7-RFP 26-104 Financial Audit Services - FOR RELEASE.pdf

CITY OF BUDA

SOLICITATION #26-104

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

FINANCIAL AUDIT SERVICES

RELEASED ON APRIL 8, 2026

Page 1 of 25 of RFP #26-104

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

SOLICITATION #FY26-104

FINANCIAL AUDIT SERVICES

Issued by the City of Buda, Texas

Sealed Proposals will be accepted until 2:00 PM CT, MAY 07, 2026 and then publicly opened and read aloud thereafter.

Legal Name of Responding Firm SAM.GOV ID#

Contact Person Title

Telephone Number E-Mail Address

Street Address of Principal Place of Business City/State Zip

Complete Mailing Address City/State Zip

Acknowledgment of Addenda: #1_______ #2 _______ #3 _______ #4 _______ #5 _______

Acknowledgment of ADA ATTACHMENT V: _______

By signing below, you hereby certify that the information contained in this submittal and any attachments is true and correct and may be viewed as an accurate representation of proposed goods or services to be provided by this organization. You agree that failure to submit all requested information may result in rejection of your company’s submittal as non-responsive. You certify that no employee, board member, or agent of the City of Buda has assisted in the preparation of this submittal. You acknowledge that you have read and understand the requirements and provisions of this solicitation and that the organization will comply with the regulations and other applicable local, state, and federal regulations and directives in the implementation of any awarded contract. And furthermore, that you certify that you are legally authorized to sign this offer and to submit it to the City of Buda, on behalf of said offeror by authority of its governing body.

Authorized Signature

Note: Complete and submit this page as the cover of your proposal.

Page 2 of 25 of RFP #26-104

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

A. Introduction

1. Project Overview: The City of Buda is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) with the intent of awarding a contract to a firm to provide Financial Audit Services for FY26 thru FY30 as described in Appendix A.

2. Contract parties: The City of Buda, herein shall be referred to as “the City”. The person or company responding to the solicitation may herein be referred to as the “Offeror”.

3. Questions & Communications:

i. Clarifications: All questions regarding the requirements or processes of this solicitation must be submitted electronically through the City of Buda’s e-procurement portal (https://budatx.bonfirehub.com) prior to the deadline for questions as specified in the schedule in Appendix A. Suppliers must be registered and logged into the e-procurement portal to submit questions.

Registration is available at: https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/login

ii. Replies: Responses to inquiries that affect the interpretation of, or result in changes to, this RFP will be issued by written addendum. All addenda issued by the City prior to the submittal deadline shall be considered part of this RFP. The City is not bound by any response to an inquiry unless it is issued through a formal written addendum. All communications related to this solicitation, including addenda, will be posted on the procurement portal (https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/).

iii. Acknowledgement of Addenda: The Offeror must acknowledge all addenda utilizing the cover sheet provided. Failure to do so may result in disqualification of the proposal submitted.

4. Notification of Errors or Omissions: Offerors shall promptly notify the City of any omissions, ambiguity, inconsistency or error that they may discover upon examination of this RFP. The City shall not be responsible or liable for any errors and/or misrepresentation that result from the solicitations which are inadvertently incomplete, ambiguous, inconsistent or obviously erroneous.

5. Conflict of Interest Questionnaire (Form CIQ): Per Chapter 176 of the Texas Local Government Code, a vendor who submits to the City of Buda a response to a request for proposals or bids, shall file a completed conflict of interest questionnaire if the vendor has a business relationship with a local governmental entity that meets the conditions of the statute.

If Offeror falls under the requirements of Chapter 176, and submits a proposal in response to this RFP, a conflict-of-interest questionnaire (Attachment II) should be completed and included with the proposal. The form is also available at https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/data/forms/conflict/CIQ.pdf

If you have any questions about compliance, please consult your own legal counsel. Compliance is the individual responsibility of each person or agent of a person who is subject to the filing requirement. An offense under Chapter 176 is a Class C misdemeanor.

6. Form 1295 Certificate of Interested Parties: If selected for award of a contract, the Offeror may be requested to file a Form 1295 with the Texas Ethics Commission. Texas law states that a governmental entity or state agency may not enter certain contracts with a business entity unless the business entity submits a disclosure of interested parties (Form 1295) to the governmental entity.

Page 3 of 25 of RFP #26-104 https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/ https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/login https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/ https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/data/forms/conflict/CIQ.pdf

B. General Information

1. Tax Exempt Status: City purchases are exempt from State Sales Tax and Federal Excise Tax. Do not include tax in any cost proposals negotiated as part of this solicitation. City will furnish a sales Tax Exemption Certificate upon request.

