46_018 IMPACT FEE STUDY _ FINAL.docx

Hall County Government

FINANCIAL SERVICES

PURCHASING DIVISION

POST OFFICE DRAWER 1435

GAINESVILLE, GA 30503

t: 770.535.8270 | f: 770.531.6711

FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR

Taylor Samples, CPA

ASSISTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR

Elizabeth White

PURCHASING MANAGER

Andy Penick

Request for Qualifications with Price Proposals

RFQ/P #46-018

For the provision of Impact Fee Study for Hall County

Hall County, a municipal entity of the State of Georgia, Board of Commissioners, (herein “County”) is soliciting proposals from qualified consultants for an Impact Fee Study for Hall County.

The County, like many areas experiencing growth, uses impact fees to help fund infrastructure improvements needed to serve new development. These fees are assessed by developers to ensure they contribute to the costs of public facilities like roads, schools, parks, and utilities. The county's impact fee program is outlined in its Official Code of Ordinances in Chapter 3.100.

Purpose:

It is the County’s intention to award one (1) consulting firm for all the Services listed herein. For the purpose of this RFQ/P the terms “Consultant”, “Bidder”, “Proposer” and “Firm” are to mean one-and-the-same.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Bid Post Date: July 7th , 2025 Bidders’ Questions Due Date: Thursday, July 17th, 2025 Bid Due Date: Thursday, July 24th, 2025, 2:00pm EST

Purpose of Impact Fees:

The primary purpose of impact fees in Hall County is to ensure that new development contributes a fair share of the costs associated with providing public services to those new residents. This helps to prevent new growth from placing an undue burden on existing infrastructure.

Types of Impact Fees:

Hall County's impact fees are categorized as various public facilities including libraries, parks, and public safety facilities (fire rescue, EMS, and law enforcement including the County jail, personnel and related equipment of the Sheriff's Office. Of great importance is looking into a road improvements category.

Funding for Impact Fees:

Impact fees are used to fund the costs of expanding public facilities and services, particularly capital improvements that have a lifespan of over ten years. Ongoing operations and maintenance are not typically funded through impact fees.

How Impact Fees are Calculated:

The calculation of impact fees often involves a study to determine the cost of providing additional capacity for new development and then allocating that cost proportionally among new developments.

Impact Fee Credits:

In some cases, developers may be eligible for impact fee credits, which can effectively reduce the amount of impact fees they are required to pay. These credits may be awarded for actions that benefit the community, such as providing affordable housing or donating land.

Legal Basis:

The ability for local governments to levy impact fees is rooted in the Development Impact Fee Act (DIFA). DIFA allows municipalities and counties to assess fees for the additional capital needed for new facilities and services. The County is seeking to obtain proposals from firms qualified and experienced to provide expert assistance relating to the County’s impact fees. The selected firm will deliver an updated impact fee study, rate schedule, and related recommendations for any changes. The review will consider changes in all the inputs to the methodology used in the impact fee study to calculate the fees, as well as potential improvements to the methodology itself. The study will cover impact fees for roads, parks, public safety, and libraries for both residential and non-residential land use types.

Governance: The County’s Impact Fees are governed by The Hall County, Georgia – Code of Ordinances, Part 1, Official Code, Title 3 – Revenue and Finance, Chapter 3.100 – Development Impact Fee, 3.100.010 – 3.100.400.

Existing Fee Schedules:

Bidder’s must review Attachment A. Fee Schedule – Hall County Outside of [the City of] Gainesville and Attachment B. Fee Schedule-Inside City of Gainesville for reference.

Bidding Process: Hall County, Georgia (herein “County”) is now accepting sealed bid proposals from qualified Consulting firms (herein “Bidder” or “Consultant”) for Comprehensive Impact Fee Study Services (herein ‘Services’). The County will accept sealed bids in the Purchasing Division on the fourth (4th) floor of the Hall County Government Center, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville, GA 30504, Thursday, July 24th, 2025, by 2:00pm EST. Late bids may not be evaluated. All bid packets must be sealed. Additionally, all packages must be time and date stamped by the Hall County receptionist located on the 4th floor to be considered.

