Lawn Care Cost Analysis
To Highland City Council
By Josh Castleberry
21 July 2015
Requested Information
• Calculate Total Cost For In House Work
• Compare With Contractor’s 2009 Actuals
• Compare With Contractor 2012 Estimates
City Cost Categories
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Specific Lawn Maintenance Costs
Full Time Employee ‐ Allocated
Major Lawn Equipment – Amortized
Trucks – Allocated & Amortized
Building – Amortized
Overhead ‐ Allocated
Data Sources
• Highland City 2014/15 Budget
• Utah Local Gov. Trust Ins. Values Statement
• Payroll Data
Budget Categories
• Parks & Recreation
• Open Space
• Cemetery
Process: Sorted Budget Line Items Into Three Categories
• Applicable Only To Lawn Care
• Not Applicable (e.g. Splash Pad Chemicals)
• Items To Be Allocated (Fuel, Vehicle Mtnc.)
Full Time Employee Allocation
• Lawn Care 7 Months (April – October)
• 7/12 = 58% Allocation For Lawn Care
Major Lawn Equipment
• Used Insured (New) Cost Of $191,497 • Assumed A 10 Year Life
• Allocated At 10%/Year
Trucks
• 8 Trucks – Estimated Cost $25K Each = $200K
• Assume 10 Year Life – Amortized At 10%/Year or $2,500 Each Per Year.
• 5 Used Summer Only – Allocated at 100%
• 3 Used All Year – Allocated at 58%
• Note: Trucks are not on ULGT insurance. License & Insurance not included in cost.
Power Station Building
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Insurance Value Is $106,000
Assumed 20 Year Life
Amortized Over 20 Years 5%/Year Allocated To Lawn Care
Lawn Specific Overhead
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Justin at 1/6 or 17%
Emily at 1/6 or 17%
Laurie at 5%
Total $32,637
Total Cost of Lawn Care
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Lawn Maintenance ‐
Full Time Employees ‐
Major Equipment ‐
Building ‐
Overhead
Total
$372,075
$144,674
$ 44,450
$ 5,300
$ 32,637
$593,836
Total Cost of Lawn Care
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Lawn Maintenance ‐
Full Time Employees ‐
Major Equipment ‐
New Building ‐ $400K
Overhead
Total
$372,075
$144,674
$ 44,450
$ 10,000
$ 32,637
$598,536
Contractor Estimates and Actuals
• 2008 Estimate – Incomplete
• 2012 Estimates – Data Not Found
• 2009 MD Properties Actuals
a. 2009 City Accounting Vendor History
b. April 2009 Lawn Care Invoices (1 of 7 months)
2009 MD Actuals
• April Invoices X 7 Months = $608,000
• Spread Sheet April – Oct = $782,722*
• *The Difference Appears To Be For Sprinkler Maintenance/Repair. (see sprinkler repair slide)
• Note: Cost only covers 87% of lawn. The City was still maintaining 20 of the 150 acres in 2009.
Acres of Lawn
185
180
180
175
175
170
170
165
165
160
160
155
155
150
Acres
150
145
140
135
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Cottages On The Green HOA
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5 Acres – Mow, Fertilize & Sprinkler Repair
2005 – 2014 Data (5 Randomly Chosen Years)
Cost Per Acre Grew From $1716 to $2660
Mow –
59.7%
Fertilize –
13.3%
Splkr Repair ‐ 27%
HOA To City Comparison
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2014 Cost Per Acre $2660 vs $3305
Lawn Mowing
59.7% vs 64.7%
Fertilizer, etc.
13.3% vs 15.7%
Sprinkler Repair
27% vs 19.6%
Sprinkler Repair % of Total Cost
• 2014 City Sprinkler Repair = 19.6%
• 2009 MD Sprinkler Repair = 22%*
• Cottages HOA 5 Year Avg = 27%
• * April – Oct 2009 $782,722
• Lawn Care Invoices $608,559
• Sprinkler Repair?
$174,163 = 22%
Contractor Cost Today
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$782,722 Paid in 2009 for 87% of lawn
Add 13% For city maintained acres
$884,476 Contractor cost for 100% in 2009
Add 20% For the additional 30 acres today
$1,061.371 Today’s acreage in 2009 dollars
Add 18% Assume 3% inflation for six years
$1,252,419 Today’s acres in today’s dollars
Alternate Contractor Cost Today
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$608,000 Paid in 2009 for 87% of lawn
Add 13% For city maintained acres
$687,040 Contractor cost for 100% in 2009
Add 20% For the additional 30 acres today
$824,448 Today’s acreage in 2009 dollars
Add 18% Assume 3% inflation for six years
$972,848 Today’s acres in today’s dollars
Cost Comparison
• $1,200,000 Contractor Cost Rounded Down
• $ 600,000 In House Cost Rounded Up
• $ 600,000 Savings/year in 2015 dollars
Conclusion
• It appears that it is less costly for the city to maintain Highland’s lawns than it is for MD Properties.
The Hard Questions
• 1. How much lawn acreage can Highland afford to maintain?
• 2. What quality level do we want?
• 3. Should we maintain fewer parks with more amenities OR more grass with few amenities?
e.g. Highland Glen Pk vs Beacon Hills Pk
46% Reduction In Complaints
Parks, Sprinkler, Landscape Requests 46% Reduction
#
o
f
R
e
q
u
e
s
t
s
98
89
97
69
56
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Grass In 2010
Grass Today
47% Increase Park Reservations
Park Reservations
450
400
350
# of Requests
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
2012 2
2013 3
2014 4
2015
Highland Glen Park Today
Before
Today