2. Public Inspection of Proposals: The City strictly adheres to the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code Chapter 552.001, et seq.) and all other governing statutes, regulations, and laws regarding the disclosure of solicitation information. Responses to solicitations are not available for public inspection until after the contract award. If the offeror has notified the city, in writing, that a response to the solicitation contains trade secrets or confidential information, the city will generally take reasonable steps to prevent disclosure of such information, in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act. This is a proposal of general policy only, and in no event shall the City be liable for disclosure of such information by the City in response to a request, regardless of the City’s failure to take any such reasonable steps, even if the City is negligent in failing to do so.

C. Proposal Withdrawals and Solicitation Amendments

1. Withdrawal: The City reserves the right to withdraw this solicitation for any reason.

2. Addenda: The City reserves the right to amend any aspect of this solicitation by issuing a formal addendum prior to the solicitation submittal deadline. Addenda will be posted on City’s e-procurement portal (https://budatx.bonfirehub.com) where the solicitation has been posted. However, it is the vendor’s responsibility to check for any addenda that may be issued for this solicitation and will be required to acknowledge receipt of addenda.

D. Submittal Instructions

1. Proposal Submission: Offerors shall submit a response to a solicitation electronically through the City of Buda’s e-Procurement Portal at https://budatx.bonfirehub.com, under the applicable Project listing. Electronic submissions will only be accepted through the Bonfire Portal. Submissions transmitted via email, fax, or any other electronic means will not be accepted.

Late proposals will not be opened, returned nor considered in the evaluation of the proposal.

Proposals may be withdrawn at any time prior to the submittal deadline, but they may not be withdrawn after the official opening. Proposals received will be publicly opened after the solicitation closing time at the address above. People wishing to attend the opening should notify the City Hall receptionist upon arrival. A staff member will escort attendees to the opening location. Only the names of the offeror(s) submitting a proposal will be read aloud. No other information will be disclosed at that time. Proposal information is restricted and not publicly available until after award of a contract. All documents associated with the proposal submitted, unless the offeror indicates a portion of the proposal is proprietary, may be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Public Information Act. All information obtained during this solicitation will become property of the City of Buda.

2. Submittal Packet – Required Content: A ll documents in response to this solicitation are to be submitted electronically via the City’s e-procurement portal at https://budatx.bonfirehub.com on or before the stated closing time. Electronic Packets will be t ime-stamped within the Bonfire Portal upon submission and will remain electronically seal until the official solicitation opening.

The City does reserve the right to request additional information during the evaluation process, including Best and Final Offers from those offerors submitting proposals considered reasonably qualified.

3. Submittal Deadline: The deadline for submittal of responses to the RFP shall be as identified on the cover page of this RFP. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to have their proposal uploaded, submitted, and finalized by the established deadline. For those utilizing electronic submissions, the City recommends allowing sufficient

Page 4 of 25 of RFP #26-104 https://budatx.bonfirehub.com/ time to complete this process and to finalize your submission. Uploading large documents may take time, depending on the size of the file(s) and your Internet connection speed. No extensions will be granted, and no late submissions will be accepted.

4. Responses Received Late: Offerors are encouraged to submit their response to the RFP as soon as possible.

The time and date of receipt as recorded with the Purchasing Office or designated receiver shall be the official time of receipt. The City is not responsible for late submission regardless of the reason.

5. Alterations or Withdrawals of Proposal: Any submitted proposal to the RFP may be withdrawn or a revised proposal may be substituted before the RFP submittal deadline. Proposals cannot be altered, amended, or withdrawn by the Offeror after the submittal deadline, unless such alteration, amendment, or withdrawal notice is approved in writing by the Purchasing Office, or is in response to a Best and Final Offer request by the City.

6. Proposal Format: See instructions in Appendix B.

7. Public Information: The requirements of Subchapter J, Chapter 552, Government Code, may apply to this solicitation and the contractor or vendor agrees that the contract can be terminated if the contractor or vendor knowingly or intentionally fails to comply with a requirement of that subchapter.

8. Technical Support: Suppliers utilizing the Procurement Portal should contact the Euna Solutions (Bonfire) Support team at Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com for technical questions, questions related to logging in or password resets, or other system-related issues. Suppliers can also visit the Euna Solution (Bonfire) Vendor Knowledgebase at https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/knowledge-base/bonfire-hub.

E. Evaluation and Award

1. Completeness: If a response to the RFP is incomplete or otherwise fails to conform to the requirements of the RFP, City alone will determine whether the variance is so significant as to render the Offer’s proposal non-responsive, or whether the variance may be cured by the Offeror or waived by the City, such that the response to the RFP may be considered for award.

