Experience shows officials usually only know what is budgeted for solid-waste management.
However, what is budgeted and what is actually spent differ. As a result, only vague or general identification of costs is made because there is no accounting of solid-waste expenditures. The identification of actual expenditures is important in order to make plans and decisions. The decision is easier if there are accurate records on current costs of providing this service. If accurate records are maintained on the old system, then the decision is to identify those costs associated with the new system, and then choose the system with the lower total cost.