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Podcast: Cascade CounterPoint
Episode: QP: The prudent person principle should be applied to all publicly funded projects
Description: Last week, Cascade Policy Institute provided suggestions to the Board of Portland Public Schools to reduce costs on the Jefferson High School modernization project. The project is paused due to the budget ballooning from $311 million (approved by voters in a 2020 bond issue) to $491 million.
Cascade’s primary advice for the PPS Board can be applied to all publicly funded projects: practice common sense prudence.
The prudent person principle provides perspective on three cost-prohibitive aspects of public projects:
Building above code requirements;
Energy efficiency expenditures with payback periods exceeding 20 years;
Overbuilding.
To meet building code...