1-2026-RFQ-001 FY 26 BJWSA Financial Advisor.pdf

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Request for Qualifications

Financial Advisor Services

2026-RFQ-001

Issue Date: September 5, 2025

Proposal Due Date: October 3, 2025 – 2:00 PM

Submit Qualifications Electronically at:

https://bjwsa.bonfirehub.com

Addressed to:

BJWSA

Tammy Holman, NIGP-CPP, CPPB

Procurement & Risk Manger 6 Snake Rd

Okatie, SC 29909 https://bjwsa.bonfirehub.com/

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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE

Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) is requesting Statements of Qualifications from qualified firms with significant financial advisor experience coupled with an in-depth knowledge of the municipal markets and the investment banking firms that cover the Southeast. BJWSA is planning to hire a financial advisor to provide services on future debt issues and ongoing financial management for the three fiscal years ending June 30, 2026, 2027, and 2028, with the option to extend the contract for two fiscal years ending June 30, 2029 & 2030.

BJWSA requests firms to provide as much information as possible when responding to this Request for Qualifications (RFQ).

Key dates for this Request for Proposal are as follows:

Proposal Issue Date

September 5, 2025

Deadline to Submit Questions

September 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Response to Questions Posted September 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Proposal Due Date

October 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Evaluation Committee Review October 6, 2025 – October 24, 2025

Interviews (If required) October 27-31, 2025

Proposal recommendation (tentatively, after Finance Committee discussion and approval) November 13, 2025

Intent to Award (tentatively, after Board approval) November 20, 2025

This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is referenced on BJWSA’s website and posted to the Procurement Portal – Bonfire and may not be available through any other source.

SUBMITTALS FOR THIS PROJECT WILL BE ACCEPTED ON THE BONFIRE PROCUREMENT

PLATFORM PRIOR TO THE CLOSING DATE – October 3, 2025, 2:00 pm EST. Please login to the following website to register (Free Registration) to submit a proposal. All required documents will be uploaded to the website https://bjwsa.bonfirehub.com . Bonfire Support can be found at: https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc/en-us. All information for this RFQ will be available on the eProcurement website. It is the responsibility of the Firm to ensure that electronically submitted proposals are successfully accepted in Bonfire before the submittal deadline. Proposers shall visit the Bonfire website for any updates, changes or supplemental information regarding this solicitation prior to and after the RFQ submission date. All responses and/or questions must be submitted through BJWSA’s eProcurement website. Proposals should be addressed to: Tammy Holman, NIGP-CPP, CPPB, Procurement & Risk Manager, BJWSA, 6 Snake Road, Okatie, SC 29909.

https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

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BACKGROUND

BJWSA provides water and wastewater services to citizens in the incorporated areas of the City of Beaufort, the Town of Bluffton, the City of Hardeeville, the Town of Port Royal, as well as areas of unincorporated Beaufort and Jasper Counties. In addition to retail services, BJWSA serves citizens indirectly on Hilton Head and in Beaufort County through wholesale water service agreements.

BJWSA has approximately 70,000 water customers and the wastewater system serves approximately 54,000 customers.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The selected firm shall be able to answer any questions or provide any advice on financial matters that BJWSA may need in the course of its operations. The Deputy General Manager, Finance and Administration shall be designated as the contact person with the financial advisor. Services shall include but not be limited to, the following:

A. Advise BJWSA regarding bond market conditions, timing of sales, etc.

B. Provide ongoing review and analysis of BJWSA’s debt portfolio and identification of refunding opportunities.

C. Manage all aspects of debt issuance transactions and coordinate efforts with other bond service providers (bond counsel, disclosure counsel, rating agencies, trustee, underwriter, etc.).

D. Manage, process, and assist in the preparation of the preliminary and final official statement documents and hiring of underwriter.

E. Facilitate the structure, sale and marketing of BJWSA’s debt which will include providing assurance to BJWSA that the interest rates received during sales are commensurate with other sales held at the same time by similar issuers and transactions.