Term: The Study shall be delivered from the Notice-to-Proceed until final complete within Ninety (90) days.

Schedule of Fees: Bidder’s proposed schedule of fees, if accepted, shall be firm and fixed for the initial contract term.

Definitions: For the purpose of this RFQ/P, the terms “Contract”, “Letter of Engagement”, and “Agreement” shall mean one and the same. Furthermore, the terms “Bidder” and “Consultant” shall mean one and the same. “Bid Packet” includes all documents of this solicitation, its Exhibits, and attachments.

Contact: Address all questions and communications solely to Andy Penick, Purchasing Manager at apenick@hallcounty.org for clarification to any part of this RFQ/P requirements.

Public Reading: Bid openings are open to the public. Bidders are not required to attend but may do so. The Issuing Officer named herein will open and publicly read all proposer’s company names and location on the date, time and address above. Cost will not be read at this time.

Addendums: If needed and in the best interest of the County, Purchasing may make any extension of the bidding period by a formal written addendum and publicly posted on the County website. All Addenda must be signed by the bidder and returned with the bid packet.

Proposal Documents: Bidders may obtain all submittal documents at no cost via the County’s Website located at https://www.hallcounty.org/Bids.aspx, then click the Impact Fee Study for Hall County links to download all required documents. Any Addenda will also be posted at the bottom of the solicitation as needed and bidders are responsible for checking Addenda. Addendums must be signed and returned along with the Bid Packet.

Pre-Bid Meeting: Not required for this solicitation. The County may interact with bidders one-on-one in demonstrations or interviews.

Request for Clarification: The County reserves the right to request clarification of information submitted though a written Request-For-Clarification. The County may also request in-person, virtual presentations or interviews, and may choose to enter into negotiations with potential bidders as needed.

Bid Response: The County considers a bid response as an irrevocable offer, good for a period of sixty (60) days from submission. Furthermore, the County reserves the right to reject all proposals, in full or partial, and to negotiate fees, conditions, or other terms with the respondent submitting the overall best scored proposal. Furthermore, the County may cancel the RFQ/P in its entirety if in the best interest of the County. The County may waive nonmaterial irregularities, informalities, and errors and seek clarification of such.

Legally Binding Agreement: The County and the selected Firm shall enter into a formal agreement; substantially in the form of the attached EXHIBIT – B CONTRACT FOR SERVICES by counter signing the contract with an execution date. Contracts are only valid if they are countersigned by the County’s Chairman of Commission. Bidders should sign the Contract and submit it with their bid response. All questions regarding the Scope of Services should be included in the response to the Proposal. If there are no written objections, then the County will take this as an affirmative acceptance of the Scope of Services as it is presented.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

Technical Qualifications & Proposal Response: Bidders must answer all ten (10) Mandatory Questions found on Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions, which are weighted and will be scored by the County’s evaluation committee. The County’s Evaluation Committee will score and assign point values to the answers. The total maximum points are set at 1,000. The County has assigned an 80%/20% split for scoring points; eight hundred (800) points available for Technical Qualifications, and two hundred (200) points available for the Cost Proposal. The bidder with the highest total score closest to 1,000 will be the apparent contract award winner.

This RFQ/P poses ten (10) mandatory scored questions valued at a maximum eight (80) points each for a combined total of eight hundred (800) potential total points. Proposers are required to answer all the Mandatory Scored questions. Skipped questions will return a 0-point score. The proposer’s response should limit answers directly to the questions asked. Each answer will be scored on weighted scale points as shown below.

Poor = 0 points Marginal = 20 points Adequate = 40 points Good = 60 points Excellent = 80 points

Bidders may expand their answers to the questions onto separate pages if needed, with the question repeated at the top of each page, in addition to the space provided next to each Mandatory Scored Question Worksheet. Bidder’s may input “see attached” in the space provided next to each question.

