Preliminary artist's rendering show what a planned $313 million courthouse in Oregon City. It would be the first in Oregon financed by a public-private partnership. It is designed to face east to showcase views of Mount Hood. (Photo courtesy of Clackamas County government.)

Clackamas County officials plan to build a $313 million courthouse, even though its ballooning costs will require “painful” cuts to the rest of the county’s budget. And they’re taking an unusual approach to funding and operating it: a 30-year public-private partnership with a multinational investment firm.

County officials have all but finalized a plan to replace their historic but obsolete courthouse with an expanded, modern facility and pledge they will do it without raising taxes. Late last month, all but one of the county’s five commissioners agreed to contract with Fengate PCL Progress Partners, a branch of an investment firm with offices in Canada and the U.S.

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