25-8401_Solicitation.pdf

Procurement Services Division

COLLIER COUNTY

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

FOR

FINANCIAL CONSULTING SERVICES

SOLICITATION NO.: 25-8401

OLIVIA PUGA, PROCUREMENT STRATEGIST

PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION

3295 TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, BLDG C-2

NAPLES, FLORIDA 34112

TELEPHONE: (239) 252-4286

OLIVIA.PUGA@colliercountyfl.gov (Email)

Any alterations to this document made by the Vendor may be grounds for rejection of proposal, cancellation of any subsequent award, or any other legal remedies available to the Collier County

Government.

SOLICITATION PUBLIC NOTICE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

NUMBER:

25-8401

PROJECT TITLE: FINANCIAL CONSULTING SERVICES

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE: N/A

LOCATION: PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION, CONFERENCE ROOM A, 3295

TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, BLDG C-2, NAPLES, FLORIDA 34112

DUE DATE: August 4, 2025 at 3:00pm (EST)

PLACE OF RFP OPENING: PROCUREMENT SERVICES DIVISION

3295 TAMIAMI TRAIL EAST, BLDG C-2

NAPLES, FL 34112

All proposals shall be submitted online via the Collier County Procurement Services Division Online Bidding System:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/collier-county-fl.

INTRODUCTION

As requested by the Public Utilities Department (hereinafter, the “Division or Department”), the Collier County Board of County Commissioners Procurement Services Division (hereinafter, “County”) has issued this Request for Proposal (hereinafter, “RFP”) with the intent of obtaining proposals from interested and qualified Vendors in accordance with the terms, conditions and specifications stated or attached. The Vendor, at a minimum, must achieve the requirements of the Scope of Work stated herein.

The results of this solicitation may be used by other County departments once awarded according to the Board of County Commissioners Procurement Ordinance.

Historically, County departments have spent approximately $300,000 per Fiscal Year; however, this may not be indicative of future buying patterns.

BACKGROUND

Periodically, Departments within the County require consulting services to perform rate studies for user fees, fees for services, and impact fees, provide financial modeling, assist with acquisitions, review financial analyses, and perform benchmarking studies when the County does not have the expertise or resources to complete the required tasks.

TERM OF CONTRACT

The contract term is intended to be for three (3) years with two (2) one (1) year renewals. Prices shall remain firm for the initial term of this contract.

Surcharges will not be accepted in conjunction with this contract, and such charges should be incorporated into the pricing structure.

The County Manager, or designee, may, at her discretion, extend the Agreement under all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement for up to one hundred eighty (180) days. The County Manager, or designee, shall give the Contractor written notice of the County’s intention to extend the Agreement term not less than ten (10) days prior to the end of the Agreement term then in effect.

DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK

The Vendor must achieve the requirements of the Scope of Work stated herein.

Collier County Public Utilities Department is seeking Vendor of these services, which may consist of, but shall not be limited to, assistance in budgeting, forecasting, rate making, management accounting assistance, business valuations/acquisitions, financing activities assistance, and financial analysis of systems.

The County foresees utilizing the Vendor for the following services:

1. Rate Studies:

a. Review and redesign based on the cost of services, the potable water, wastewater, bulk water, and reuse rates, landfill https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/collier-county-fl tipping fees, solid waste collection fees, recycling fees, and other service fees, and miscellaneous charges.

b. Investigate, evaluate, and develop potential water, wastewater, and reclaimed water rates associated with the provision of such type of service. Create a multi-year financial forecast model for the water and wastewater system (the “System”) to determine the overall sufficiency of the System's revenues and financial resources to meet identified System expenditures and funding requirements. Revenue and revenue requirements will be projected separately for water, wastewater, and reclaimed water. Rate study analysis will include, but will not be limited to, the number of customers and usage, a projection of revenues and operating expenses, a capital funding analysis, evaluation of financial targets and compliance requirements, design of monthly rates, development of presentations and participation in the public hearing process for rate approval.

c. Assist the County in the development of water and wastewater impact fees to evaluate the adequacy of the recovery of the respective capital and carrying costs from new development.

d. Identify the allocable net revenue requirements associated with providing wholesale potable water service and design a wholesale potable water rate for the recovery of such costs.

e. Development of rate comparisons and surveys.

f. Review of master plan to ensure consistency with the rate studies.

g. Provide analysis and recommendations of enterprise and disaster planning/resiliency fund reserve levels.

2. Other Revenue Sources

a. Review and design appropriate fees for other miscellaneous services as provided by Water and Wastewater utility systems and other County Divisions.

b. Review operations of the Water and Wastewater utility and Landfill systems and other County financial services to determine if additional services, charges, and revenue enhancements are appropriate.

3. Acquisitions

a. Perform financial due diligence activities related to the acquisition of utility systems, service areas, or other County acquisitions.

4. County Contracts / Documents

a. Aid in the development and/or review of County contracts, policies, and agreements. Such contracts and documents include, but are not limited to, rate ordinances and resolutions, service agreements, franchise agreements, acquisition contracts, extension and development agreements, reclaimed water usage agreements, and inter-local agreements between the County and other entities. Services may involve drafting agreements, review of documents, negotiating among affected parties, and of economic analyses required for evaluation.