Please do not submit bound bid responses. Provide one-sided documents only. Do not include superfluous marketing brochures nor unnecessary promotional materials. These will not be evaluated. Address each specific question with direct, detailed answers.

Bidder Response:

Technical Qualifications Each bidder must provide one (1) sets of hardcopies marked “Original” of their Technical Qualifications response.

Cost Proposal Bidders are to submit one (1) hardcopy marked “Original” with on the Cost Proposal Worksheet.

Combined Digital Response Additionally, bidders must provide their response on one (1) USB drive with two (2) folders therein, one entitled “Technical Qualifications”, containing your technical response, and one (1) entitled “Cost Proposal”. Do not include your cost proposal in the technical response folder as this may cause your proposal to be rejected.

All quantitative material should include complete assumptions and be supported by detailed schedules, evidencing all calculations and results.

Responses to the questions should be clear and concise. Where appropriate, Bidder’s should show statistical information in a tabular chart format, and textual information in bullet form. Summarize key points at the beginning of each answer.

Evaluation and Selection: The County will evaluate all submittals in accordance with the Official Code of Hall County, Georgia 3.10, and as further detailed herein. The County will evaluate proposals using a two-step process. The first is the ‘Technical Qualifications Proposal’ that outlines the bidding firm’s qualifications and experience and its approach to deliver the services, followed by a Cost evaluation.

Cost Evaluation: This solicitation is heavily focused on a Firm’s qualifications, experience and capabilities. Therefore, award may not be made solely based on the lowest cost bid. Cost will be given more importance when all the other evaluation criteria are relatively equal.

The County may deem an unreasonably low cost, and the highest cost, as materially unbalanced. In such cases then the County reserves the right to reject the proposals. One method of measuring reasonableness is to divide the proposed cost by a reasonable average hourly rate to show hours of effort that might be expected.

Although cost is not the driving consideration for award, it is a vitally important component. If, in the County’s consideration, qualifications between two or more bidders are equal, then the County may make an award to the lower cost bidder among them. The County will evaluate cost as presented on Exhibit C - Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet. The cost is weighted and will be scored by the Evaluation Committee. Lower cost will receive higher scores. Any and all fees should be detailed in the response, if applicable.

Validation: Bidders must sign and notarize their submittals. Digital signatures are acceptable. Hall County requires that bidders provide a cover letter with a signature by an officer of the firm with the submittal to ensure its originality.

Bid Retention: The County reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and use any idea(s) in a proposal regardless of contract award or not. The County shall have the right to waive any informality or irregularity of immaterial deviation, omissions and clerical errors in any bid received.

Mandatory Documents: Bidders must complete and return all forms and documents entitled ‘Mandatory’ with the bid proposal. Failure to do so may deem the proposal non-responsive and the County may not evaluate it for award.

Award Process: The County reserves the option to reject any or all bids, in whole-or-in-part, or to select any bidder to complete the described Service. The County will not make an award of contract solely based on lowest bid, but also on approach, references, qualifications and other subjective criteria as the County may deem necessary and determine at its sole discretion.

Questions: Bidder’s must present all questions in writing and directed solely to the issuing officer at apenick@hallcounty.org.

Non-Collusion Requirement: (aka Cone-of-Silence): Bidders must not have contact of any nature with other bidders, County staff members including the Director of Financial Services, administration, elected officials, nor Commissioners during the evaluation process. The County may deem such as collusion, and thus render the submission in violation of the Official Code of Hall County and therefore the County may render the proposal as non-responsible and not evaluate the proposal for an award.

By submitting a proposal, the bidder represents and warrants that no official or employee of Hall County Government has, in any manner, an interest, directly or indirectly in the proposal or in the contract which may be made under it, or in any expected profits to arise there from.

Open Records: All documents, communication, and proposals fall under the Georgia Open Records Act and are subject to disclosure to an Open Records request.

Taxes: Hall County, Georgia, is exempt from State of Georgia Sales and Use Tax. A Certificate of Exemption will be made available upon request to the awarded firm.

