The document discusses the pros and cons of privatizing government functions through outsourcing. It provides examples of cities like Maywood, CA that outsourced all municipal tasks but faced issues when contractors like Bell, CA could no longer provide services. Other places saw cost savings through outsourcing certain services but proper oversight is needed to avoid corruption or services not being delivered. For outsourcing to be successful, a thorough cost-benefit analysis is required and contracts must have strong oversight to ensure savings are actually achieved and services meet expectations.
GLOBAL FRAUD COMMENTARY 2013
The presence of fraud and corruption in Construction can take many forms; from falsely representing the numbers of hours a contractor works, through to collusion when bidding for contracts or paying bribes to secure a contract. These inevitably increase costs and, in the case of bribes, inflate the contract price.
1235 Street PlaceSeattle, WA 98105March 5, 2017Ms. Jane .docxmoggdede
1235 Street Place
Seattle, WA 98105
March 5, 2017
Ms. Jane Doe
Engineering Review Committee
Engineering Consulting Company
249 Avenue Way
Seattle, WA 98104
Dear Ms. Doe,
Attached is our report, Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Infrastructure Construction. The report is intended to inform you and the committee about the ethical concerns with public-private partnerships for infrastructure construction. Public-private partnerships are a recent method of funding public construction projects. Because of their relative newness, it is important to understand the challenges and risks involved, and know how to take steps to mitigate ethical concerns.
This report will give a background of public-private partnerships, and how they are being used to solve funding challenges in US infrastructure construction. Then it will go over ethical concerns, and potential solutions. Finally, we will discuss a recommended course of action. From our research, we found that when developing contracts for public-private partnerships, it is important to pay attention to factors such as the concession period and the organization of the project. Doing so can help address ethical concerns with these projects, and make it overall more efficient.
We hope that you find the attached report informative. If you have any further questions or concerns, we can be reached at [phone number]
Sincerely,
Joseph ShinAnna Tsai
Sam TarafderRandy Wenan
Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Infrastructure Construction
Team J.A.R.S.
ENGR 231 G
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
BACKGROUND……………………..5
ETHICAL CONCERNS6
RECOMMENDED COURSES OF ACTION7
Determining An Accurate Concession Period7
Establishing A Legitimate PPP Program Organization7
Developing Project Portfolios8
Other methods for receiving funds8
CONCLUSION9
REFERENCES10
INTRODUCTION
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the U. S. infrastructure receives just “a single grade above failure” (Halsey, 2013). A report has even calculated a cost of “$661 million” to repair just one bridge in Washington, D. C. Another report has also indicated the U. S. interstate system celebrating its 60th anniversary just last year, leaving its people with “many roads and bridges (are) in need of repair or expansion” (Lieb, 2016). In addition to that, some cities have even considered private equity firms “to manage their waterworks” (Ivory, 2016). As a result, the U.S. government is desperately in need of funds to help repair its current infrastructure. One of the increasingly popular ways is utilizing public-private partnerships to help fund those projects. Therefore, we would like to inform you about the ethical issues presented as a result. This paper will give you a background about the issue, the ethical concerns, and recommended actions that could help eliminate those issues. BACKGROUND
American infrastructure including roadways, highways, and bridges, ...
GLOBAL FRAUD COMMENTARY 2013
The presence of fraud and corruption in Construction can take many forms; from falsely representing the numbers of hours a contractor works, through to collusion when bidding for contracts or paying bribes to secure a contract. These inevitably increase costs and, in the case of bribes, inflate the contract price.
1235 Street PlaceSeattle, WA 98105March 5, 2017Ms. Jane .docxmoggdede
1235 Street Place
Seattle, WA 98105
March 5, 2017
Ms. Jane Doe
Engineering Review Committee
Engineering Consulting Company
249 Avenue Way
Seattle, WA 98104
Dear Ms. Doe,
Attached is our report, Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Infrastructure Construction. The report is intended to inform you and the committee about the ethical concerns with public-private partnerships for infrastructure construction. Public-private partnerships are a recent method of funding public construction projects. Because of their relative newness, it is important to understand the challenges and risks involved, and know how to take steps to mitigate ethical concerns.
This report will give a background of public-private partnerships, and how they are being used to solve funding challenges in US infrastructure construction. Then it will go over ethical concerns, and potential solutions. Finally, we will discuss a recommended course of action. From our research, we found that when developing contracts for public-private partnerships, it is important to pay attention to factors such as the concession period and the organization of the project. Doing so can help address ethical concerns with these projects, and make it overall more efficient.