5. Financing/Funding

a. Preparation of financial feasibility reports in support of the issuance of revenue bonds, including preparation for and attendance at presentations before rating agencies, bond insurance companies, potential investors and purchasers of instruments of debt, and other required parties.

b. Assist in the preparation of loan documents to obtain funds from agencies such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Rural Development, Department of Community Affairs, and others.

c. Perform Financial modeling of financing plans and Capital Improvement Plan affordability.

6. General Financial Services

a. Perform financial sensitivity analyses on utility and other operations, considering such factors as capital program implementation, regulatory changes, and other such issues that may cause a need to review financial operations.

b. Review and benchmark operations and performance by the Public Utilities Department and other County Departments.

c. Prepare or evaluate cost allocations, financial forecasts, and analyses related to the Public Utilities Department or other County Departments as prepared by staff and other vendors.

d. Assist in organizational and operations assessments and strategic planning activities with the Public Utilities Department and other County Departments.

e. Assist, perform, or evaluate solid waste collection routing, disposal process planning, sustainable material management, and insourcing/outsourcing of services studies.

f. Assist and guidance in the development of accounting, financial, customer, risk management, organizational structure, human resources, and business policies.

g. Assist with privatization and managed competition activities, as well as cost evaluations.

h. Assist with the development and analysis of program and enterprise fund performance measures.

7. Substitution of Personnel

In the event Vendor wishes to substitute personnel for the key personnel identified by the Vendor’s Proposal, the Vendor must notify the County in writing and request written approval for the substitution at least ten (10) business days prior to effecting such substitution.

8. Professional Registration

Vendor shall be properly registered and maintain registration, at the time of submittal of the solicitation proposal and while this Agreement is in effect, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) as a Municipal Advisor.

9. Survivability

Purchase Orders: The Vendor agrees that any Purchase Order that extends beyond the expiration date of an Agreement resulting from this solicitation shall survive and remain subject to the terms and conditions of that Agreement until the completion or termination of said Purchase Order. New consulting services will not be initiated after the expiration of the Agreement.

10. Reimbursable Expenses

No markup will be allowed on reimbursable expenses. Travel expenses shall be reimbursed as per Section 112.061, Florida Statutes. Reimbursable items other than travel expenses shall be limited to the following: photocopying charges, transcription service charges, charges for government information requests, postage, delivery services, licenses to third-party software or proprietary data for specific projects. Reimbursable items will be paid only after the Vendor has provided all receipts. The Vendor shall be responsible for all other costs and expenses associated with activities and solicitations undertaken pursuant to this Agreement.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PROCESS

1.1 The Vendors will submit a qualifications proposal, which will be scored based on the criteria in Evaluation Criteria for Development of Shortlist, which will be the basis for short-listing the Vendors.

The Vendor will need to meet the minimum requirements outlined herein in order for their proposal to be evaluated and scored by the County. The County will then score and rank the vendors and enter into negotiations with the top-ranked Vendor to establish the cost for the services needed. The County reserves the right to issue an invitation for oral presentations to obtain additional information after scoring and before the final ranking. With successful negotiations, a contract will be developed with the selected Vendor, based on the negotiated price and scope of services and submitted for approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

1.2 The County will use a Selection Committee in the Request for Proposal selection process.

1.3 The intent of the scoring of the proposal is for respondents to indicate their interest, relevant experience, financial capability, staffing and organizational structure.

1.4 The intent of the oral presentations, if deemed necessary, is to provide the Vendors with a venue where they can conduct discussions with the Selection Committee to clarify questions and concerns before providing a final rank.

1.5 Based upon a review of these proposals, the County will rank the Vendors based on the discussion and clarifying questions on their approach and related criteria, and then negotiate in good faith an Agreement with the top-ranked Vendor.

1.6 If, in the sole judgment of the County, a contract cannot be successfully negotiated with the top-ranked Vendor, negotiations with that Vendor will be formally terminated and negotiations shall begin with the Vendor ranked second. If a contract cannot be successfully negotiated with the Vendor ranked second, negotiations with that Vendor will be formally terminated and negotiations shall begin with the third-ranked Vendor, and so on. The County reserves the right to negotiate any element of the proposals in the best interest of the County.

RESPONSE FORMAT AND EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SHORTLIST:

For the development of a shortlist, this evaluation criterion will be utilized by the County’s Selection Committee to score each proposal. Vendors are encouraged to keep their submittals concise and to include a minimum of marketing materials. Proposals must address the following criteria:

Evaluation Criteria Maximum Points

1. Cover Letter / Management Summary 5 Points

2. Certified Woman and/or Minority Business Enterprise 5 Points

3. Business Plan 20 Points

4. Cost of Services to the County 15 Points

5. Experience and Capacity of the Vendor 20 Points

6. Specialized Expertise of Team Members 25 Points

7. Local Vendor Preference 10 Points

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS 100 Points

Tie Breaker: In the event of a tie at final ranking, the award shall be made to the vendor with the lower volume of work previously awarded. Volume of work shall be calculated based upon total dollars paid to the vendor in the twenty-four (24) months prior to the RFP submittal deadline. Payment information will be retrieved from the County’s financial system of record. The tie-breaking procedure is only applied in the final ranking step of the selection process and is invoked by the Procurement Services Division Director or designee. In the event a tie still exists, selection will be determined based on random selection by the Procurement Services Director or designee before at least three (3) witnesses.

