REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

RFQu-26-0189

FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES

CITY OF PHOENIX

FINANCE CENTRAL PROCUREMENT

251 W. WASHINGTON ST.

PHOENIX, AZ

85003

RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2026

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: May 1, 2026

RESPONSE DEADLINE: May 8, 2026, 2:00 pm

City of Phoenix

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION

RFQu-26-0189

Financial Advisory Services

1. INTRODUCTION

2. INSTRUCTIONS

3. SCOPE OF WORK

4. EVALUATION PROCESS

5. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

6. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

7. DEFENSE AND INDEMNIFICATION

8. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

9. SUBMITTALS

10. PRICING PROPOSAL

Attachments:

A - Acceptance_of_Offer_Form_2026

AAA - SAP Open Catalog Interface 5 1

Request For Qualification #RFQu-26-0189 Title: Financial Advisory Services

1. Introduction

1.1. Contact Information

Daniel Haight

Finance Central Procurement

Email: daniel.haight@phoenix.gov

Phone: (602) 495-7343

1.2. Schedule of Events

The City reserves the right to change dates, times, and locations, as necessary. The City does not always hold a Pre-Offer Conference or Site Visit. All times in the Schedule of Events are

Local Phoenix, AZ Time.

To request a reasonable accommodation or alternative format for any public meeting, please contact the Procurement Officer (Daniel Haight) at (602) 495-7343/Voice or 711/TTY, or daniel.haight@phoenix.gov, no later than five (5) business days prior to the meeting.

Solicitation Issue Date: April 17, 2026

Pre-Offer Conference (Non-Mandatory): April 22, 2026, 2:00pm

Meeting link:

https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoen ix/j.php?MTID=m3c35dcd62ec7c691e33d87

5ca3852e6c

Meeting number:

2335 400 8409

Meeting password:

DTnCZAZf674

Join from a video system or application

Dial

23354008409@cityofphoenix.webex.com

You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Join by phone

+1-415-655-0001 Toll

Access code: 23354008409

Global call-in numbers https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoen ix/globalcallin.php?MTID=m1915cfd7df0557

305467df6ea9c9e555

Written Inquiries Due Date: May 1, 2026, 2:00pm

Offer Due Date: May 8, 2026, 2:00pm https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m3c35dcd62ec7c691e33d875ca3852e6c https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m3c35dcd62ec7c691e33d875ca3852e6c https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/j.php?MTID=m3c35dcd62ec7c691e33d875ca3852e6c mailto:23354008409@cityofphoenix.webex.com http://173.243.2.68/ https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/globalcallin.php?MTID=m1915cfd7df0557305467df6ea9c9e555 https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/globalcallin.php?MTID=m1915cfd7df0557305467df6ea9c9e555 https://cityofphoenix.webex.com/cityofphoenix/globalcallin.php?MTID=m1915cfd7df0557305467df6ea9c9e555

2. Instructions

2.1. Description – Statement of Need

The City of Phoenix invites sealed offers for financial advisory services for a five-year contract commencing on or about October 1, 2026, in accordance with the specifications and provisions contained herein or the “Effective Date” which is upon award by City Council, conditioned upon signature and recording by the City Clerk’s department, as required by the Phoenix City Code, whichever is later.

This solicitation is available through the City’s Procurement Portal. For technical support issues related to the City's Procurement Portal, Offeror may use the support bubble on the bottom right, or email procurement-support@opengov.com for any assistance. For other issues related to this solicitation please contact the procurement officer listed under Contact Information.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Agreement will terminate upon the earliest occurrence: by reaching the end of the term including any extensions exercised, or termination pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement.

2.2. Background

The City of Phoenix, Arizona (the “City”) is requesting Statements of Qualifications (a “SOQ”) for the purpose of establishing a Qualified Vendor List (the “QVL”) of financial advisors (each an

“Offeror”) to provide a full range of financial advisory services to the City in connection with the

City’s management of its capital plans and borrowing programs. This list will also consolidate the expiring Financial Advisory Services and Development Impact Fee Program Support QVLs.

However, the City reserves the right to disqualify some or all of the Offerors and to qualify

Offerors to provide all or a portion of the services required

These services may include assisting the City with:

• (i) Developing long-term financial plans for its capital programs (including, determining development impact fee program support)

• (ii) Evaluating financial proposals and requests for financial assistance from developers or other entities related to infrastructure needs and assisting, if necessary, in any negotiations

• (iii) Analyzing the economic viability of special financing districts and, if viable, assisting in the establishment of and related financing required for the district

• (iv) Managing its debt program through the evaluation of refunding proposals, structuring new bond programs, and acting as a financial advisor for future bond sales. Future bond programs may be issued through the City or through nonprofit corporations issuing debt on behalf of the City. The City may issue taxable or tax-exempt debt in the form of long-term fixed rate or variable rate bonds, or commercial paper, and may enter into interest rate swaps or other appropriate derivative products.

