Public works invest our tax money in our own future. They provide the physical infrastructure we must have for social and economic development. They make everything possible, from villages and cities to commerce and industry. Although governments customarily own, operate and maintain public works, private enterprise creates them. Planning and design work is usually performed by private engineering firms and consultants.
Private contractors do most construction work.
Private sector companies furnish the equipment, materials, and many services needed to build our public works. These projects are a crucial part of our local economy. Way back when, before Measure 5, people paid for their streetlights on their property tax bills. Then the world changed and Washington County started billing its 30,000 customers directly twice each year. It's a big project being managed cooperatively by staff in Finance, Assessment and Taxation, Operations and the County Administrator's Office.