Bonds: Bonds are not required for Professional Services.

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Statement of Need

3.0 General Terms and Conditions

4.0 Scope of Services

5.0 Submission of Proposals

6.0 RFQ/P Response Preparation

7.0 Selection Process

8.0 Exhibits and Attachments

1.0. INTRODUCTION

Hall County, Georgia Government is in the top 10 of Georgia’s 159 counties, with 1,800 employees, an annual budget of $398,500.00 and serves a population of approximately 217,000 citizens. The County operates on a Fiscal Year, from July 1 to June 30,

2.0. STATEMENT OF NEED

Hall County, Georgia, desires a comprehensive Impact Fee Study from a qualified consulting firm. The County invites consultants to submit their proposals to provide the Impact Fee Study. The County assesses a variety of impact fees on new development and redevelopment to help the County pay for the infrastructure that the new development activity will require.

3.0 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. The County reserves the right to conduct any review it may deem advisable to assure services conform to the specifications.

B. Prospective firms, including all officers, must not be, or have been, barred by any Federal, State, or Local authority, and C. Not be, or have been, in any legal suit for negligence, willful misconduct, fraud or otherwise malpractice charges, and D. Be legally able to conduct business in the State of Georgia, and E. Who has not abandoned an engagement or otherwise been terminated for non-performance or subpar performance F. Must not be under enforcement action for related investigation pending by a professional or regulatory group.

G. Hall County in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 78 Stat. 252, 42 USC 2000d - 42 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, minority enterprise will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated on grounds of race, color, sex or national origin in consideration of award.

4.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES

1. Project Organization/Data Collection – This task includes data collection and project organization for updating the current impact fees for roads/transportation, parks, public safety, and libraries. Specific items include:

a. The Consultant will gather available information related to the project, identify major policy issues involved in the impact fee program, coordinate staff and Consultant responsibilities and establish the project schedule.

b. The Client will provide copies of all relevant plans, studies, and documents reasonably needed to perform the scope of work.

c. At the conclusion of the task, the Consultant will prepare a memorandum summarizing the organizational framework for the project and listing additional data to be provided by the Client.

2. Staff Review Draft - The Consultant shall conduct an update of the County’s current Impact Fee Study [2020] for Roads, Parks, Public Safety, and Libraries. This task involves the calculation of maximum impact fee schedules for each facility listed above to be charged to each land use type. The fee calculations involve the following elements:

a. Level of service [LOS] values – existing and adopted LOS for each area

b. Demand equivalency table that identifies the demand for service resulting from different land uses [e.g., single family dwelling or 1,000 sf of retail space]

c. Average capital cost per standard unit of demand for service [such as a vehicle-mile of travel for transportation – a “service unit”]

d. Revenue credits – for existing deficiencies, outstanding debt, and other revenues applied to new capital facilities.

The impact fee study will meet all the requirements of applicable law, including but not limited to the Development Impact Fees Act [O.C.G.A. Section 36-71-1, et seq.]

3. Public Review Draft/Ordinance

a. The Consultant will make appropriate modifications to the impact fee study, incorporating comments into the staff review draft, to provide an updated plan for the Client for public review.

b. The Consultant will also provide draft amendments to the impact fee ordinance to implement the updated impact fee study.

4. Meetings and Presentations

a. Study findings and proposed ordinance amendments will be presented by the Consultant to the Board of Commissioners as appropriate.

b. The number of meetings to be attended by the Consultant will be determined by the Client.

5. Incorporation by reference of Georgia Law.

It is the intent of the board of commissioners that the development impact fee resolution of Hall County, Georgia complies with the terms and provisions of the Georgia Development Impact Fee Act (O.C.G.A. 36-71-1 et seq. as amended). Therefore, said Chapter 36-71 of the Official Code of Georgia is incorporated by reference into this chapter. To the extent that any provision of this chapter is inconsistent with the provisions of said Chapter 36-71, the latter shall control. Furthermore, to the extent that this chapter is silent as to any provision of said Chapter 36-71 that is otherwise deemed mandatory by law, such provision shall control and shall be binding upon the county.