2. Ambiguity: Any ambiguity in the response to the RFP as a result of omission, error, lack of clarity or non-compliance by the Offeror with specifications, instructions and all conditions shall be construed in the favor of the City. In the event of a conflict between these standard RFP requirements and details provided in Appendices A & B, the Appendices shall prevail.

3. Additional Information: City may request any other information necessary to determine Offeror’s ability to meet the minimum standards required by this solicitation.

4. Evaluation and Contract Award Process: The City’s intent is to award a contract to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the City considering the relative importance of price and the other evaluation factors included in Appendix B (1) (B) of this solicitation.

5. Unit Prices and Extensions: If unit prices and their extensions are submitted in a proposal and do not coincide, the unit price shall govern.

6. Contract Award: An award of a contract to provide the services specified herein will be made in accordance with the Texas statute, federal regulations (when applicable) and with the City’s purchasing policy. The City will evaluate and rank all responses received. Discussions in accordance with the terms of a request for proposals and with regulations adopted by the governing body of the municipality may be conducted with offerors who submit proposals and who are determined to be reasonably qualified for the award of the contract. Offerors may be provided an opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals through a Best and Final Offer (“BAFO”) process after proposals have been evaluated and before the award of the contract.

The acceptance and award of a contract is subject to approval by the City executive/and or City Council.

Page 5 of 25 of RFP #26-104 http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/GetStatute.aspx?Code=GV&Value=552.371 http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/GetStatute.aspx?Code=GV&Value=552 mailto:Support.Bonfire@eunasolutions.com https://customer.eunasolutions.com/public/s/knowledge-base/bonfire-hub

7. House Bill 89 Verification Form: Passed by the Legislature in 2017, House Bill 89 prohibits a governmental entity, including a school district, from entering into a contract for goods or services with a company unless the contract contains a written verification from the company that it does not boycott Israel and will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract (Texas Government Code 2270.002). The form must be completed and included in the Offeror’s response, unless exempted by the statute, in order to ensure compliance with House Bill 89. Failure to enclose a verification form may result in Offeror’s response being deemed non-responsive.

8. Disclosure Requirements for Vendors (Conflict of Interest Questionnaire Form CIQ): Per Chapter 176 of the Texas Local Government Code a vendor who submits a response to a request for proposals or bids to the City of Buda shall file a completed conflict of interest questionnaire with the City.

9. Form 1295 Certificate of Interested Parties: If selected for award of a contract, the Offeror may be required to file a Form 1295 with the Texas Ethics Commission. Texas law states that a governmental entity or state agency may not enter into certain contracts with a business entity unless the business entity submits a disclosure of interested parties to the governmental entity. The City will notify the vendor to request the filing when necessary.

10. Anti-Terrorism Disclosure: Texas S.B. 252 provides that (1) the City may not enter into a governmental contract with a Provider that is identified on a list prepared and maintained by the comptroller and that does business with Iran, Sudan, or a foreign terrorist organization; and (2) a company that the United States government affirmatively declares to be excluded from its federal sanctions regime relating to Sudan, its federal sanctions regime relating to Iran, or any federal sanctions regime relating to a foreign terrorist organization is not subject to contract prohibition under this subchapter.

11. Contract: Upon successful completion of revision negotiations, the City will submit to the successful offeror a a contract for execution. The City of Buda will offer for execution its standard form of agreement with the successful firm chosen for award. No vendor contracts will be accepted. By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP, the offeror understands and accepts this requirement and that failure to execute the City’s contract may result in rejection of the offeror’s submitted proposal.

12. Partial Contract Award: City reserves the right to award one contract for some or all the requirements proposed or award multiple contracts for various portions of the requirements to different Offerors based on the responses to this RFP, or to reject any and all responses to the RFP and re-solicit the RFP, when deemed to be in the best interest of City.

13. Required Representations:

a. Required Licenses: Offeror certifies that he holds any and all applicable licenses required by the State of Texas for a provider of the goods and/or services described by the Scope of Services herein.

b. Authority to Submit Response and Enter Contract: The person signing on behalf of Offeror certifies that the signer has authority to submit a proposal on behalf of the Offeror and to bind the Offeror to any resulting contract.