We hope that you find the attached report informative. If you have any further questions or concerns, we can be reached at [phone number]
Sincerely,
Joseph ShinAnna Tsai
Sam TarafderRandy Wenan
Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Infrastructure Construction
Team J.A.R.S.
ENGR 231 G
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
BACKGROUND……………………..5
ETHICAL CONCERNS6
RECOMMENDED COURSES OF ACTION7
Determining An Accurate Concession Period7
Establishing A Legitimate PPP Program Organization7
Developing Project Portfolios8
Other methods for receiving funds8
CONCLUSION9
REFERENCES10
INTRODUCTION
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the U. S. infrastructure receives just “a single grade above failure” (Halsey, 2013). A report has even calculated a cost of “$661 million” to repair just one bridge in Washington, D. C. Another report has also indicated the U. S. interstate system celebrating its 60th anniversary just last year, leaving its people with “many roads and bridges (are) in need of repair or expansion” (Lieb, 2016). In addition to that, some cities have even considered private equity firms “to manage their waterworks” (Ivory, 2016). As a result, the U.S. government is desperately in need of funds to help repair its current infrastructure. One of the increasingly popular ways is utilizing public-private partnerships to help fund those projects. Therefore, we would like to inform you about the ethical issues presented as a result. This paper will give you a background about the issue, the ethical concerns, and recommended actions that could help eliminate those issues. BACKGROUND
American infrastructure including roadways, highways, and bridges, ...
Contracting to Win (Washington Keynote Summit 2010)Jon Hansen
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Uncertainties in the home industry are inevitable. Managing various parties like sellers, agents, and appraisal companies can be complicated. We understand the challenges that home finance professionals face in mortgage loan origination. However, these complexities raise the question of how title companies can prepare for the future of mortgage lending. In search of a better solution, AtClose sheds light on the minimum requirements with the lenders and title agents. Attempting to meet those underlying needs while catering to industry challenges, AtClose designed a complete title industry solution. Read the whitepaper to learn how AtClose's leading order processing technology removed the friction that has been denying the title industry efficiency for so long.
Find out more about AtClose: https://www.atclose.com/
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To learn how you can stay current in today’s rapidly changing banking and financial industries, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/banking.
For more topics that are transforming the legal industry,
visit http://www.thisisreallaw.com.
Anti-corruption legislation is are not appropriate for corruption situation in Bangladesh and are inadequately enforced or give protection to corrupts. Facilitation payments and gifts are illegal, but common in practice.
The attractiveness of grassroots corruption is explained by the mutual gain and minimal risk for the person accepting a bribe and the person who offers the bribe. A bribe helps to solve routine problems. Bribes can serve as a modest payment for minor violations of laws and regulations.
The use of public office for private gain, or in other words, use of official position, rank or status by an office bearer for his own personal benefit.
Cost of corruption exceeds by far the damage caused by any other single crime
Yamil Berard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram provides tips and techniques for finding great local stories on municipal bonds through the Electronic Municipal Markets Access database.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Contracting to Win (Washington Keynote Summit 2010)Jon Hansen
The Chief Performance Officer and his team at the Office of Management and Budget have created an ambitious agenda addressing the focus needed for the greatest impact on government programs. As part of these priorities, it will be critical that those who contract with the government are delivering what they promised, in terms of price, schedule and performance.
This session will examine the roles of both the supplier and buyer as it relates to what has to take place to ensure contracting success starting with the pre-RFP process through to contract award and management within a transparent, collaborative and high-performance government procurement practice.
NOTE: Be sure to continue listening after the presentation for a bonus segment which features my interview with the then Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day regarding the Buy American policy and the exemption negotiations between Canada and the United States.
How Commercial Real Estate Giants Can Put Tenants' Hard Earned Dollars At RiskGail Fischer
Fischer provides a hard-hitting analysis of the biases and conflicts of interest that prevail in today's new commercial real estate environment. The "Big 4" global commercial real estate firms increasingly represent both landlords and tenants. But they make most of their money from the owners, investors, developers and landlords. Tenants come last and as a result risk getting a bad deal. "It's a gamble for a company to put its corporate real estate portfolio in the hands of giant firms that serve multiple players and have much to gain by supporting the best deal for landlords rather than helping tenants minimize costs," Fischer said.
