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MEMORANDUM to Orange Co. <br />November 2, 2016 <br />Page 3 <br />Over the course of the development of the Orange County Financial Plan and Rate Study, the use <br />of the Solid Waste Reserve Fund (Appropriated Fund Balance), as a source of revenue for the <br />Solid Waste Department was projected as a short-term solution to balancing the budget and <br />avoiding a deficit amounting to a significant portion of current revenues. SCS benchmarked the <br />solid waste reserve funds of other Counties in North Carolina and on a national scale utilizing a <br />twofold approach as follows: <br />• SCS contacted Counties surrounding Orange County, specifically the counties of Wake, <br />Durham, Chatham, Alamance, Caswell, and Person, and interviewed the appropriate staff <br />directly regarding policies and practices related to solid waste reserve fund. SCS <br />acknowledges that half of these Counties did not maintain a reserve fund specifically for <br />solid waste activities. Refer to Exhibit 1 for a comparison of the solid waste reserves <br />maintained by the various counties. <br />• SCS gathered available public information on solid waste reserve funds held by a variety <br />of municipalities on a national scale. <br />Exhibit 1. Local County Reserves Assessment <br />County <br />Data Year <br />Solid Waste <br />Reserves <br />(Millions) <br />Reserves as <br />% of Annual <br />Expenses <br />Wake <br />Current <br />$23.3 <br />75 <br />Alamance <br />FY2016 <br />$17.7 <br />490 <br />Orange <br />Current <br />$8.9 <br />74 <br />Chatham <br />Current <br />$3.21 <br />100 <br />Caswell <br />FY2014 <br />NA <br />NA <br />Durham <br />Current <br />NA <br />(Env. Fund Only) <br />NA <br />Person <br />Current <br />NA <br />NA <br />Note: 1. Most recent number given by Finance Dept. <br />SCS examined municipalities throughout the country with publicly accessible solid waste <br />budgets and solid waste reserve quantities. These cities and counties represent the top <br />municipalities found via an internet search of keywords "Solid Waste Reserve ". Note that data <br />on this topic is limited and in some of the chosen cases data was not available for the present <br />year; however, six of the eight examined municipalities had data available at least as current as <br />FY 2015. Exhibit 2 below shows the reserves, solid waste expenses, and percentages solid waste <br />reserve funds make up of solid waste expenses for the most recent year in which data was <br />available. <br />