Comprehensive privatization programs offer city governments a means to maximize revenue, cut costs, and make greater use of private capital for public services and facilities.
The traditional methods of solving budget crises such as tax increases, deep service cuts, or issuing short-ten-n debt have significant economic or political pitfalls.
Comprehensive programs offer three main advantages over traditional governing strategies. First, they afford governments great flexibility by allowing officials to choose between a variety of privatization techniques for each government-owned asset, facility operation, service, debt structure, and needed facility and infrastructure.
Second, the cumulative economic impact of implementing all, or some portion of, the menu of privatization opportunities is potentially much greater and longer lasting than short-term fixes such as tax increases or bond offerings.
Finally, if governments properly manage the privatization process and carefully monitor the implemented privatization projects. government spending can be held in check.