Ninety white paper: The Sharing Economy - An insurance briefingEmma Redington
This white paper deals with the impacts and opportunities of the sharing economy on the insurance sector. Lord Wei, Chair of Ninety’s Future Strategy Board, says in his foreword to this white paper: “The Sharing Economy gives rise to both significant opportunities and challenges as new technology enables all kinds of people to access the "on demand" lifestyle. In insurance, these challenges are well documented in this excellent and practical briefing from Ninety, which I hope will not only inform the industry but also policy-makers and politicians such as myself."
What Title Companies Can Do Now to Prepare for the Future of Mortgage LendingKhurram Mukhtar
Uncertainties in the home industry are inevitable. Managing various parties like sellers, agents, and appraisal companies can be complicated. We understand the challenges that home finance professionals face in mortgage loan origination. However, these complexities raise the question of how title companies can prepare for the future of mortgage lending. In search of a better solution, AtClose sheds light on the minimum requirements with the lenders and title agents. Attempting to meet those underlying needs while catering to industry challenges, AtClose designed a complete title industry solution. Read the whitepaper to learn how AtClose's leading order processing technology removed the friction that has been denying the title industry efficiency for so long.
Find out more about AtClose: https://www.atclose.com/
While there are increasing signs of a recovery from the Great Recession, years of economic progress have vanished for many African Americans and Hispanics in particular, and home ownership remains largely out of reach. That has put new energy into efforts to ensure that the economic turnaround is more inclusive.
“The CFPB’s work in the area of fair lending is a priority and has only just begun,” the agency declared. In this presentation, we walk you through some of its biggest impacts.
To learn how you can stay current in today’s rapidly changing banking and financial industries, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/banking.
For more topics that are transforming the legal industry,
visit http://www.thisisreallaw.com.
Anti-corruption legislation is are not appropriate for corruption situation in Bangladesh and are inadequately enforced or give protection to corrupts. Facilitation payments and gifts are illegal, but common in practice.
The attractiveness of grassroots corruption is explained by the mutual gain and minimal risk for the person accepting a bribe and the person who offers the bribe. A bribe helps to solve routine problems. Bribes can serve as a modest payment for minor violations of laws and regulations.
The use of public office for private gain, or in other words, use of official position, rank or status by an office bearer for his own personal benefit.
Cost of corruption exceeds by far the damage caused by any other single crime
Yamil Berard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram provides tips and techniques for finding great local stories on municipal bonds through the Electronic Municipal Markets Access database.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
VAT Registration Outlined In UAE: Benefits and Requirementsuae taxgpt
Vat Registration is a legal obligation for businesses meeting the threshold requirement, helping companies avoid fines and ramifications. Contact now!
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Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Putting the SPARK into Virtual Training.pptxCynthia Clay
This 60-minute webinar, sponsored by Adobe, was delivered for the Training Mag Network. It explored the five elements of SPARK: Storytelling, Purpose, Action, Relationships, and Kudos. Knowing how to tell a well-structured story is key to building long-term memory. Stating a clear purpose that doesn't take away from the discovery learning process is critical. Ensuring that people move from theory to practical application is imperative. Creating strong social learning is the key to commitment and engagement. Validating and affirming participants' comments is the way to create a positive learning environment.
Falcon stands out as a top-tier P2P Invoice Discounting platform in India, bridging esteemed blue-chip companies and eager investors. Our goal is to transform the investment landscape in India by establishing a comprehensive destination for borrowers and investors with diverse profiles and needs, all while minimizing risk. What sets Falcon apart is the elimination of intermediaries such as commercial banks and depository institutions, allowing investors to enjoy higher yields.
LA HUG - Video Testimonials with Chynna Morgan - June 2024Lital Barkan
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Stay ahead of the curve with our premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions. Our expert developers utilize MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js to create modern and responsive web applications. Trust us for cutting-edge solutions that drive your business growth and success.
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RMD24 | Retail media: hoe zet je dit in als je geen AH of Unilever bent? Heid...BBPMedia1
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What is the TDS Return Filing Due Date for FY 2024-25.pdfseoforlegalpillers
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𝐓𝐉 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐬 (𝐓𝐉 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬) is a professional event agency that includes experts in the event-organizing market in Vietnam, Korea, and ASEAN countries. We provide unlimited types of events from Music concerts, Fan meetings, and Culture festivals to Corporate events, Internal company events, Golf tournaments, MICE events, and Exhibitions.
