RFP_2024-GEN-0435,_Review_and_Update_of_Various_Special_Districts_Administered_Impact_Fee_Programs.pdf

Community Services Agency Department of Community Development

Engineering Division - Special Districts Section

Request for Proposal

Review and Update of Various Special Districts Administered Impact Fee Programs

RFP publish date: November 2024

Table of Contents 1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of RFP

1.2 Background

1.3 Scope of work

2 General Rules

2.1 RFP overview

2.2 Estimated timeline and extension of time

2.3 Proposal format and content

2.4 Proposal submission

2.5 Questions and communication

2.6 Addenda

2.7 County’s right to withdraw, cancel, suspend and/or modify RFP

2.8 Proposer’s right to edit or cancel proposal

2.9 Proposals will not be returned

2.10 Public disclosure of proposal documents

2.11 Proposer’s costs

2.12 Proposer’s ideas

2.13 Collusion

2.14 Conflict of interest

3 Evaluation and Selection

3.1 Proposal evaluation and recommendation for selection

3.2 Evaluation of responsiveness

3.3 Evaluation of responsibility

3.4 Evaluation panel and evaluation:

3.5 Interviews

3.6 Execution of contract

4 Attachments

Attachment 1 – Scope of work

Attachment 2 – Proposal format and content

Attachment 3 – County of Sacramento Standard Consulting Agreement

Attachment 4 – Written Agreement to Indemnify for Release of Proprietary Information

1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of RFP

The County of Sacramento (“County”), is soliciting proposals from a qualified consultant to evaluate and update the impact fee programs listed below. The proposed efforts may include updating of the various fee programs and associated nexus studies pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act (California Government Code Section 66000 et seq.) and other legislative requirements.

Fee Programs:

1. Antelope Fee Program

2. Vineyard Fee Program

3. Mather Fee Program

4. North Vineyard Station Fee Program

5. Florin Vineyard Community Plan Fee Program

6. Library Facilities Fee Program

7. Consumnes Community Services District Fire Fee Program

1.2 Background

The Mitigation Fee Act as described in California Government Code Sections 66000-66009 et.al. requires that local agencies establish a clear connection, “nexus,” between the fees charged and the public services or infrastructure improvements needed to support new development. An updated nexus study ensures compliance with these legal standards, reducing the risk of challenges over the fee program.

The Mitigation Fee Act and current legislation require regular updates to nexus studies for impact fee programs to ensure legal compliance, reflect changing conditions, incorporate new laws, justify fees, promote equity, enhance transparency, and support effective planning. These updates are vital for creating sustainable, well-planned communities that meet the needs of both current residents and future developments.

The Department of Community Development Special Districts Section is seeking a Request for Proposal (RFP) to review, evaluate, and update the various impact fee programs.

1.3 Scope of work

See Attachment 1.

2 General Rules

2.1 RFP overview

This Request for Proposals (“RFP”) is an invitation for Proposers to submit a proposal to the County. This RFP does not commit the County to award a contract to any respondent/proposer. Submission of a proposal shall neither obligate nor entitle a Proposer to enter into a contract with the County.

2.2 Estimated timeline and extension of time

Please refer to OpenGov Procurement for all Timelines related to this RFP.

These dates are subject to revision or cancellation by the County in its sole and absolute discretion.

2.3 Proposal format and content

When submitting a proposal, Proposers must follow the format and contents detailed in Attachment 2. Failure to do so will likely prolong the evaluation process and could result in a proposal not being considered.

2.4 Proposal submission

Please refer to OpenGov Procurement, Project Details for instructions on electronic submittal. Hardcopy submissions will not be accepted.

Failure to submit a proposal on time may be grounds for rejection of the proposal; however, the County reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to accept proposals after the proposal due date.

2.5 Questions and communication

Questions concerning this RFP should be submitted in writing via OpenGov Procurement and received by the stated deadline. Questions submitted via e-mail or phone may not be considered nor responded to.

2.6 Addenda

The County reserves the right to modify the RFP at any time prior to the proposal due date. The County will modify the RFP only by formal written addenda. Proposer’s proposal should be based on this RFP document and any formal written addenda. Proposers should not rely on oral statements.

Addenda will be posted in OpenGov Procurement It is the responsibility of each prospective Proposer to assure receipt of all addenda.

2.7 County’s right to withdraw, cancel, suspend and/or modify RFP The County reserves the right to withdraw, cancel, suspend, and/or modify this RFP for any reason and at any time with no liability to any prospective Proposer for any costs or expenses incurred in connection with the RFP or otherwise.

2.8 Proposer’s right to edit or cancel proposal

A proposal may be edited or withdrawn prior to the proposal due date.

Proposers may contact the project manager to provide an edited proposal or to withdraw a proposal prior to the due date.

2.9 Proposals will not be returned

Upon submission, proposals will not be returned.

2.10 Public disclosure of proposal documents

The County will treat all information submitted in a proposal as available for public inspection once negotiations with the selected party have been completed. If copies of proposals are included with Board materials, the County will make proposals available for public inspection once staff has made a recommendation for award.