6. Preparing Public Information and Printed Materials

5.0 FORMAT AND CONTENT OF RFQ/P RESPONSE

Bidders submitting proposals must disclose their qualifications provide for the Services to the County in the format set forth below. Failure to provide requested information may result in your proposal being deemed non-responsive and therefore eliminated from further consideration.

3. Costs incurred to prepare a proposal are solely those of the proposer. Nothing contained within this RFQ/P is indicative of an intent by the County to reimburse the proposer, as a whole or in part, for any costs associated with preparation, submission, or presentation of proposals.

B. SPECIFIC PROPOSAL PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS

Proposals shall be typed on standard paper with a minimum of 12 pt. font. Sections should be divided by tabs for ease of reference, and pages should be consecutively numbered. Information should be presented in the order requested. Submittals are to be limited be limited to 45 pages, covers, table of contents, affidavits, resumes and divider tabs will not be counted towards the page count. Respondents are to provide documentation that demonstrates their ability to satisfy all the qualification requirements.

1. Table of Contents The table of contents should outline in sequential order the major areas of the submittal, including enclosures. All pages should be consecutively numbered and correspond to the table of contents.

2. Cover letter / Introduction Shall identify the Firm submitting the proposal, provide accurate and complete name of submitting firm, address, zip code, indicate whether this is a branch office or the parent firm; provide type of ownership, or legal structure of the firm (sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, etc.,). If the submittal is for a multiple firm team, the lead firm must be clearly identified and provide a list of all other firms including company name, address, and contact information. Acknowledgement of Addenda, if issued. The firm must clearly state that the proposal is firm for a period of ninety (90) days. Clearly provide name, telephone number, and email contact person if the County has any questions regarding the submitted proposal. State if there are any qualifications in regard to the sample agreement attached that is anticipated to be used for this project.

3. Firm Qualifications The proposer should establish the ability to satisfactorily perform the work: experience in performing work of a similar nature; demonstrated competence in the services to be provided; strength and stability of the firm; staffing capability; workload. Provide an overview of the organization, including size, and location of office(s) and number of employees. Provide a general description of the firm’s financial situation and identify any conditions (i.e. bankruptcy, pending litigation, planned office closures, impending merger) that may impede the firm’s ability to complete the project.

4. Project Approach Proposer shall provide a narrative which addresses the Scope of Work and shows Proposers understanding of the County’s needs and requirements.

Bidders need to describe their approach to completing the specified tasks; include implementation schedule with final report delivery date and note key project milestones and timelines for deliverables. Identify any assumptions used in developing the schedule. Detail how many on-site meetings are to be included as well as anticipated conference/Teams/Zoom calls.

5. Firm Experience / References Describe experience in providing services within the public sector. Provide at least three (3) references, organization name, contact name, telephone number, email address, when study was completed. Provide brief resumes for Project Manager and other key personnel (1 page each), detail what their role will be. Include a project organization charge.

6. Quality Assurance Briefly describe the in-house procedures that will be used to assure the accuracy and integrity of the work effort and field services. If the Proposal includes subconsultant assistance, please include a description as to how quality assurance will be maintained throughout the project team.

7. Non-Collusion Affidavit and E-Verify The attached non-collusion affidavit and E-Verify forms must be duly filled in and returned as part of the Proposal submittal. Omission of the non-collusion affidavit and/or E-Verify forms could result in disqualification of your team’s proposal.

8. Cost Proposal Provide all associated costs with service(s) to be provided.

5.0 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

5.1 The County requests that Bidders submit proposals addressing all items listed below. Failure to include any of these mandatory documents may result in disqualification. All responses must be in writing. Bidders should submit one (1) copy of hard copy paper proposal marked “Original” and all documents loaded onto one (1) USB flash drive in MS Word, Excel and PDF formats depending on the document with the technical response and cost proposal separated into two different file folders on the USB flash Drive.