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⭐ 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬:
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The Pros and Cons of Privatizing Government Functions.docx
1. The Pros and Cons of Privatizing
Government Functions
Outsourcing may seem like a perfect solution for deficit-plagued
governments, but the morning after can bring some unpleasant
surprises.
Last summer, residents of Maywood, Calif., woke up one morning to find the
government as they knew it gone. After years of corruption and mismanagement,
the small, blue-collarcity south of Los Angeles fired almost all of its employees,
dismantled its police department and contracted with a neighboring city to take
over most municipal tasks. On July 1, local officials announced that Maywood had
become the country’s first city to be fully outsourced.
It was an unprecedented move spurred by a loss of commercial liability
insurance and Workers’ Compensation. As the city drowned in deficits and faced
multiple lawsuits, city leaders saw outsourcing as a light at the end of a
collapsing tunnel.
But it was only a mirage.
Bell, Calif., the city that Maywood officials had tapped to run its services, erupted
with a pay and pension scandal, forcing several top Bell officials to resign. By
September, Bell had scrapped its contract with Maywood, leaving the city to fend
for itself and find new contractors for its outsourcing hopes.
The search for financial salvation is sweeping the country as local governments
grapple with waning sales and property tax revenues. The economic recession
has strangled budgets, forcing layoffs and the disbanding of departments. Feeling
pushed to the brink of bankruptcy, cities are trying to find effective ways to make
do with less. Maywood, in its outsourcing attempt, may be the most extreme
example, but in California and other states in the past decade, more public
officials have turned to outside sources for help in providing services at a lower
cost to the state.
In theory, the idea of contracting public services to private companies to cut
costs makes sense. If someone is willing to fix streets or put out fires for less
money, that should be a plus for a government’s bottom line. Many state and
2. local governments have identified hundreds of millions of dollars in savings by
hiring outside contractors -- or a neighboring city’s services -- to handle tasks
like trash collection, pothole repair, and water and wastewatertreatment.
But according to analysts, outsourcing is by no means a perfect solution. Some
agencies don’t have the metrics in place to prove in advance that outsourcing a
service will save money. Problems from poorly conceived contracts can create
cost increases that surpass the costs of in-house services, and if there’s shoddy
contract oversight, a government is vulnerable to corruption and profiteering.
The privatization of public services can erode accountability and transparency,
and drive governments deeper into debt. “Governments at all levels are just
desperate to balance their budgets, and they’re grasping at privatization as a
panacea,” says Susan Duerksen, director of communications for In the Public
Interest, a project that examines privatization and contracting. “But there’s
evidence that it often is a very bad deal with hidden costs and consequences
when you turn over public service to a for-profit company.”
Privatizing toSave Money and Time
Various governments -- from small towns all the way up to federal agencies --
have been sending public services to the private sector since the 1980s. The
trend stems from the common belief that private companies can help
governments save or make money by doing jobs faster and cheaper, or managing
a public asset more efficiently.
This past March, for example, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie created the state
Privatization Task Force to review privatization opportunities within state
government and identify barriers. In its research, the task force not only
identified estimated annual savings from privatization totaling more than $210
million, but also found several examples of successful efforts in otherstates. As
former mayorof Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell saved $275 million
by privatizing 49 city services. Chicago has privatized more than 40 city services.
Since 2005, it has generated more than $3 billion in upfront payments from
private-sector leases ofcity assets. In 2005, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin
worked to transform the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission into a
private insurance carrier, BrickStreet Insurance. That has led Workers’
Compensation rates to decline about 30 percent statewide, translating to more
than $150 million in annual employersavings.
“Sterile philosophical debates about ‘public versus private’ are often detached
3. from the day-to-day world of public management,” the New Jersey Privatization
Task Force reported. “Over the last several decades, in governments at all levels
throughout the world, the public sector’s role has increasingly evolved from
direct service provider to that of an indirect provider or broker of services;
governments are relying far more on networks of public, private and nonprofit
organizations to deliver services.”
The report tookcareful note of another key factor: The states most successful in
privatization created a permanent, centralized entity to manage and oversee the
operation, from project analysis and vendor selection to contracting and
procurement. Forgovernments that forgo due diligence, choose ill-equipped
contractors and fail to monitor progress, however, outsourcing deals can turn
into costly disasters.