14. Insurance Requirements: The City has the following financial responsibility provisions:

a. Insurance: The Offeror certifies, consistent with its status as an independent contractor, shall carry, and shall require any of its subcontractors to carry, at least the following insurance in such form, with such companies, and in such amounts (unless otherwise specified) as City may require:

i. Worker’s Compensation and Employer’s Liability insurance, including All States Endorsement, to the extent required by federal law and complying with the laws of the State of Texas;

ii. Commercial General Liability insurance, including Blanket Contractual Liability, Broad Form Property Damage, Personal Injury, Completed Operations/Products Liability, Premises Liability, Medical Payments, Interest of Employees as additional insureds, and Broad Form General Liability

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Endorsements, for at least One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) Combined Single Limit Bodily Injury and Property Damage on an occurrence basis;

iii. Comprehensive Automobile Liability insurance covering all owned, non-owned or hired automobiles to be used by the Contractor, with coverage for at least One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) Combined Single Limit Bodily Injury and Property Damage.

b. The awarded firm will be required to provide a current certificate of insurance to the City prior to execution of any agreement.

c. The City of Buda must be endorsed as a named additional insured to the applicable policies.

F. Evaluation Process All submissions in response to this solicitation will be evaluated in a manner consistent with the City’s applicable rules and policies.

A proposal review committee will be assembled to perform the evaluations. In the evaluation process, the evaluation committee will review all proposals that have been received before the solicitation due date. Nonresponsive submissions (those not conforming to the solicitation requirements) will be eliminated. Each respondent bears sole responsibility for submitting all requested information with their proposal. The City reserves the right to disqualify any submission that includes significant deviations or exceptions to the terms, conditions, and/or specifications in this solicitation.

Once proposals have been submitted, the City evaluates the proposals and determines which of those are determined to be reasonably qualified for award. Those so determined will be reviewed and scored. Best and final offers ("BAFO") for those reasonably qualified may be obtained by allowing the submission of a BAFO before the final decision is made to award a contract.

The City reserves the right to be the sole judge as to the overall acceptability of any submission or to judge the individual merits of specific provisions within competing offers.

G. Cooperative Governmental Purchasing Note: The successful bidder to be awarded the contract under this solicitation has the right to opt out of this section by indicating as such on the contract to be executed between the successful bidder and the City of Buda.

Other governmental entities which have executed interlocal agreements with the City of Buda may desire to purchase goods or services defined in this solicitation from the awarded contractor. Those entities may utilize the contract awarded by the City of Buda upon agreement between the entity and the awarded contractor. Each entity will place their own orders directly with the contractor. All purchases by those entities will be billed by the contractor directly to the entity and payment to the contractor shall by paid directly to the contractor. The City of Buda will not be responsible for another governmental entity’s debts. Each governmental entity will be responsible for ensuring full compliance with the contract specifications.

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Appendix A – Scope of Work & Specifications

A. Description of Scope of Services

The City of Buda, Texas is soliciting sealed proposals from qualified and experienced public accounting firms, whose principal officers are independent Certified Public Accountants, to provide services for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2026 through 2030.

Services include:

• Performance of the City’s annual financial audit;

• Conduct of the City’s Single Audit of State and Federal grants;

• Provision of related audit services as specified in the solicitation;

• Additional assistance as required.

There is no expressed or implied obligation for the City to reimburse responding firms for any expenses incurred in the preparation of a proposal in response to this request. The City reserves the right to increase or decrease the scope of work related to this project as outlined in the RFP after a firm is selected to accommodate changes in the needs of the City and serve the best interests of City.

The City is especially interested in offerors with significant, current, applicable experience in providing these services on governmental projects, as referenced above.

Providers who participate in this RFP process may hereinafter be referred to as “Offerors” or “Firms”.

B. Definitions

The following definitions apply to this document and the transaction between the City and the selected submitter unless otherwise designated in the context. Terms, which are singular, may include multiple, where applicable and when in the best interests of the City:

1. “City” means and refers to the City of Buda, Texas.

2. “Company” or “Firm” means and refers to any submitter, whether such submitter be a sole proprietor, corporation, company, partnership, company, or any other entity legally defined or recognized under the laws of the State of Texas.

3. “Proposal” or “Submission” or “Submittal” refers to a response submitted to an RFP.

4. “Project Review Committee” means a committee established by the City to review and score the submitted

Proposals. The Committee may be composed of City of Buda staff, City Councilmembers, or their designees, or other individuals selected to serve on the committee by the City.

5. “RFP” means and refers to this Request for Proposals.

6. “Selected submission” means and refers to the submission sent to the City of Buda by the Selected Firm.

7. “Selected Firm” means the firm who is selected by the City and to whom the City Council/City Manager awards a contract for the services or commodities requested in this solicitation.

8. “Solicitation” means an RFP issued by the City of Buda seeking products or services described in the document.

9. “Submitter” or “Vendor” or “Proposer” or “Contractor” means a firm that submits a response to a solicitation.

10. “Contract documents” includes the RFP and all of the Appendices attached to the RFP.

