipated. And this got me to thinking, is this recession making way for an opportunity for a City to take first mover advantage and cue up their most pressing infrastructure projects and get them done now at much lower costs than anticipated?
I am no expert on these matters, and I don't have the time to research the reality of the situation. But if we could save even 50% of expected costs on large infrastructure projects like the Olio Rd. Bridge(or much larger), why not act now and improve our competitiveness and lower the impact that these projects have on regional and municipal budgets in the future(which could hamper future competitiveness even more)?
If some enterprising reader would like to respond with more thorough research, or just a few pithy comments on this topic, I would appreciate it.
2 comments:
Very good idea, however city revenues are also down as well and financing is more difficult. However, if doable, certainly a good idea to not procrastinate.
True, current revenues are down. The thing would be, could cash reserves be used in order to bring about a virtual windfall later in the form of non-payments on debt(and maybe a better credit rating for the municipality if crushing debt is weighing down on it)?
I think this is a strategy that is best left for localities in this sort of situation:
1)Revenue projections into the future are promising
2)Have a sufficient cash reserve
3)Have significant savings to see from acting now
Of course, this is best that this is a strategy that only will work for a few select municipalities, as too much of these actions would draw up prices again as local contractors become booked up with work.
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