Each criterion and methodology for scoring is further described below.

***Proposals must be assembled, at minimum, in the order of the Evaluation Criteria listed, or your proposal may be deemed non-responsive***

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 1: COVER LETTER/MANAGEMENT SUMMARY (5 Total Points Available)

Provide a cover letter, signed by an authorized officer of the Vendor, indicating the underlying philosophy of the Vendor in providing the services stated herein. Include the name(s), telephone number(s), and email(s) of the authorized contact person(s) concerning the proposal. Submission of a signed Proposal is the Vendor's certification that the Vendor will accept any awards as a result of this RFP.

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 2: CERTIFIED WOMAN AND/OR MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (5 Total Points Available)

Submit certification with the Florida Department of Management Services, Office of Supplier Diversity as a Certified Woman and/or Minority Business Enterprise.

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 3: BUSINESS PLAN (20 Total Points Available)

In this criteria, include but not limited to:

• Provide an example of a detailed plan of approach for a user fee rate study and impact fee rate study for Water Wastewater (including major tasks and sub-tasks).

• Provide an example of a detailed timeline for completion of the projects.

• Include with the Business Plan or as an attachment, a copy of a user fee rate study report and impact fee study report for Water and Wastewater, as an example of work product. This should be for one of the Florida utilities projects listed as a reference and provided as part of Criteria 5. In addition, provide a sample of another financial service report completed by your firm, if possible a Solid Waste rate study.

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 4: COST OF SERVICES TO THE COUNTY (15 Total Points Available)

To evaluate cost, Vendors shall respond to the following scenario. The scenario will be used for evaluation purposes only and is not a representation of actual future work. The County seeks to understand how the Vendor allocates staff resources and applies cost to a representative task.

Scenario:

The County requests a proposal to conduct a comprehensive water-sewer district rate study. For evaluation purposes only, provide the following:

1. A proposed staffing plan showing the staff titles (including sub-consultants, if applicable) that would be used to perform the rate study.

2. Estimated percentage of effort each staff title would contribute to the project.

3. Hourly rates for each staff title.

4. Total estimated cost to complete the scenario based on your proposed staff allocation and rates.

This example is for evaluation purposes only.

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 5: PAST PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE AND CAPACITY OF THE VENDOR (20 Total Points Available)

In this criteria, include but not limited to:

1. Provide information that documents your firm’s and subcontractors’ qualifications to produce the required deliverables, including abilities, capacity, skill, and financial strength, and number of years of experience in providing the required services.

2. Describe the various team members’ successful experience in working with one another on previous projects.

3. List current projects underway or completed in the last three years in an Excel format below that can be sorted by project description:

Project Description

Client

Location (City, County, State)

Start Date

End Date

Original Budget

Final

Project Cost

Number of

Change Orders

4. The County request that the vendor submit five (5) completed reference forms from clients whose projects are of a similar nature to this solicitation as a part of their proposal, and three (3) of the five (5) projects must be for Florida utilities. Provide information on the projects completed by the vendor that best represent projects of similar size, scope, and complexity of this project using the form provided. Vendors may include two (2) additional pages for each project to illustrate aspects of the completed project that provide the information to assess the experience of the Vendor on relevant project work.

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 6: SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE OF TEAM MEMBERS (25 Total Points Available)

In this criteria, include but not limited to:

• Provide a description of the proposed Contract Team and the role to be played by each member of the Team.

• Attach professional resumes of all proposed Project Team Members who will be involved in the management of the total package of services, as well as the delivery of specific services.

• Attach professional resumes of any sub-vendors and attach letters of intent from stated sub-vendors must be included with the proposal submission.

• Identify the number of full-time equivalents that will be assigned to Collier County from the Vendor. (Fulltime is defined as 100% assigned to Collier County.) (Attach professional resumes.)

• Identify the number of part-time equivalents that will be assigned to Collier County from the Vendor. (Specify anticipated % of time that will be assigned to the Collier County account.) (Attach professional resumes.)

EVALUATION CRITERIA NO. 7: LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE (10 Total Points Available)

Local business is defined as the Vendor having a current Business Tax Receipt issued by the Collier or Lee County Tax

Collector prior to proposal submission to do business within Collier County, and that identifies the business with a permanent physical business address located within the limits of Collier or Lee County from which the vendor’s staff operates and performs business in an area zoned for the conduct of such business.

VENDOR CHECKLIST

***Vendor should check off each of the following items as the necessary action is completed (please see Vendor Check List)***