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C. Scope of Work

1. Background Information:

The City of Buda is located along Interstate Highway 35, approximately 20 minutes from downtown Austin and 1 hour from downtown San Antonio. The City, incorporated in 1948, is a home-rule city and is governed by a Council-Manager form of government.

A full range of municipal services is provided by the City, including public safety (police protection);

emergency management; water and wastewater utilities; capital improvements; repair and maintenance of streets and infrastructure; recreational activities; library services; tourism services; planning and zoning; code inspections; garbage services and recycling; and general administrative services.

As a political subdivision of the State of Texas, the City is considered a primary government. Pursuant to standards established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), the City also reports for all funds for which the City, as the primary government, is financially accountable. As such, the annual financial report includes financial activities of two component units as follows: the City of Buda 4B Corporation (EDC) and the Dupre Local Government Corporation (LGC). These two component units are considered discretely presented component units and are presented in a separate column in the government-wide statements to emphasize that they are legally separate from the primary government.

The City’s accounting records are maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as applied to governmental units. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the accepted standard-setting body for establishing governmental accounting and financial reporting principles. Accordingly, the City maintains general, special revenue, debt service and capital projects governmental fund types, and enterprise funds.

More detailed information on the government and its finances, as well as a summary of significant accounting policies can be found in the City’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (annual report) and annual Budget located under the City’s website.

2. Scope of Work

The City desires the Proposer to express an opinion on the fair presentation of its basic financial statements, as well as the combining and individual fund financial statements, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States as promulgated by the Government Accounting Standards Board.

The Proposer’s assistance and consultation will be required in implementing new GASB statements at a date to be determined by the City, even if prior to the required effective date.

The Proposer will be required to review the City’s compliance with requirements of the State of Texas Public Investment Funds Act.

The Proposer will be required to audit the basic financial statements, and the combining and individual fund financial statements. The Proposer is not required to audit the introductory and statistical sections of the annual report but is expected to read the introductory and statistical sections of the annual report to ensure that they do not contain information that is inconsistent with the audited financial statements.

The Proposer will be required to audit the information contained in the Supplementary Schedule of Expenditures of Federal and State Awards when appropriate. This information should be subjected to

Page 9 of 25 of RFP #26-104 the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and in accordance with Government Auditing Standards (“GAGAS”), any state or regulatory audit requirements, the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996, and Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”). The auditor is to provide an opinion of the fair presentation of this schedule in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.

The Proposer will be required to audit and test transactions relating to major federal award programs for compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements governing the City’s participation in those programs.

The Proposer will be required to test and ascertain the sufficiency of internal controls in planning the audit in order to determine the nature, timing, and extent of auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing opinions on the City’s financial statements and on its compliance with requirements applicable to major programs.

The scope of the City's annual audit, or any other work for which the Proposer is engaged, can only be broadened with the express written consent of the City. The City will have the right to negotiate fees for work related to broadening the scope of any work for which the Proposer is engaged.

3. Auditing Standard to Be Followed

The auditing standards applicable to this RFP, will be U.S. GAAP (generally accepted auditing standards in the United States of America) and, if applicable, the Government Auditing Standards (“GAGAS”), any state or regulatory audit requirements, the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996, and Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”).

The financial reporting framework applicable to this engagement is U.S. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America).

4. Reports to Be Issued

Following the completion of the audit of the fiscal year's financial statements, the Proposer shall issue all reports currently required by State and Federal grantors, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Governmental A ccounting Standards Board, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada, and any other regulatory agencies. The auditor shall likewise issue any other reports subsequently required by these or similar entities following completion of the financial or single audit.

The schedule of expenditures of federal award and related auditor's reports, as well as the reports on the internal control structure and compliance, are to be issued separately.

In the required reports on internal controls, the auditor shall communicate any reportable conditions found during the audit to the Finance Director. A reportable condition shall be defined as a significant deficiency in the design or operation of the internal control structure, which could adversely affect the organization's ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial data, consistent with the assertions of management in the financial statements. Reportable conditions, that are also material weaknesses, shall be identified as such in the report.

Non-reportable conditions discovered by the auditors shall be reported in a separate letter to management, which shall be referred to in the reports on internal controls.

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The Proposer shall be required to make an immediate written report, of all irregularities and illegal acts or indications of which they become aware, to the City Manager and Finance Director.

The Proposer will meet with the City Manager, Director of Finance and Audit Committee before the final report is presented to the City Council and the Economic Development Corporation 4B Board of Directors.