• (v)Provide ongoing investment advisory support by updating policies, developing cash projections, reviewing performance with staff and making recommendations.

mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com

There is no guarantee that an Offeror awarded under this QVL will be hired during the term of the contract. Each Offeror’s submission of a response to this request for qualifications (“RFQu”) constitutes the Offeror’s agreement to the terms set forth herein. Additionally, based upon the

City’s need and discretion, additional procurements may be completed to expand the QVL.

2.3. Preparation of Offer

All forms provided must be completed and submitted with the Offer. The signed and completed

Conflict of Interest and Transparency form must be included or your Offer may be deemed non-responsive.

It is permissible to copy Submittal forms if necessary. Erasures, interlineations, or other modifications of the Offer must be initialed in original ink by the authorized person signing the

Offer. No offer will be altered, amended or withdrawn after the specified offer due date and time.

The City is not responsible for Offeror’s errors or omissions.

All time periods stated as a number of days will be calendar days.

It is the responsibility of all Offerors to examine the entire solicitation and seek clarification of any requirement that may not be clear and to check all responses for accuracy before submitting an offer. Negligence in preparing an offer confers no right of withdrawal after due date and time. Offerors are strongly encouraged to:

A. Consider applicable laws and/or economic conditions that may affect cost, progress, performance, or furnishing of the products or services.

B. Study and carefully correlate Offeror’s knowledge and observations with the solicitation and other related data.

C. Promptly notify the City of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities, or discrepancies that Offeror has discovered in or between the solicitation and other related documents.

D. The City does not reimburse the cost of developing, presenting or providing any response to this solicitation. Offers submitted for consideration should be prepared simply and economically, providing adequate information in a straightforward and concise manner. The Offeror is responsible for all costs incurred in responding to this solicitation. All materials and documents submitted in response to this solicitation become the property of the City and will not be returned.

E. Offerors are reminded that the specifications stated in the solicitation are the minimum level required and that offers submitted must be for products or services that meet or exceed the minimum level of all features specifically listed in this solicitation. Offers offering less than any minimum specifications or criteria specified are not responsive and should not be submitted.

F. Offer responses submitted for products considered by the seller to be acceptable alternates to the brand names or manufacturer’s catalog references specified herein must be submitted with technical literature and/or detailed product brochures for the

City’s use to evaluate the products offered. Offers submitted without this product information may be considered as non-responsive and rejected. The City will be the sole judge as to the acceptability of alternate products offered.

G. Prices will be submitted on a per unit basis by line item, when applicable. In the event of a disparity between the unit price and extended price, the unit price will prevail unless obviously in error.

2.4. Fixed Offer Price Period

All offers shall be firm and fixed for a period of 180 calendar days from the solicitation opening date.

2.5. Obtaining a Copy of the Solicitation and Addenda

Interested Offerors may download the complete solicitation and addenda from the City's

Procurement Portal: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550. Any interested Offerors without internet access may obtain this solicitation by calling the

Procurement Officer or picking up a copy during regular business hours at the City of Phoenix, Finance Department, Central Procurement Division, 251 W Washington Street, 8th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003. It is the Offeror’s responsibility to check the City's Procurement Portal, read the entire solicitation, and verify all required information is submitted with their Offer.

2.6. Exceptions

Offeror must not take any exceptions to any terms, conditions or material requirements of this solicitation. Offers submitted with exceptions may be deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration in the City’s sole discretion. Offerors must conform to all the requirements specified in the solicitation. The City encourages Offerors to send inquiries to the

Procurement Officer rather than including exceptions in their Offer.

2.7. Inquiries

All questions that arise relating to this solicitation should be directed via City’s Procurement

Portal and must be received by the due date indicated in the Schedule of Events. The City will not consider questions received after the deadline.

No informal contact initiated by Offerors on the proposed service will be allowed with members of City’s staff from date of distribution of this solicitation until after city council awards the contract. All questions concerning or issues related to this solicitation must be presented in writing.

The Procurement Officer will answer written inquiries in an addendum and publish any addenda on the City’s Procurement Portal.

2.8. Addenda

The City of Phoenix will not be responsible for any oral instructions made by any employees or officers of the City of Phoenix regarding this solicitation. Any changes will be in the form of an addendum. The Offeror must acknowledge receipt of any/all addenda through the City's

Procurement Portal.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550

Changes to terms and conditions of the Solicitation and resulting Agreement made pursuant to an addendum shall be memorialized in the Solicitation and resulting Agreement document. To that end, a parenthetical will be added to applicable provision(s) referencing the addendum that imposed the change. The language in the final provision will reflect the updated version.

