Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation in the Public Works ...

The GFRC has assisted other federal agencies in infrastructure-related activities,
particularly as a nationally recognized leader in the determination of municipal financial
capability for sewer and water system compliance with the CleanoWater Act. The Financial
Capability Guidebook, authored by the GFRC became the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) "bible" for determining municipal financial capability. From the guidebook,
the GFRC developed a microcomputer software template, FINCAP, enabling communities to
determine their own financial capability.
Transportation and environmental infrastructure financing have also been GFRC
specialties. Contracts analyzing transportation system financing for regional government's
highway financing options have been undertaken for the U.S. Department of Transportation. In
the area of solid waste services, GFRC efforts have included the establishment of a tipping fee
structure for Portland Oregon, research on solid waste taxes for Baltimore County, Maryland,
and development of complex computer models for solid waste system financing for a private
consulting group
GFRC has also examined the fiscal impacts of growth, including the provision of new
infrastructure facilities and structures. Its work has led to a microcomputer software package,
the Total Impact Management Model, which allows governments to determine the impacts of
specific developments and development scenarios on their operating budgets and on capital
requirements ranging from governmental buildings and roads to schools and landfills.
Serving as a hands-on financial advisor to individual local governments, the GFRC has
assisted with the debt issuance process, providing advice on financial markets and financing
techniques. The financings have included projects have included waste-to-energy plants; court
buildings; jails; schools; water and sewer system plant provision, expansion and upgrade;
libraries; administrative complexes; landfills; and roads. This has included such innovative
approaches as privately owned toll roads.
What is Public Infrastructure and Who is Responsible for Its Provision?
There have been many studies on infrastructure and as many attempts to define it.
While various categories of facilities appear on some but not other lists of "public
infrastructure," there is a central core of categories that appears to be commonly accepted:
transportation (highways, mass transit, bridges, railways, waterways and airports) and
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