REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING
The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Republic Services, Inc.:
We have audited management's assessment, included in the accompanying Report of Management on
Republic Services, Inc.'s Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, that Republic Services, Inc. and
subsidiaries maintained eÅective internal control over Ñnancial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on
criteria established in Internal Control Ì Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Republic Services, Inc.'s management is
responsible for maintaining eÅective internal control over Ñnancial reporting and for its assessment of the
eÅectiveness of internal control over Ñnancial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
management's assessment and an opinion on the eÅectiveness of the company's internal control over Ñnancial
reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether eÅective internal control over Ñnancial reporting was maintained in all material
respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over Ñnancial reporting, evaluating
management's assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating eÅectiveness of internal control,
and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our
audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company's internal control over Ñnancial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of Ñnancial reporting and the preparation of Ñnancial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over
Ñnancial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that,
in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reÖect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of Ñnancial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of
the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the
company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material eÅect on the Ñnancial
statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over Ñnancial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of eÅectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies and procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, management's assessment that Republic Services, Inc. maintained eÅective internal
control over Ñnancial reporting as of December 31, 2004, is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the
COSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, eÅective internal
control over Ñnancial reporting as of December 31, 2004, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets as of Republic Services, Inc. as of December 31, 2004
and 2003, and the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity, and cash Öows for each of
the three years in the period ended December 31, 2004 of the Company and our report dated February 24,