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Prineville council declines third‑party financial audit of Republic Services, directs staff to improve complaint tracking and reporting
Summary
Council members agreed not to pursue a costly third‑party financial audit of Republic Services and instead asked city staff to work with the company to update complaint forms, monthly reporting and the 2007 franchise language to improve local service accountability.
The Prineville City Council on Tuesday declined to pursue a third‑party financial audit of Republic Services and directed city staff to work with the company to modernize complaint tracking, monthly reporting and the franchise agreement's service metrics.
City Manager Mr. Forrester told the council the company is subject to federal financial auditing (Sarbanes‑Oxley) and that staff did not expect an outside audit to reveal additional financial information beyond what has already been provided. "I would recommend maybe on a monthly basis," he said, describing a proposal for regular service metrics and reporting from Republic.
The move followed a presentation Republic made earlier to the council and staff review of the city’s 2007 franchise agreement, which staff said contains an incomplete methodology and an exhibit the city could not locate. Council members expressed broad support for improving customer service and transparency rather than spending city funds on a separate financial audit. "For us to add ... a prime audit of the financials is a waste of our public resources," said Councilor Ethelman.
Courtney Voss of Republic Services said the company is prepared to provide comparative data and municipal‑level reports. "We can absolutely provide comparison data, between Prineville's division and the divisions in Redmond, and Bend," Voss said, and offered to provide data from similar‑sized Oregon communities.
Councilors and staff discussed customer service gaps and operational changes Republic has made. Mr. Forrester reported company data showing about 1,000 pickups in Prineville on a recent day and five documented misses; three were corrected the same day, leaving two unresolved. Council members emphasized residents' need for a clear local contact and better call tracking rather than immediate rate increases. Republic acknowledged the city’s request to separate city and county metrics when presenting combined data in the future.
The council did not take formal legislative action to order a third‑party audit. Instead, it reached consensus that staff and Republic should collaborate to: update the complaint form and complaint procedure in the city’s solid‑waste code, implement monthly service metrics and reporting to the city or solid‑waste committee, and return to council with a proposed ordinance update and reporting format. Mayor Laurie Hooper Antrim said staff would bring an updated reporting format and ordinance changes to council as soon as practical.
The discussion does not preclude future actions if service levels do not improve; councilors said data from the reporting would inform any later decisions on rates or enforcement.
Ending — Council and Republic representatives set an expectation of regular data‑driven updates on missed pickups, call volumes and remediation, and asked staff to prepare proposed ordinance updates and reporting templates for the council to review at a future meeting.