F. Assist BJWSA in obtaining the best possible bond rating, including recommendations for financial policies.

G. Assistance with presentations and discussions with the Board and major rating agencies.

H. Perform all other duties and services customarily and usually performed by a financial advisor with respect to the services outlined above or at the request of BJWSA.

STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS SUBMITTAL

This Request for Qualifications process is intended to offer interested financial advisory firms the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to perform the stated services. BJWSA does not intend for the development of your response to be expensive or extravagant; however, the proposal should be developed for simplicity and ease of understanding.

Each response should include:

1. Firm Background

a. Name, address, email, telephone

b. Years in business

c. Experience in Water/Sewer Revenue Bonds

2. Identification of the individual(s) assigned to BJWSA

a. Position in Firm

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b. Experience in Water/Sewer Revenue Bonds

3. Description of experience with crafting and reviewing financial policies

4. Provide a list of your ten (10) most recent clients

5. Identify three (3) clients from the list of ten above (preferably clients similar to BJWSA) that can be contracted as references and provide contact information and brief review of the services performed. Please make sure that reference contact information is accurate.

BJWSA reserves the right to only check references for those firms deemed to be finalists.

6. Typical fee structure

7. Short explanation of why BJWSA should select your firm as Financial Advisor

REVIEW PROCESS

The Review Committee will select a firm deemed most qualified and responsive to this RFQ. As part of the review process, the committee may select finalists and request in person interviews and/or presentations. After completion of the review process, the committee will notify the selected firm and begin contract negotiations. The Review Committee anticipates firm selection no later than November 20, 2025.

All questions and communications related to this solicitation shall be submitted within the Bonfire portal’s Opportunity Q&A section under the Messages tab prior to the Q&A deadline. If there are questions about uploading your response within the Bonfire portal that arise outside of the Q&A period, those questions may be sent via email to bonfire@bjwsa.org. No questions involving the scope of work will be answered outside of the Q&A period or out of Bonfire.

BJWSA reserves the right to request clarification of any information submitted. If such information is requested, the respondent shall be permitted three (3) business days to submit the information.

CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION

The Review Committee will base evaluations on the following criteria:

RFQ Selection Criteria

Rating Points Possible Total: 100

1. Experience - Company Company background and experience with Water and/or Sewer Revenue Bonds

Max. 35

2. Experience and Qualifications – Staff Assigned staff’s qualifications and experience and with Water and/or Sewer Revenue Bonds

Max. 35

3. Experience – Policies Experience with crafting and reviewing financial policies Max. 15

4. Explanation Short explanation of why BJWSA should select your firm as Financial Advisor

Max. 15

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ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Qualification packages must be no more than twenty-five (25) pages in total to include all informative pages. Resumes shall be included as appendices, shall be no longer than three (3) pages each and will not count against the 25-page limit. Sections shall be indexed and tabbed for easy reference to the material contained within. Pages must be single‐sided page format, minimum of 10-point font size, single spaced. Use of 11x17 page sizing shall be limited to charts, photos and exhibits with a maximum of five (5) pages, which will count against the 25-page limit.

Each firm that submits a Statement of Qualifications should disclose all relevant material facts regarding significant financial or influential interest with BJWSA employees and Board members. In addition, all contracts and/or transactions involving your firm that might reasonably be construed to be adverse to BJWSA’s interests must also be disclosed.

This request for qualifications does not bind BJWSA to award a contract to any firm and BJWSA reserves the right to accept or reject any or all qualifications and to accept only those qualifications that are in the best interest of BJWSA.

All information for this RFQ will be available on the eProcurement website, https://bjwsa.bonfirehub.com/. It is the responsibility of the firm to ensure that electronically submitted proposals are successfully accepted in Bonfire before the submittal deadline. Proposers shall visit the Bonfire website for any updates, changes or supplemental information regarding this solicitation prior to and after the RFQ submission date. Bonfire Support can be found at:

https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc/en-us.

Thank you in advance for your response.

https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc/en-us