5.2 Bidder’s must submit their sealed bid response packages clearly marked with RFQ/P #46-018 Impact Fee Study for Hall County.

5.3 If awarded, the awarded firm must maintain insurance policies at the firm's own expense and must furnish the County with a Certificate of Insurance (COI) providing evidence of coverage at least in the amounts indicated in EXHIBIT B – CONTRACT FOR SERVICES. The insurance certificate must list County as the certificate holder and as an additional insured under the commercial general, automobile and umbrella liability policies as follows: “Hall County, Georgia, its Board of Commissioners, officers, employees, servants and agents, 2875 Browns Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30504”.

5.4 Follow these instructions carefully. Include in your bid response package two (2) separate, sealed envelopes. Mark one envelope with RFQ/P #46-018

5.5 Technical Qualifications. Include these completed Mandatory Exhibits:

Exhibit A –Bid Response Sheet (Signed) Exhibit B – Contract for Services (Signed) Exhibit D –Completed W-9 Form (Signed) Exhibit E - E-Verify Affidavit (Signed) Exhibit F –Ethics Affidavit (Signed) Exhibit G –Scored Questions Any Addenda (Signed) Copy of your Business License Certificate of Insurance Copy of Professional Licenses or Certifications

In a separate sealed envelope from above, enclose a completed Exhibit C - Mandatory Proposal Cost Worksheet and clearly mark RFQ/P #46-018 Impact Fee Study Cost Proposal on the envelope.

Do not enclose the Cost Proposal worksheet in the Technical Response envelope. This may render your proposal as non-responsive and thus not evaluated for the award.

5.4 Bidders must submit to the following address. All deliveries must be dated and timed stamped by the HCGC 4th Floor Receptionist. The County is not responsible for late bids due to mailing delays.

Hand Delivery/FedEx/UPS/USPS/Courier:

Hall County Government Center Attn: Andy Penick, Issuing Officer Purchasing Division - 4th Floor, 2875 Browns Bridge Road Gainesville, Georgia 30504

6.0. RFQ/P RESPONSE PREPARATION

7.0 SELECTION PROCESS

Section 1 – Cover Letter and Executive Summary Section 2 – Answer all Mandatory Scored Questions Section 3 – Cost Proposals Submitted in a separate sealed envelope

7.6 Bidder’s must locate and complete all Exhibits to this RFQ/P and submit with the bid. Bidders failing to do so may result in the bid to be Non-responsive and thus not evaluated.

7.9 Steps to Award

The Evaluation Committee will recommend the award of the contract to the highest scoring company. In an unlikely event on a tie, the County may enter into negotiations of terms and conditions.

Step 1: The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the bidder’s responses according to the criteria described herein, and score and rank the proposals. The County reserves the right to request clarification of the information provided and to request additional information required to assist in the evaluation process.

Step 2: Purchasing will then open the Cost Proposals and score the responses. Purchasing will combine these results with the results of scoring. After this scoring, Purchasing will rank the highest scoring proposers on Bid Tabulation Summary.

Step 3: The Evaluation Committee may schedule interviews with the bidders. All costs associated with the interview (if required) will be at the expense of the proposing Bidder.

Step 4: Based upon the results of the proposals, references, and the interviews, the Purchasing Division along with the Evaluation Committee may negotiate with the Firm(s) ranked highest in an attempt to reach agreement. If negotiations with the highest ranked firm are unsuccessful, the County may negotiate with the second ranked Firm, and so on until reaching a satisfactory agreement.

8.0 Exhibits and Attachments

Exhibit A - Mandatory Bid Response Sheet Exhibit B - Contract for Service Exhibit C – Mandatory Cost Proposal Worksheet Exhibit D – Mandatory W-9 Form Exhibit E - Mandatory E-Verify Affidavit Exhibit F – Mandatory Ethics Affidavit Exhibit G – Mandatory Scored Questions Attachment A. Fee Schedule – Hall County Outside of Gainesville Attachment B. Fee Schedule - Inside City of Gainesville

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