The Pine Cove Water District (PCWD) General Manager Jerry Holldber purchased the New Holland L234 T4B-C Skid Steer Loader in two payments to Scott Equipment: a deposit for $6,411.12 on Feb. 11 and the balance for $57,700.13 on Feb. 25.
Holldber stated during the March meeting he had not sold the old skid steer yet and there were no responses to auction bids, after being asked by a board member.
The newspaper reported after the district’s February meeting: “The board voted to purchase a New Holland L234 T4B-C Skid Steer Loader. Holldber stated that the district should receive $20,000 for the current skid steer if it is traded-in, bringing the purchase price down to $44,000 from $64,111.20. Tax is included in the amount. Holldber stated that the district can afford to pay for the piece of equipment out of its reserves. He will try to sell the current skid steer first, hoping to get $25,000 for it.”
The board voted to approve the new contract with the district’s auditor Rogers, Anderson, Malody & Scott, LLP. The proposed fee schedule is as follows:
FY 2021: $11,000
FY 2022: $12,000
FY 2023: $13,000
Option for two additional years
FY 2024: $14,000
FY 2025 (3% increase): $14,420.
The district paid $8,000 on Sept. 17, 2020 for the 2019/20 audit. The firm wrote in a letter to the district, “In addition to the audit, we have provided assistance to the district in the preparation of its financial statements, we have been flexible in our audit schedules to accommodate any requests of the district and we have made ourselves available (at no extra charge) throughout the years to answer questions raised by staff … As you will see, we have increased the fee in order to meet our firm’s metrics of profitability. The hours of service provided to the district based on the scope of work required has been consistent over the past three years, however, the amount we effectively realized was not in line with these metrics.”
The first letter Holldber received was for the $14,420. According to Holldber, he was able to negotiate the amount in the incremental increase.