The Proposer shall assure themselves that the City's Mayor and City Council are informed of each of the following, and any other item, as required by the regulatory agencies noted above:

1. Difficulties encountered in performing the audit.

2. Disagreements with city management.

3. Major issues discussed with city management prior to retention.

4. Management consultation with other accountants.

5. Management judgments and accounting estimates.

6. Other information in documents containing audited financial statements.

7. Significant accounting policies.

8. Significant audit adjustments.

9. The auditor's responsibility under generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards.

5. Preparation of Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (“Annual Report”)

The Finance Department’s staff prepares the introduction, MD&A, and statistical section of the annual report. The Proposer prepares all financial statements as required to earn the Certificate of Achievement awarded by GFOA. The Proposer reviews this information and approves it prior to printing. To maintain eligibility for the GFOA Certificate, the ACFR must be issued within six (6) months following the fiscal year-end (no later than March 31). Additionally, the report must be completed within 180 days of September 30 in accordance with Chapter 103 of the Texas Local Government Code and to avoid penalties imposed by S.B. 1851. Accordingly, close coordination between the Proposer and the Finance Director will be required during January and February of each year.

The City has been recognized with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting awarded by GFOA and intends to continue this recognition. It is the City’s objective to maintain the Certificate in the future, and the auditors shall provide all reasonable assistance and guidance to support the City in achieving this goal.

6. Special Considerations

a. The City will send its annual report to the GFOA of the United States and Canada for review in their Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting program. The Proposer will be required to provide assistance to the City to meet the requirements of this program.

b. The City currently anticipates it may prepare additional official statements in connection with issuance of debt that will contain the general-purpose financial statements, and the Proposer’s report thereon.

The Proposer shall be required, if requested by the City, the fiscal advisor and/or the underwriter, to issue a “consent and citation of expertise” as the auditor, and any necessary “comfort letters.”

c. The City will require the Proposer’s assistance to comply with reporting requirements as the result of new GASB pronouncements.

7. Special Projects

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Proposers may be requested to provide other types of services, collectively referred to as "Special Projects." Examples of such Special Projects include additional audits or reviews, cost studies, and consulting services. The cost to perform any Special Projects will be negotiated and be in addition to the standard annual fee.

8. Regulation Updates

The Proposer shall provide the City’s Finance Department staff with information relating to regulation changes that would affect the City and its operation. Examples would be timely notification of changes proposed or initiated by GASB or Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

9. Audit Work Timing Due to the timing of this RFP, the schedule for the FY 2026 audit will be established upon mutual agreement between City management and the selected firm. The City would prefer planning to be June, July or August 2026. For future fiscal years, the City anticipates the following schedule:

1. Interim Audit o Preliminary audit work is anticipated to begin and be completed in August

2. Information to be Provided by the City of Buda o The auditor shall provide the City with a list of all schedules and other assistance to be prepared by City staff by September 1.

3. Completion of Field Work o The auditor shall make every effort to complete all fieldwork primarily during January of each year, with all work completed no later than February 10.

4. Entrance Conferences, Progress Reporting, and Exit Conferences o The selected auditor shall schedule an entrance conference, periodic progress reports, and an exit conference with the Finance Director and key accounting staff.

o These meetings will allow discussion of audit needs, expectations, objectives, risks, and findings, and provide an opportunity to ask questions to ensure the audit remains on track.

10. Contractual Agreements The contract to be awarded shall be for the provision of services as requested herein, at the negotiated fee, for the first and each subsequent year of the contract. This is considered an all-inclusive, not-to-exceed fee. The City shall agree to make interim payments of the annual fee, based upon a percentage of work performed.

11. Working Papers The Proposer selected shall maintain all working papers for a period of at least five (5) years after the auditor’s report date. The Proposer shall make available all original working papers for examination by authorized representatives of federal and state agencies, the City’s Finance Director and Finance staff, and any other entity to which access has been granted in writing by the City's Finance Director. In addition, the Proposer shall respond to the reasonable inquiries of successor auditors and allow successor auditors to review working papers relating to matters of continuing accounting significance.

12. Progress Reports The Proposer shall submit progress reports to or hold periodic meetings with the Finance Director, as agreed upon by the City and Proposer. The information provided in these reports should be sufficiently detailed to provide assurance that the audit is on schedule.

13. Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

The proposals will be reviewed by an evaluation committee. The City reserves the right to use all pertinent information (including that learned from sources other than the proposal submitted) that might affect the City’s judgment as to the appropriateness of an award.

