SOLUTIONS

Defending Your Rates

Fair and sensible collection rates play a key role in your recycling and solid waste equation. That’s why your jurisdiction needs to know if a request for a rate or compensation increase from your collection or material processing contractor makes sense. At HF&H, our in-depth rate and compensation reviews can prevent problems and ensure your collection rates are always right on the mark.

Covered, Every Detail

Our clients trust HF&H to provide expert evaluations of contractor rate/compensation modification applications, financial statements, operation records, and rate structures. Our objective reviews and studies arm your jurisdiction with every statistic necessary to successfully address contractor rate/compensation queries by:

• Calculating contractor rates/compensation and alternative rate structures to cover specified contractor and municipal costs and to maximize waste reduction goals.

• Ensuring all current and requested recycling and solid waste rates/compensation are reasonable and supported by accurate documentation.

Is Your Hauler Requesting Rate Increases Due to Extraordinary Cost Increases (e.g., Fuel)? HF&H can review the request and help you identify offsetting cost savings such as reduced worker’s compensation costs.

UNRIVALED RATE SERVICES

HF&H provides recycling and solid waste rate services tailored to meet the unique demands of each city and public agency. We provide consulting services exclusively to public agencies in order to avoid conflicts of interest in appearance and in fact that may arise in firms that serve both the public and private sectors. Our team of experts will work diligently to help you reduce costs and provide creative solutions to achieve your program goals. Our reviews provide you with the assurance of an independent, expert, and thorough verification of the reasonableness and necessity of the contractor’s requested rate/ compensation increase.

Compensation Procedures Reviews:

We develop policies and procedures that streamline and standardize the preparation and review of requested rate/compensation increases to ensure common expectations and avoid antagonistic relationships.

Cost of Service Studies/Rate Reviews:

We analyze hauler revenue and expense financials, operations records, future plans, and projected financial results of operations to analyze the reasonableness of requested rate/compensation increases. We determine the equity of projected costs for providing a wide range of recycling and solid waste related services—including the use of split-body trucks, weekly versus bi-weekly collection, and residential and commercial food waste collection and processing.

Rate Structure Reviews:

We establish alternative collection rate structures to encourage more efficient service, waste reduction, and diversion.

 

First-Rate Results

Our commitment to providing accurate and comprehensive rate and compensation studies and reviews allows us to consistently detect omissions, errors, and oversights. We have assisted approximately 100 communities throughout the Western United States in successfully analyzing requested rate/compensation increases. The results? Individual clients have saved millions of dollars in avoided contractor rate and compensation increases.

• A recent HF&H collection rate review resulted in a reduction in a collection contractor’s requested rate increase from 21.9% to 7.9% (based on more than a $1,400,000 reduction to the hauler’s projected revenue requirement and a $342,000 increase in the hauler’s projected revenue for the forthcoming rate period).

• A recent HF&H processing facility compensation review resulted in a reduction in the facility operator’s requested 2007 compensation from $29.8 million to $27.8 million—a savings of $2.0 million.

“With each review of Marin Sanitary Service’s Rate Application, your team’s focus on details and industry experience has produced results that prove beneficial to the City ... yet are acceptable to the Company.” Ken Nordhoff Assistant City Manager City of San Rafael

ADVANTAGES YOU CAN TRUST

Client Satisfaction

Our clients have unanimously reported 100% satisfaction with our results, hire us again and again, and recommend our services to other jurisdictions with similar needs.*

Incomparable Support

HF&H delivers outstanding support every step of the way. We build long-term relationships and deliver long-term value for every client.

Substantial Results

We address your particular challenges and maximize your solid waste, recycling, and diversion results. We’ve saved our clients millions of dollars, collectively, through expert monitoring of contractor compliance.

One-Source Solutions

As a team with extensive public sector and private hauler experience, we collaborate and offer comprehensive solutions to your diversion compliance and contract performance issues.

Get to know us and discover why we’re the right choice for your recycling and solid waste rate services.

*Results of 2006 HF&H Client Satisfaction Survey conducted by Johnston, Gremaux & Rossi, LLP, Certified Public Accountants.