The Alabama Department of Transportation recently released a “Myth Busters” communication in response to recent criticism of the agency’s plans to deliver a new bridge and byway project as a public-private partnership. ALDOT’s response focuses on common misconceptions about how the tolls will be imposed and why tolls are necessary for this particular project (which is, in fact, being delivered as a toll-revenue P3). However, in light of the recent pushback against tolls in a variety of jurisdictions, including South Florida, it is worth clarifying the relationship between tolls and public/private partnerships.
In brief, tolls and P3s are independent concepts. In fact, most toll roads are not public-private partnerships—in such situations, the government sets and collects tolls itself as a means to pay for the asset. In addition, most recent P3s do not involve tolls—the private developer of an asset is often repaid by the government directly, through annual availability payments, with no tolls imposed on users of the asset. The recent PortMiami Tunnel is an example of a recent P3 that does not involve tolling. It is also worth considering that even if a P3 asset has tolls, the private developer is not necessarily the party receiving the toll revenue–the government may choose to collect tolls on a P3, but keep the toll revenue itself and instead pay the developer an established annual availability payment. A P3 may also be structured in a manner where the private partner bears the type of risks associate with tolls, but no tolls are actually collected from the public—instead, the government will pay the developer a “shadow toll” for each user. The bottom line is that there are many ways to structure a P3 to accomplish the government’s objectives, and that tolls need not be part of the equation.
We have extensively written about how public-private partnerships (“P3s”) offer better, more efficient solutions to public infrastructure needs, and about how, given their effectiveness, they’ve become a preferred method for funding and managing infrastructure projects in and outside of the U.S. P3s, in short, effectively leverage private funding and expertise with government resources to more efficiently address public needs—often yielding extraordinary results. Yet, while P3s deliver more than just better results than traditional procurement methods tend to, they also incentivize more efficient dispute resolution, too. That is, while ordinary litigation options are typically still on the table, given the long-term arrangements between the parties involved, they tend to seek out faster dispute-resolution options like arbitration, for instance, instead of diving into years of costly, public litigation.
We have previously 
Bilzin Sumberg is pleased to share the results of the 2019 South Florida Opportunity Zone Survey and subsequent Forum that we co-hosted with Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean (ULI SE FL/Caribbean) on June 5, 2019. The Report captures the perspectives of developers, investors, and other professionals who specialize in real estate and finance in Florida, to delve into how the industry is thinking about the Opportunity Zone program and where the opportunities lie. Specifically, the report aimed to examine issues including:
The Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners 
We previously wrote about whether and how public-private partnerships (P3s) could be the 
In the recent decision of Publix Supermarkets, Inc., v. Miami-Dade County, Case No. 17-082 AP, the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Miami-Dade County held: (i) the applicant successfully carried its burden in a quasi-judicial hearing before the zoning appeals board of Miami-Dade County (the “County”); and, (ii) that the opposition failed to establish the required “competent, substantial evidence” to deny the application. Thus, the circuit court granted the applicant’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari, quashed the resolution that denied the application, and remanded the case to the zoning appeals board. 
We recently 
In the last twelve months, four national public-private partnerships (“P3s”) have been financed in the U.S. private placement market, accounting for over $800 million in project cost financing. While there has been a shift towards private placement investors as a P3 financing source, the market activity in the last year has confirmed investor appetite in P3s, particularly those with availability payment-based compensation structures.