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Additional information on the Scoring Criteria is outlined below:

RFP Scoring Criteria Scoring Points Available

FIRM PROFILE/EXPERIENCE:

• Firm’s scope: local, national, or international

• Size and experience of the firm’s governmental audit staff

• Office location relative to the City and staffing capacity for this engagement

• History of quality control: most recent external review, results of state/federal audits, and any disciplinary actions

• Demonstrated experience with municipal or governmental audits similar in scope

• Demonstrated experience preparing reports aligned with GFOA

Certificate of Achievement standards

• References from prior government clients, with indication of GFOA awards

• Audit quality metrics

APPROACH TO CONDUCTING AUDIT WORK

• Overall audit approach clearly described

• Major engagement components identified with estimated hours by staff level

• Administrative, planning, and report preparation hours separated from fieldwork

• Methodology demonstrates efficiency and timely completion

• Use of City staff and any special first-year techniques explained

• Expected City staff time and level of assistance defined

• Process for preparing the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report

(ACFR) described

• Distinction between first-year and subsequent-year responsibilities, including changes in scope, effort, and City staff involvement.

• Responsibilities for updates, timing, and coordination with City staff clearly indicated

• Use of technology and tools to enhance audit efficiency and minimize disruption to City staff

• First-year transition approach, including coordination and continuity planning

AUDIT STAFF

• Identification of partners, supervisors, and staff assigned to the audit

• Resumes highlighting relevant governmental auditing experience

• Senior or day-to-day contact with City staff clearly identified

• Educational background and professional licenses of all assigned staff

• Preferred qualifications for senior/person in charge: CPA or experience managing governmental audits

• Continuing professional education in governmental accounting and auditing for the team (last 2 years)

• Sub-consultants: names and qualifications if applicable

• Staff rotation plans for multi-year engagements

• Affirmation that all key staff and the firm are properly licensed to practice in Texas

COST PROPOSAL

• Provide all-inclusive maximum pricing for each fiscal year

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TOTAL AVAILABLE POINTS 100

The City reserves the right to waive any irregularities, request additional information from any offeror, reject any offeror or cancel the entire process should it be deemed in the City’s best interest.

This solicitation does not commit the City to pay for any direct and/or indirect costs incurred in the preparation and presentation of a proposal. All finalist(s) shall pay their own costs incurred in preparing for their submittal, including any site travel.

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Appendix B – Proposal Preparation

A. Required Information The offeror’s proposal response to this solicitation must include information addressing all criteria listed in this Appendix for the submittal to be considered complete and to be fully evaluated by the City.

To facilitate the efficient review of the responses, offerors shall follow the instructions under the section titled Submission Format. The intent of the format requirements is to expedite review and evaluation. It is not the intent to constrain offerors regarding content, but to assure that the specific requirements set forth in this RFP are addressed in a uniform manner amenable to review and evaluation. Failure to arrange your proposal as requested may result in the disqualification.

Your proposal should be prepared in an easy to review format. Attach the documents requested below at the rear of the proposal. The response should be prepared as a straightforward concise description of a offeror’s ability to meet the requirements of this solicitation. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content. It is strongly recommended that the offeror exactly follow the content order identified in this section of the RFP, as well as use the RFP Evaluation and Award criteria for presenting general and specific qualifications.

B. Submission Format Please refrain from adding unnecessary artistic enhancements to your submittal. They will not improve your score and are simply a waste of resources.

In order for a response to this RFP to be considered complete, and to be evaluated for a contract award by the City, offeror must submit all of the following information:

1. Cover Sheet The cover page of your proposal shall be completed page 2 of this solicitation document.

2. Cover Letter A cover letter stating Proposer’s name, address and phone number, as well as the Proposer's representative's name and phone number.

3. Table of Contents A table of contents which will include a clear identification of the material by section and by page number.

4. Scope of Services Provided A scope section will clearly describe the scope of the required services to be provided, defined in terms of both financial statement examination and compliance examination.

5. Firm Profile

Provide the following information about your firm:

a. State whether the firm is local, national or international.

b. Give the location of the office from which the work is to be done and the number of partners, managers, supervisors, seniors and other professional staff employed at that office and the billing rates for each position.

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c. Provide the size of the firm, the size of the firm’s governmental audit staff, the location of the office relative to this project, the number and nature of the professional staff to be employed for this project on a full-time basis and on a part-time basis.

d. If the proposal submitted is a joint venture, the qualifications of each firm will be separately identified and the firm that is to serve as the principal auditor will be noted and single point of contact for the joint venture provided.

e. Submit one (1) copy of the report regarding their most recent external quality control review, with a statement as to whether the quality control review included a review of specific government engagements.

f. Information on the results of any federal or state desk reviews or field reviews of its audits during the past three (3) years. Information on the circumstances and status of any disciplinary action taken or pending against the firm during the past three (3) years with state regulatory bodies or professional organizations.

g. Provide audit quality metrics, including:

• Estimated partner, manager, and staff hours by percentage

• Average tenure of assigned audit team members

• Staff turnover rates on governmental audit engagements

• Summary of most recent peer review rating and year completed

6. Recent Governmental Auditing Experience

Describe recent governmental auditing experience similar to the type requested in the RFP and emphasize any local office engagements. Profile experience in preparing reports for entities participating in the GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Report Program. Provide as references the names and telephone numbers of client officials responsible for those audits for the last five years. Indicate which of these clients participated in and received GFOA's Certificate of Achievement.

7. Approach to Conducting the Audit

Describe the overall approach to conducting the audit

• Major Components & Hours: Outline all major components of the engagement, including estimated hours by staff level; separate administrative, planning, and report preparation hours from fieldwork.

• Methodology & Efficiency: Explain methods for completing audit requirements efficiently and on time, including use of City staff and any special techniques for a smooth first-year audit.

• City Staff Involvement: Identify the expected time commitment and level of assistance required from

City personnel.

• ACFR Preparation Process: Describe the process for preparing the Annual Comprehensive Financial

Report (ACFR), including coordination with City staff, responsibilities for preparation and review, and how the process differs between the first year and subsequent years.

• Responsibilities & Timing: Indicate who is responsible for updates, when updates occur, and how coordination with City staff ensures accuracy, consistency, and timely completion.

• Technology & Efficiency Tools: Describe the firm’s use of technology in the audit process, including secure client portals, electronic workpapers, data analytics, and tools used to track Prepared By Client (PBC) requests. Include how these tools improve efficiency and reduce disruption to City staff.

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• Transition Plan (First-Year Engagement): If the Proposer is not the City’s current auditor, describe the firm’s approach to transitioning the engagement, including knowledge transfer, risk assessment, coordination with prior auditors, and steps to ensure continuity and adherence to the City’s reporting timeline.

8. Audit Staff

The proposal shall identify the responsible partners and appropriate supervisors who will work on the audit.

Resumes for each key staff member shall be included, highlighting specific governmental auditing experience.

The qualifications of the staff dedicated to the City’s audit must be clearly described.

The proposal should also include:

• Staff Assignments o Names of staff directing the overall audit.

o Names of staff responsible for planning, directing, or performing a substantial portion of fieldwork or reporting.

o Identification of the staff member who will primarily handle day-to-day coordination with

City staff, such as the senior in charge.

o Educational background and professional licenses held by all assigned staff.

o Preferred qualifications for the senior or person in charge: CPA designation or substantial experience managing governmental audits.

• Professional Development o Continuing professional education in governmental accounting and auditing received by the audit team during the last two (2) years.

• Sub-Consultants o Name and qualifications of any sub-consultants who will assist the Proposer’s staff.

• Staff Rotation o Description of staff rotation plans for audit team members during the multi-year contract.

• Licensing Statement o Affirmative statement that the Proposer and all assigned key professional staff are properly registered or licensed to practice in Texas.

9. Cost Proposal

Submit a cost proposal on the form included as “Appendix C – Cost Proposal” of this RFP. Provide a schedule of charges for on-going consultation with City on auditing, accounting, and internal control matters between audit periods.

10. Experience and Qualifications

Provide information about the history of your company and detailing your experience in performing similar or same services and what professional qualifications or industry certifications the firm possesses to do the work requested.

11. Vendor References

Offeror shall provide four (4) references where Offeror has performed similar to or the same types of goods/services as described herein. Of the provided references, three (3) should be of current customers and one (1) of former customers who can discuss the quality of service your firm provides. The City prefers customers of similar size and scope of the work to this proposal.

12. Local Certifications

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Please review and complete (where applicable) Attachments I-V and return all with your proposal. If an attachment does not apply, we ask that you notate the form and still sign as acknowledgement of receipt.

C. Key Events Schedule

Deadline for Submittal of Written Questions 4:00 PM CT April 27, 2026 Sealed Response to RFP Due to & Opened by City 2:00 PM CT May 7, 2026 Anticipated Committee Review & Scoring May/June 2026 Anticipated Award Date June 2026

D. Contact

No offeror shall directly or indirectly engage in any conduct (other than the submission of the proposal or invited discussions during evaluation) to influence any employee or elected official of the City of Buda concerning award of a contract as a result of this solicitation. Violation of this policy will result in debarment from participation in future City solicitations or contracts.

E. Confidentiality of Documents

ALL PROPOSALS SUBMITTED WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT. In the event a request for public information is filed with the City, which involves a Firm or Individual’s proprietary information submitted to the City in a proposal, the Firm or Individual affected by such public information request will be notified by the City of the request in order to give the affected Firm or Individual an opportunity to respond to the request.