A tax exempt municipality is considering the construction of a new municipal waste water treatment facility. Two different sites have been selected as technically, politically, socially, and financially feasible. The city council uses 6% interest rate for all analyses for public projects. The expected cash flow for the two alternatives are as follow:

Year Alt. A Alt. B

0 - $16,161,644 - $27,211,376

1 - 75 $2,111,404/year $3,019,639/year

What is the incremental benefit/cost ratio?

The incremental benefit/cost ratio for Alt A is 2.15 and The incremental benefit/cost ratio for Alt B is 1.35

Explanation:

In order to calculate the incremental benefit/cost ratio for both of the two alternatives we would have to make the following calculations:

For ALT A

PV of benefits = $2,111,404 * [1 - (1.06) ^-75]/0.06 = $34,744,943.5

Therefore, incremental benefit cost ratio = $34,744,943.5/$16,161,644 = 2.15

The incremental benefit/cost ratio for Alt A is 2.15

For ALT B

incremental benefits = ($3,019,639 - $2,111,404) * [1 - (1.06) ^-75]/0.06 = $14,945,777.2

incremental benefits = $27,211,376 - $16,161,644 = $11,049,732

Therefore, incremental benefit cost ratio = $14,945,777.2/$11,049,732 = 1.35

The incremental benefit/cost ratio for Alt B is 1.35