HdL Companies is celebrating a special anniversary this year. The company has been providing sales tax analysis and revenue management services to local government agencies for 30 years.
When Robert Hinderliter was administrator for the City of Commerce, he found that he did not have adequate time to devote to an obscure but important task, analyzing one of the City’s largest sources of operating revenue, sales tax. He couldn’t believe that no one provided these services to cities. In 1983, he decided to leave his job in Commerce and form a company to provide sales tax services to local government. Mr. Hinderliter went on to develop California’s first sales tax management program which ultimately required legislation to allow independent verification of the State Board of Equalization’s sales tax allocations. Frank Tripepi, City Manager for Rosemead at the time, and Jack Simpson, then City Manager of Bellflower, played key roles in lobbying for the passage of the legislation.
In 1987, Lloyd de Llamas, former City Manager of Monterey Park, purchased 50% of the corporate stock and the company became Hinderliter, de Llamas & Associates with a primary focus on sales tax analysis, allocation audits and software systems. Mr. de Llamas expanded the firm’s sales tax reports to show economic trends, voids and market saturations. The firm grew rapidly because most cities did not have the staff time or expertise to tackle the complex analysis required. This still holds true today.
“Receiving timely financial information, analyses and advice is critical to providing valuable information to city management and to policymakers,” states Lori Ann Farrell, Finance Director for the City of Huntington Beach. “HdL adeptly closes the information gap that many cities are struggling with and provides the resources to overcome these challenges.”
HdL started in a small office in Claremont with just a few employees and has expanded into three separate companies with over 60 employees. They continue to provide ongoing revenue management services to more than 355 agencies from their corporate office in Diamond Bar, CA. Over the years, HdL has helped cities and counties recover more than $1.3 billion in misallocated sales tax through audit work.
Today, HdL not only helps with audit recovery, the firm also provides agencies with the information they need for budgeting and revenue projections. “With revenue projections becoming more critical to the budget process and its impact on city operations, HdL serves a valuable resource for sales tax analysis,” explains Ronnie Campbell from the City of Camarillo.
