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14 <br />Orange County, NC <br />Financial Plan and Rate Study for Solid Waste Enterprise Fund <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />In March 2016, Orange County, North Carolina (County) retained SCS Engineers (SCS) to <br />conduct a solid waste cost of services and rate study (Study) and to develop a Financial Plan for <br />the County's Solid Waste System. Based on data and information provided by County staff, a <br />Pro Forma rate model (Rate Model) was developed, which enabled SCS to prepare projections of <br />financial performance of solid waste and recyclable material collection and disposal for the <br />selected planning period (FY 2016 -17 through FY 2020 -21) and model different possible rate <br />structures. <br />Orange County Solid Waste Management Department (Department) solid waste and recycling <br />program operations are organized under the following cost centers, or Divisions: <br />• Environmental Support Services <br />• Landfill Services <br />• Recycling Services <br />• Sanitation Services <br />The Environmental Support Services Division consists of various Department support elements <br />including planning and administrative functions, utilities, maintenance, education and outreach, <br />and enforcement. The Landfill Services Division is responsible for the operation of the <br />construction and demolition (C &D) landfill, scales and weighing, incoming waste materials <br />inspections, maintenance and monitoring of the three closed landfills, oversight of temporary <br />storm debris management sites, and general Eubanks Road site grounds maintenance and <br />security. The Recycling Services Division manages a variety of recycling programs, services, <br />and facilities. Finally, the Sanitation Services Division is responsible for Waste and Recycling <br />Center operations, collection of waste from County buildings and schools, and the collection of <br />bulky waste items. <br />1.1 PROJECT SCOPE OF WORK <br />The overall objective of a cost of service and rate study is to calculate the solid waste fees and <br />assessments required to adequately recover the costs of providing solid waste and recycling <br />services to the County's residents, businesses, and other institutions. Based on its solid waste <br />industry experience, SCS developed a series of critical tasks that provided a foundation for the <br />conduct of the Study and development of the Financial Plan. This methodology is discussed in <br />Section 2 of this report. <br />1.1 .1 Data Collection and Review <br />The County provided historical and background information on operations and practices. This <br />included: <br />• Detailed financial reports and budgets <br />• Solid waste and financial policies <br />• Historical waste and recyclable material flow <br />