2.9. Licenses

If required by law for the operation of the business or work related to this Offer, Offeror must possess all valid certifications and/or licenses as required by federal, state or local laws at the time of submittal.

2.10. Certifications

By signature in the Offer section of the Offer and Acceptance page(s), Offeror certifies:

• The submission of the Offer did not involve collusion or other anti-competitive practices.

• The Offeror must not discriminate against any employee, or applicant for employment in violation of Federal or State Law.

• The Offeror has not given, offered to give, nor intends to give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant in connection with the submitted Offer.

2.11. Submission of Offer

Offers must be in possession of the Department on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events. Late offers will not be considered. The prevailing clock will be the

City Department’s clock.

Offers should be submitted electronically via the City’s Procurement Portal by clicking on “Draft

Response” via https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550. Offerors that are unable to submit electronically should contact the Procurement Officer to discuss the logistics of hard copy submittals. Offerors must be registered with OpenGov by signing up via https://procurement.opengov.com/signup. Vendor training guides can be found at: https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

Any original documents (such as bonds, guaranties, powers of attorney), if required by the solicitation, must be separately delivered to and received by the City on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events, with a clear indication of the Offer for which it is attributed.

It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the Offer is timely and to confirm that there are no technical reasons that any offer submitted electronically may be delayed. The date and time on the upload as received/stamped by the City’s Procurement Portal will provide proof of submission and verification whether the Offer was received on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events.

For assistance with submittals, vendors are welcome to use the OpenGov support chat (blue chat bubble in the bottom right corner) to connect with a member of OpenGov's support team who will be able to assist you with your submission.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550 https://procurement.opengov.com/signup https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

Please DO NOT submit links to Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, or similar services. Your offer may be deemed non-responsive if your offer is supplied utilizing these services.

2.12. Withdrawal of Offer

At any time prior to the solicitation due date and time, an Offeror (or designated representative) may withdraw the Offer by clicking “Unsubmit Response” on the Offer submission via the City’s

Procurement Portal.

2.13. Offer Results

Offers will be opened on the offer due date, time and location indicated in the Schedule of

Events, at which time the name of each Offeror, and the prices may be read. Offers and other information received in response to the solicitation will be shown only to authorized City personnel having a legitimate interest in them or persons assisting the City in the evaluation.

Offers are not available for public inspection until after the City has posted the award recommendation on the City's Procurement Portal.

The City will post a preliminary offer tabulation on the City's Procurement

Portal: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550 within five business days of the offer opening. The City will post the information on the preliminary tabulation as it was read during the offer opening. The City makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information on the preliminary tabulation. Once the City has evaluated the offers, the City will post an award recommendation on the City's Procurement Portal. By signing and submitting its

Offer, each Offeror agrees that this posting of the award recommendation to the City's

Procurement Portal effectively serves as the Offeror’s receipt of that notice of award recommendation. The City has no obligation to provide any further notification to unsuccessful

Offerors.

2.14. Minimum Qualifications

The qualified and responsive Offeror must meet all minimum qualifications listed below. Should an Offeror fail to meet one of the minimum qualifications identified, the Offer will be disqualified as non-responsive. The Offeror must:

• Offeror must have been in operation a minimum of 5 years. The Offeror’s normal business activity during the past 5 years will have been for providing the goods or services in this solicitation.

• Offerors applying for any Financial Advisory or Municipal Advisory Service category must be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) as a Municipal Advisor, and must employ personnel licensed as Series 50 Municipal Advisor Representatives or Series 54

Municipal Advisor Principals.

• Offerors applying for Investment Advisory Services must employ personnel licensed as Series 7, Series 65, or Series 66. Upon notification of a recommended award, the

Offeror will have 14 calendar days to submit a complete certificate of insurance in the minimum amounts and the coverages as required in the Insurance Requirements of this agreement. Insurance requirements are non-negotiable.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/223550

2.15. Evaluation and Selection

After evaluating all submissions, the City may ask some or all the firms that submitted a response to participate in interviews. Upon completion of the evaluation process, the City may assign a detailed scope of work to the selected candidate and negotiate fees for services.

RFQu responses should be concise, well-organized per the requested information, clearly written and limited to no more than N/A pages including resumes. The review process places considerable emphasis on the responsiveness of the RFQu response to the requirements outlined above. RFQu responses that are not written specifically in response to this request cannot receive serious consideration.

All RFQu responses will be evaluated based on the criteria listed above in the Qualifications

Section of this RFQu.