The Effects of Inefficient Outsourcing
No industry has gone through greater outsourcing catastrophes in the past year
than government IT. Last fall, Texas cut short its seven-yearcontract with IBM,
an $863 million deal that called for IBM to provide data center and disaster
recovery services for 27 state agencies. When an audit criticized the state’s
Department of Information Resources for lax oversight, inadequate staffing and
sloppy service, the partnership fell apart. In Virginia, the state’s 10-year, $2.3
billion IT contract with Northrop Grumman to run the state’s computers, servers,
e-mail systems and help desk services also has been plagued by inadequate
planning, cost overruns and poorservice.
Technology plays such a critical role in the storage and delivery of vital data that
even minor delays and deficiencies can disrupt business operations, such as car
registration renewals, and unemployment and medical care services. In August, a
storage area network failure in Virginia knocked two dozen state agencies’
computer systems offline in another devastating blow to the state’s IT
outsourcing contract. A week later, the state Department of MotorVehicles still
couldn’t process drivers’ licenses at customerservice centers because databases
were down.
“The problem is that outsourcing deals are really about risk,” says Adam
Strichman, co-founder ofSanda Partners, an outsourcing consultancy. “You’re
taking the risk of the unknown and dumping that on your supplier,” he says.
“You’re outsourcing a problem to a company that has limited control over the
root cause of the problem.” The only way for a public-private partnership to
4. work, he suggests, is to drive transformation from within the agency. And that’s
the hard part. Red tape usually prevents governments from making significant
modifications, and private companies lack the authority to enforce real changes.
When such a public-private stalemate stunts a project, it helps to have an exit
strategy.
Those risks extend beyond the technology world. In 2009, in the wake of an audit
of economic development agreements between Niagara Falls and two
developers, New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli discovered that the
projects faltered because the city failed to monitordevelopment contracts. One of
the projects, a downtown retail mall, has been vacant since 2000; the second
project, which began in 1997, yielded nothing more than a rudimentary building
foundation.
“Before governments hire outside contractors, it’s important to examine the cost-
effectiveness,” says Nicole Hanks, deputy press secretary of the state
comptroller’s office. “More times than not, it’s less expensive to use state workers
instead of outside contractors.”
Guidelines to aSuccessful Outsourcing Deal
A good outsourcing deal starts with a thorough cost-benefit analysis to see if a
third party can effectively deliver services better and more cheaply than public
employees. Strichman says governments should hire an outsourcing consultant
who can provide an independent assessment. But even with a consultant,
conflicts of interest can tarnish a golden opportunity. After all, private companies
may want to provide a service efficiently and well -- and often do -- but
governments must ride herd on implementation of the contract. As Duerksen
points out, a company’s motivation “is not the common good; it’s profit. If they
can cut corners in any way, they often do.”
In that regard, the provider that offers the lowest bid might not be the best
option. But with his experience in several large-scale government outsourcing
deals, Strichman has seen first-hand that in a bidding war, the company that has
“a liberal interpretation for the lowest price wins,” which inevitably leads to
strife when high expectations meet underachievement. “Anyone can bid any
outsourcing deal 5 percent cheaper, but the problem is you don’t know what they
cut out,” he says. “When price reductions appear unrealistic, there’s no magic.
They are unrealistic.”
5. Even with the proper oversight channels, policies won’t work if departments
don’t participate. In 2005, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a law that required a
cost-benefit analysis be completed for any purchase of service more than
$25,000. The law outlines analysis procedures and reporting requirements. Soon
after, the Contract Sunshine Act was enacted, requiring all Wisconsin agencies to
provide online information about state contracts in excess of $10,000.
The laws were created to promote transparency and to ensure that agencies
complete an effective cost-benefit analysis prior to procurements. But
compliance has been low, says Janice Mueller, state auditor for the Wisconsin
Legislative Audit Bureau. “We were asked to lookand see why state agencies are
not consistently reporting,” she says. “It’s really difficult to compel compliance.”
In other cases, outsourcing efforts may be stifled by union contracts or a lack of
available services. Mayor Sharon McShurley in Muncie, Ind., wanted to outsource
the city’s fire protection services to save money. But the city ceased its cost
analysis after realizing that no such private services existed in the area. “It does
tie our hands as administrators trying to figure out how to balance the budget
and provide services with a reduction in revenue,” she says. “I like the idea of
outsourcing. Competition drives prices down. We don’t have the revenue that we
used to have.”
Source: