The objective of the engagement was to have an expert third-party review of the County-approved tip fees for the American Avenue Landfill, which included the following:
Determine whether the tip fees charged exceeded the “expenses plus a prudent enterprise reserve, all capital costs including expansion costs, plus any governmentally imposed surcharges” standard imposed by the August 24, 1993 agreement between the County and the City.
Calculate the amount, if any, of payments made by the City to the County in excess of this standard.
HF&H Solutions
In order to achieve the Client's objectives, HF&H:
Met with staff to obtain a clear understanding of the background and current issues related to this matter;
Prepared requests for information and documents (including electronic work books, work sheets and documents) and discussed that request with the recipient;
Obtained: a.) An understanding of how rates have been calculated, reviewed, and approved; b.) Copies of any electronic workbooks and worksheets used to calculate the tip fees; and, c.) Copies of documents and information which support the values used in the calculation of the tip fees;
Reviewed the mathematical accuracy of the calculations; and,
Reviewed the support for the key values used in the calculations, ensuring that it is consistent with the values used, is prepared by authoritative sources, and that it is contemporaneous with the calculations made as well as their consistency with other information external to the calculations (e.g., agreeing County records of City tons and payments to City records);
Results
HF&H prepared and presented our findings from the performance of the above tasks. Based on our approach to and relationship with the County, the City and County entered a tolling agreement and agreed to have us work as a neutral party in the development of landfill expense projections to the end of the contract (2014). Recently, the staffs of the agencies have agreed to have us develop and facilitate agreement on a new long-term disposal agreement.