The firms under consideration for this RFQu, will be evaluated in accordance with the solicitation by an Evaluation Committee and/or the Procurement Officer. The City reserves the right to request supplemental information that the Evaluation Committee deems necessary to make a selection. The Committee may be supplemented by outside professionals or professionals from other City departments who can provide additional expertise.

2.16. Agreement

The City will require the selected Offeror to participate in negotiations and to submit such cost, technical or other revisions of the submittals as may result from negotiations. The City shall draft all final contracts and documents that result from this RFQu.

The language contained in this RFQu and the Offeror's statement of qualifications will form the basis of any resulting Contract. However, this RFQu does not commit the City to enter a

Contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a submittal to this request or in subsequent negotiations, or to procure a contract for the project(s).

2.17. Certificates of Insurance

Upon notification of a recommended award, the Offeror will have 14 calendar days to submit a complete certificate of insurance in the minimum amounts and the coverages as required in the

Insurance Requirements of this solicitation. Insurance requirements are non-negotiable.

2.18. Award of Contract

Unless otherwise indicated, award(s) will be made to responsive, responsible Offeror(s) who are regularly established in the service, or providing the goods, contained in this solicitation and who have demonstrated the ability to perform in an acceptable manner.

A. Factors that may be considered by the City include:

1. Technical capability of the Offeror to accomplish the scope of work required in the

Solicitation. This may include performance history on past and current government or industrial contracts; and,

2. Demonstrated availability of the necessary manpower (both supervisory and operational personnel) and necessary equipment to accomplish the scope of work in the Solicitation; and,

3. Safety record; and,

4. Offeror history of complaints and termination for convenience or cause.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this solicitation, the City reserves the right to: (1) waive any immaterial defect or informality; or (2) reject any or all offers or portions thereof; or (3) reissue a solicitation.

C. A response to a solicitation is an offer to contract with the City based upon the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in the City’s solicitation. Offers do not become contracts until they are executed by the Chief Procurement Officer or Department

Director. A contract has its inception in the award, eliminating a formal signing of a separate contract. For that reason, all of the terms, conditions and specifications of the procurement contract are contained in the solicitation, and in any addendum or contract amendment.

2.19. Solicitation Transparency Policy

Commencing on the date and time a solicitation is published, potential or actual Offerors or respondents (including their representatives) shall only discuss matters associated with the solicitation with the Mayor, any members of City Council, the City Manager, any Deputy City

Manager, or any department director directly associated with the solicitation (including in each case their assigned staff, except for the designated Procurement Officer) at a public meeting, posted under Arizona Statutes, until the resulting contract(s) are awarded to all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the

Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or similar solicitation.

As long as the solicitation is not discussed, Offerors may continue to conduct business with the

City and discuss business that is unrelated to the solicitation with the City staff. Offerors may not discuss the solicitation with any City employees or evaluation panel members.

Offerors may discuss their proposal or the solicitation with the Mayor or one or more members of the Phoenix City Council, provided such meetings are scheduled through the Procurement

Officer, and are posted as open meetings with the City Clerk at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled meetings. The City Clerk will be responsible for posting the meetings. The posted notice shall identify the participants and the subject matter, as well as invite the public to participate.

With respect to the selection of the successful Offerors, the City Manager and/or City Manager's

Office will continue the past practice of exerting no undue influence on the process. In all solicitations of bids and proposals, any direction on the selection from the City Manager and/or

City Manager's Office and Department Head (or representative) to the proposal review panel or selecting authority must be provided in writing to all prospective Offerors.

This policy is intended to create a level playing field for all Offerors, assure that contracts are awarded in public, and protect the integrity of the selection process. OFFERORS THAT

VIOLATE THIS POLICY SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED. After official Notice is received by the City for disqualification, the Offeror may follow the Protest process, unless the Solicitation is cancelled without notice of intent to re-issue.

“To discuss” means any contact by the Offeror, regardless of whether the City responds to the contact. Offerors that violate this policy will be disqualified until the resulting contract(s) are awarded, or all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or a similar solicitation. The City interprets the policy as continuing through a cancellation of a solicitation until Council award of the contract, as long as the City cancels with a statement that the City will rebid the solicitation.

2.20. Protest Process

Offeror may protest the contents of a solicitation no later than seven days before the solicitation deadline when the protest is based on an apparent alleged mistake, impropriety or defect in the solicitation. Protests filed regarding the solicitation may be addressed by an amendment to the solicitation or denied by the City. If denied, the opening and award will proceed unless the City determines that it is in the City’s best interests to set new deadlines, amend the solicitation, cancel or re-bid.

Therefore, unless otherwise notified by a formal amendment, the Protester must adhere to all solicitation dates and deadlines, including timely filing of an offer, regardless of filing a protest.

Offeror may protest an adverse determination issued by the City regarding responsibility and responsiveness, within seven days of the date the Offeror was notified of the adverse determination.

Offeror may protest an award recommendation if the Offeror can establish that it had a substantial chance of being awarded the contract and will be harmed by the recommended award. The City will post recommendations on the City’s Procurement Portal to award the contract(s) to an Offeror(s). Offeror must submit award protests within seven days after the posting of the award recommendation, with exceptions only for good cause shown, within the

City’s full and final discretion.

All protests will be in writing, filed with the Procurement Officer identified in the solicitation and include the following:

• Identification of the solicitation number;

• The name, address and telephone number of the protester;

• A detailed statement describing the legal and factual grounds for the protest, including copies of relevant documents;

• The form of relief requested; and

• The signature of the protester or its authorized representative.

The Procurement Officer will render a written decision within a reasonable period after the protest is filed. The City will not request City Council authorization to award the contract until the protest process is complete. All protests and appeals must be submitted in accordance with the

City’s Procurement Code, (Phoenix City Code, Ch. 43) and any protests or appeals not submitted within the time requirements will not be considered. Protests must be filed with the

Procurement Officer.

2.21. Public Record

All Offers submitted in response to this solicitation will become the property of the City and become a matter of public record available for review pursuant to Arizona State law. If an

Offeror believes that a specific section of its Offer response is confidential, the Offeror will isolate the pages marked confidential in a specific and clearly labeled section of its Offer response. An Offeror may request specific information contained within its Offer is treated by the

Procurement Officer as confidential provided the Offeror clearly labels the information

“confidential.” To the extent necessary for the evaluation process, information marked as

“confidential” will not be treated as confidential. Once the procurement file becomes available for public inspection, the Procurement Officer will not make any information identified by the

Offerors as “confidential” available to the public unless necessary to support the evaluation process or if specifically requested in accordance with applicable public records law. When a public records request for such information is received, the Procurement Officer will notify the

Offeror in writing of any request to view any portion of its Offer marked “confidential.” The

Offeror will have the time set forth in the notice to obtain a court order enjoining such disclosure.

If the Offeror does not provide the Procurement Officer with a court order enjoining release of the information during the designated time, the Procurement Officer will make the information requested available for inspection.

2.22. Late Offers

Late Offers must be rejected, except for good cause. If a late Offer is submitted, the Department will document the date and time of the submittal of the late Offer, keep the Offer and notify the

Offeror that its Offer was disqualified for being a late Offer.

2.23. Right to Disqualify

The City reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror who fails to provide information or data requested or who provides materially inaccurate or misleading information or data. The City further reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror on the basis of any real or apparent conflict of interest that is disclosed by the Offer submitted or any other data or information available to the

City. This disqualification is at the sole discretion of the City. By submission of a solicitation response, the Offeror waives any right to object now or at any future time, before any agency or body including, but not limited to, the City Council of the City or any court as to the exercise by the City of such right to disqualify or as to any disqualification by reason of real or apparent conflict of interest determined by the City. The City reserves the right to replace the disqualified

Offeror.

2.24. Contract Award

The City reserves the right to award a contract by individual line items, by group, all or none, or any other combination most advantageous to the City. The City reserves the right to award multiple contracts.

2.25. Determining Responsiveness and Responsibility

Offers will be reviewed for documentation of minimum qualifications, completeness, and compliance with the Solicitation requirements. The City reserves sole discretion to determine responsiveness and responsibility.

Responsiveness: Nonresponsive Offers will not be considered in the evaluation process. The solicitation states criteria that determine responsiveness, and the solicitation includes terms and conditions that if included or excluded from Offers (as the case may be) will render an Offer nonresponsive.

Exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings are presumed to be unacceptable, and an Offer that includes unacceptable exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings may be rejected as nonresponsive. Alternatively, the City in its sole discretion may instruct in writing that any Offeror remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so in writing, the City may determine the Offer to be nonresponsive.

Responsibility: To obtain true economy, the City must conduct solicitations to minimize the possibility of a subsequent default by the Contractor, late deliveries, or other unsatisfactory performance that may result in additional administrative costs. It is important that the Offeror be a responsible Contractor. Responsibility includes the Offeror’s integrity, skill, capacity, experience, and facilities for conducting the work to be performed.

The Procurement Officer will review each Offer to determine if the Offeror is responsible. The

City’s determination as to whether an Offeror is responsible will be based on all information furnished by the Offeror, interviews (if any), and information received from Offeror’s references, including information about Offeror’s history, terminations for convenience or cause, contract breach lawsuits or notices of claim and any other sources the City deems appropriate. Award of the Contract resulting from the solicitation will not be made until any necessary investigation, which each Offeror agrees to permit by submitting its Offer, is made by the City as it deems necessary. A review of responsibility may occur up to contract award.

The Offeror’s unreasonable failure to promptly supply information about an inquiry with respect to responsibility may be grounds for a determination of non-responsibility with respect to such

Offeror.

2.26. Evaluation of Competitive Sealed Offers

The City will use its discretion in applying the following processes to this solicitation. Any ties in scoring will be resolved with a best and final price request and the lowest price will prevail.

2.27. Detailed Evaluation of Offers and Determination of Competitive Range

During deliberations, the Evaluation Panel will reach a consensus score for each evaluation criterion except price. The Procurement Officer will score the price, which will be added to the overall consensus score. The overall consensus scores will determine the Offerors’ rankings and which offers are within the Competitive Range, when appropriate.

2.28. Offers Not Within the Competitive Range

The City may notify Offerors of Offers that the City determined are not in the Competitive

Range.

2.29. Discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range

The City will notify each Offeror whose Offer is in the Competitive Range or made the ‘short list’ and provide in writing any questions or requests for clarification to the Offeror. Each Offeror so notified may be interviewed by the City and asked to discuss answers to written or oral questions or provide clarifications to any facet of its Offer. The Offerors in the competitive range may be required to provide a demonstration of their product.

Demonstrations - Offerors in the competitive range may be invited to construct a hands-on sample or presentation of their solution at the City of Phoenix. In addition, each finalist may prepare and deliver a presentation of their proposed solution based on the script developed by the evaluation panel. The City may also require a hands-on lab demonstration designed specifically for the evaluation panel. The results of the surveys will be tabulated and delivered to the evaluation team for the final review and solution selection session(s).

If an Offer in the Competitive Range contains conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings to or about any Contract or Solicitation Scope requirement, the City may discuss or negotiate the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings during these meetings. But the City in its sole discretion may reject any and all conditions, exceptions, reservations and understandings, and the City may instruct any Offeror to remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so, the City may determine the Offer is nonresponsive, and the City may revoke its determination that the Offer is in the Competitive Range.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the City will not provide any information, financial or otherwise, to any Offeror about other Offers received in response to this solicitation. During discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range, the City will not give Offerors specific prices or specific financial requirements that Offerors must meet to qualify for further consideration.

The City may state that proposed prices are too high with respect to the marketplace or otherwise unacceptable. Offerors will not be told of their relative rankings before Contract award.

2.30. Best and Final Offers (BAFO)

A BAFO is an option available for negotiations. Each Offeror in the Competitive Range, which is determined in the City’s sole discretion, may be afforded the opportunity to amend its Offer and make one BAFO.

If an Offeror’s BAFO modifies its initial Offer, the modifications must be identified in the BAFO.

The City will evaluate BAFOs based on the same requirements and criteria applicable to initial

Offers. The City will adjust appropriately the initial scores for criteria that have been affected by offer modifications made by a BAFO. Based on the criteria defined in the solicitation as weighted, the City will then perform final scoring and prepare final rankings.

The Evaluation Panel will recommend the Offer that is the best value and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria.

The City reserves the right to make an award to an Offeror whose Offer is the highest rated, best value, and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria, without conducting written or oral discussions with any Offeror, without negotiations, and without soliciting BAFOs.

3. Scope of Work

3.1. Service Overview

The scope of services required by the City covers the entire spectrum of services customarily provided to governmental entities by financial advisors in the area of capital planning and the issuance of debt. The types of services requested under this RFQu fall into the four general categories listed below. Respondents may request in their SOQ to be qualified for any or all of the following four general types of financial services. Offerors to this RFQu may be selected to assist in providing services that include, but are not limited to, the following, as determined by the City’s Chief Financial Officer or her designee:

• Long-term Financial and Capital Planning (and development impact fee program support);

• Evaluation of Developer Proposals and assisting the city in any negotiation process;

• Feasibility Analysis and Implementation of Special Financing Districts;

• Advisory Services Related to Debt Financing

• Investment Services

3.2. Scope of Services

Contract shall provide:

A. Financial Advisory Services related to Long-term Financial and Capital Planning and

Feasibility Analysis (and development impact fee program support)

1. Work with City staff on developing long-term financial plans necessary to develop capital programs for various City departments.

2. Provide experience related to development impact fee program updates, modeling, and related feasibility analyses if applicable.

B. Financial Advisory Services related to Evaluation of Developer Proposals and assisting the City in any negotiation process

1. Assist City staff in reviewing financial proposals, pro formas and requests for financial assistance from developers or other entities related to infrastructure needs, including assisting the City in any necessary negotiations

2. Support the City in projects related to development financing, reimbursements, special districts, or public-private partnership structures.

C. Financial Advisory Services related to Implementation of Special Financing Districts

1. Provide the necessary financial advisory services to assist the City in the evaluation and possible implementation of special financing districts to fund infrastructure for new development or in redevelopment areas such as community facility districts, special assessment districts or other similar entities.

2. Assist with feasibility analysis, financial modeling, and documentation required to support implementation of such districts.

D. Municipal Advisory Services Related to Debt Financing

1. Review debt financing or refunding proposals submitted by underwriters and make recommendations to the City regarding the proposals.

2. Work with City staff, underwriters, consultants, and bond counsel to develop and initiate plans of finance, including the structuring, terms and conditions of potential debt offerings and/or swap/derivative transactions.

3. Assist in the preparation of preliminary and final official statements and offering memoranda and such other documentation as may be required for the marketing and issuance of securities and the execution of related financing transactions.

4. Assist with the preparation for, and participate in, information meetings and conference calls with prospective investors and credit enhancement providers and others, as appropriate, prior to the issuance of debt.

5. Assist with the preparation for, and participate in, presentations, discussions, meetings and conference calls with credit rating agencies as appropriate for the issuance of debt or the execution of financing transactions/programs.

6. Serve as pricing agent on the City’s behalf in the pricing of bonds for negotiated bond sales and facilitate and coordinate with all the entities necessary to assist the City in the execution of competitive bond sales.

7. In a competitive bond sale, assist the City with the notice of sale, advertise the notice of sale, provide pre-pricing market research, prepare and distribute the bid forms and evaluate the bids received.

8. Assist in the preparation for, and the execution of, the closings of financing transactions.

9. Confirming and/or validating bond covenants and/or additional bonds tests

10. Pricing for each project will be negotiated and agreed upon based on its unique requirements. Projects to include:

a. General Obligation Bonds

b. Excise Tax Revenue Bonds

c. Transportation Excise Tax Revenue Bonds

d. Water Revenue Bonds

e. Airport Revenue Bonds

E. Investment Advisory Services

1. Assist in updating the City's investing guidelines to create a more comprehensive investment policy, potential development of a more detailed cash budget and cash projections and development of additional benchmarks.

2. Meet with City personnel to review and evaluate the updated investment policy, cash budgeting and projection methodologies, and benchmark structures; provide recommendations to staff and management.

3. Meet quarterly with City personnel to review operations and performance of the City’s

Investment and Cash Management Program, and provide ongoing recommendations for improvement.

4. Provide investment consultation and support, including timely responses to questions from the City.

3.3. Contractor Requirements

A. The City reserves the right to request replacement of Contractor personnel.

B. Contractors must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) regulations and Security and

Exchanges Commission (SEC) rules governing municipal advisory services.

C. Contractor shall ensure that all personnel assigned to the City’s engagement possess the necessary qualifications, licenses, and expertise. Substitutions of key personnel require prior written approval from the City.

D. Contractor shall respond to City requests within a timeframe mutually agreed upon or required by City staff. Failure to meet agreed-upon timelines may be grounds for termination or reassignment.

E. Contractor shall disclose any financial relationships with firms that may participate in

City-related transactions, including developers, underwriters, credit providers, or financial institutions.

F. Contractor shall provide complete documentation supporting all recommendations, analyses, assumptions, and financial models. Deliverables must be presented in a format that allows City staff to understand, replicate, and audit the underlying data and methodology.

3.4. Contractor Compliance

A. Offeror shall maintain all licenses required to complete the services for which it is qualified.

1. Offeror shall notify the City immediately in writing in the event that it is no longer licensed or authorized to act as a financial advisor for municipal debt within the state of Arizona.

B. Offeror shall not provide financial advisory services to the City for any debt issuance, if it has any profit sharing or other type of agreement with any member of the underwriting syndicate for the transaction. No agreement will be permitted that would compromise a

Offeror’s ability to provide independent advice or that could be reasonably perceived by the City as a conflict of interest. Financial advisors must alert the City’s Chief Financial

Officer, in writing, of any conflict, potential conflict, or potentially perceived conflict prior to entering into an agreement with the City, or if occurring after entering into an agreement with the City, as soon as the conflict, potential conflict, or potentially perceived conflict arises.

C. Contractors must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) regulations and Security and

Exchanges Commission (SEC) rules governing municipal advisory services.

D. Offerors selected to provide financial advisory services to the City in connection with the issuance of debt agrees that, under no circumstances will it participate as the lead underwriter or as a member of an underwriter syndicate for any transaction on which the

Offeror is acting as the financial advisor.

