The city of Oak Ridge is evaluating three mutually exclusive landscaping plans for refurbishing a public greenway. Benefits to the community have been estimated by a landscaping committee, and the costs of planting trees and shrubbery, as well as maintaining the greenway, are summarized below. The city’s discount rate is 8% per year, and the planning horizon is 10 years.
a. Use the B–C ratio method to recommend the best plan when annual maintenance expenses offset annual benefits in the numerator.
b. Repeat Part (a) when annual maintenance expenses add to total costs in the denominator. Which plan is best?
c. Should the recommendations in Part (a) and (b) be the same? Why or why not?