3.5. Assignment of Work

A. The City shall issue a request for bid to the qualified vendors list when the City is requiring services. The request for bid shall the type of service needed and project scope, in some special circumstances a timeline.

B. The Contractor(s) shall submit a written or electronic mail cost estimate for the specified services.

C. The City shall notify the vendor in writing by means of an Engagement Letter once authorized to proceed with the specified work.

1. Work shall not proceed until the issuance of a purchase order by the City.

2. Any change with the purchase order defining and limiting the work and compensation must be authorized by the City in advance.

D. The City shall reserve the right to assign services to any of the Contractors on the City’s

List of Approved Qualified Vendors.

4. Evaluation Criteria

In accordance with the Administrative Regulation 3.10, Competitive Sealed Proposal awards shall be made to the responsive and responsible Offeror(s) whose Offer is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the City based upon the evaluation criteria listed below.

The evaluation factors are listed in the relative order of importance and more details are provided in Scope of Work. The Weight (Points) for each Evaluation Criteria are the maximum points that may be assigned for that Criteria. The following evaluation criteria will be used to evaluate all Offers:

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Experience and Knowledge - Q1

Describe the Offeror’s experience in relation to the five-year minimum qualification requirement and provide an overview of the firm, including its organizational structure, major services provided, total number of employees, legal structure and ownership.

(Section 2.14)

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total)

2. Experience and Knowledge - Q2

A. Offeror must describe all acquisitions, consolidations, and mergers involving the firm within the past twenty-four months, including any pending transactions, and discuss any impact these may have on the service categories for which the

Offeror is applying.

B. Offer must provide the status of such transaction and the effect such transaction has had or is expected to have on the firm.

C. Offeror must discuss the impact such transactions are likely to have on the services provided to the City.

(SOW 3.2)

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total)

3. Experience and Knowledge - Q3

Offeror must provide the firm's most current and prior year financial statements showing the firm's assets, liabilities and net worth.

At a minimum, the Offeror must include the

Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial

Position), Income Statement (Statement of

Operations) and the Retained Earnings

Statement. If available, audited financial statements issued within the last twelve months should be submitted.

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total)

4. Experience and Knowledge - Q4

Offeror must identify whether the firm or any of its directors, officers or employees is currently, or in the past has been the subject of an investigation or inquiry by any governmental or regulatory agency relating to the sale, purchase, marketing or other activity related to the securities industry.

Indicate if the firm or any of its directors, officers or employees has been a defendant, or had a claim made against them, in any court of law or in any way related to participation of the firm’s directors, officers or employees in the securities industry, and if so, describe that litigation or claim and its outcome. (SOW

3.4)

5. Experience and Knowledge - Q5

Offeror must confirm that the firm has been in compliance, at all times within the last three years, with all applicable Municipal

Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and

Securities and Exchange Commission

(SEC) rules.

If not, the Offeror must explain the non-compliance and if the firm was sanction or fined as a result of such non-compliance.(SOW 3.4.C)

Compliance will be verified through

Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/) and

FINRA Broker Check

(https://brokercheck.finra.org/)

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total) https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/) https://brokercheck.finra.org/

6. Experience and Knowledge - Q6

Offeror shall disclose if there exists any relationship between the firm and any other non-affiliated firm(s) involving compensation that may be in effect if the firm is selected to provide financial advisory services. If so, the Offeror must provide an explanation. (SOW 3.4)

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total)

7. Personnel - Q1

Offeror shall describe its staffing plan and proposed engagement team, indicate whether staffing will vary by service category, and explain how its staffing resources will ensure timely response to

City requests.

(SOW 3.3.E)

0-100 Points 100 (10% of Total)

8. Personnel - Q2

Describe the Offeror’s key personnel, their responsibilities, and the service categories in which they will operate.

(SOW 3.2)

Provide an organizational chart that identifies key project personnel by name and title.

9. Service Category Experience

Provide a response to the applicable service categories applied for (SOW 3.2):

Service Category A: Financial Advisory

Services related to Long-term Financial and Capital Planning and Feasibility

Analysis

1.) Describe Offeror’s experience in developing long-term (five or more years) financial or capital planning analyses for governmental entities. Specifically list the types of long term financial plans developed and the purpose or circumstance for their development.

Service Category B: Financial Advisory

Services related to Evaluation of

Developer Proposals

1.) Describe Offeror’s experience in assisting governmental entities in evaluating developer proposals that require some type of participation from the governmental entity, financial or otherwise.

If Offeror assisted or acted on behalf of the governmental entity in negotiations, please indicate.

2.) In no more than 2 paragraphs, describe the participation requested by the developer, the Offeror’s role in that participation, and identify any governmental entity…