If a Proposer believes protected data is included in its proposal, the Proposer shall clearly identify the data and provide the legal basis in support of the asserted classification. Proposer must present such information separately as part of its proposal OR type in bold red letters the term “CONFIDENTIAL” on that specific part or page of the Proposal which Proposer believes to be confidential. Classification of data as trade secret data will be determined pursuant to applicable law, and, accordingly, merely labeling data as “trade secret” does not necessarily make the data protected as such under any applicable law.

In order for the County to assert the confidentiality of any such information in the event a Public Record Act request is received, the Proposer must request, execute and submit a County-prepared written agreement to defend and indemnify the County for any liability, costs and expenses incurred in asserting such confidentiality as part of the proposal. A copy of that written agreement is attached as Attachment 4.

The final determination of whether the County will assert a Proposer’s claim of confidentiality shall be at the sole discretion of the County. Any information determined to be non-confidential shall be considered public record. If the County determines that your information does not meet the criteria for confidentiality, you will be notified of the County’s intent to release the public record pursuant to any Public Records Act request.

The Proposer agrees, as a condition of submitting its proposal, that the County will not, as between the parties, be liable or accountable for any loss or damage, which may result from a breach of confidentiality related to the proposal. The Proposer agrees to indemnify and hold the County, its officials, agents, and employees harmless from all claims arising out of, resulting from, or in any manner attributable to any violation of any provision of the California Public Records Act, including legal fees and disbursements paid or incurred to enforce this provision.

2.11 Proposer’s costs

The County shall not be responsible for any costs incurred by Proposer in connection with this RFP. Proposer shall bear all costs associated with proposal preparation, submission, and attendance at interviews, or any other activity associated with this RFP or otherwise.

2.12 Proposer’s ideas

To the extent permitted by law, the County reserves the right to use any or all ideas, concepts, or other information provided in any proposals. Selection or rejection of the Proposal does not affect this right.

2.13 Collusion

If the County determines that collusion has occurred among Proposers, none of the proposals of the participants involved in the collusion shall be considered. The County’s determination shall be final.

2.14 Conflict of interest

The Proposer affirms that to the best of its knowledge the submission of its Proposal, or any resulting contract, does not present an actual or perceived conflict of interest. The Proposer agrees that should any actual or perceived conflict of interest become known, it will immediately notify the County and will advise whether it will or will not avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the conflict of interest.

The County may make reasonable efforts to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize a conflict of interest by a Proposer. To avoid a conflict of interest by a Proposer, the County may utilize methods including disqualifying a Proposer from eligibility for a contract award or cancelling the contract if the conflict is discovered after a contract has been issued. The County may, at its sole and absolute discretion, waive any conflict of interest.

3 Evaluation and Selection

3.1 Proposal evaluation and recommendation for selection

The County reserves the following rights, to be exercised in the County’s sole and absolute discretion: 1) to determine whether any aspect of a proposal satisfactorily meets the criteria established in this RFP; 2) to seek clarification or additional information from any Proposer; 3) to negotiate, sequentially or simultaneously, pricing and/or terms with any Proposer or vendor; 4) to reject any or all proposals with or without cause; 5) to waive any irregularities or informalities in a proposal; 6) to cancel or amend by addenda this RFP, in part or entirely; and 7) to award multiple contracts to Proposers.

Evaluation of proposals by a selection committee, evaluation panel, County staff, a technical advisory committee, or by another group, individual or entity is advisory only. The County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors or its designee may consider or reject such evaluation(s) for any or all proposals. Such evaluations are for the sole benefit of the County of Sacramento Board of Supervisors or its designee, and as such, they are not binding upon the County, nor may they be relied upon in any way by a Proposer.

3.2 Evaluation of responsiveness

The County will consider all the material submitted by the Proposer to determine whether the Proposer’s offer is in compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP. Proposals that do not comply with the provisions in this RFP may be considered nonresponsive and may be rejected.

3.3 Evaluation of responsibility

To determine whether a Proposer is responsible, the County will consider the Proposer’s general qualifications to perform the requested services in a satisfactory manner; financial responsibility; integrity; skill; past performance; and ability. Proposals from Proposers considered non-responsible will be rejected.

3.4 Evaluation panel and evaluation:

After review of each responsive proposal, the County may award a contract to a successful Proposer based on the evaluation criteria, or it may establish a short list of Proposers for further consideration. The short list of Proposers may be asked to provide additional information. The short list of Proposers may also be asked to attend an in-person or telephone interview/presentation, as determined by the County in its sole discretion.

Evaluation criteria shall include the following:

1. Quality of the proposed services, including: Points: 40

• How well the proposed services meet the requirements as stated in the RFP

• Quality of the proposed schedule/work plan/implementation

• Demonstrated understanding of the scope of work and County’s needs

2. Experience and qualifications, including: Points: 40

• Experience

• Expertise of staff

• Capability

• Past performance

• References

3. Quality of proposal compliance, including: Points: 20

• Compliance with proposal format & content

• Acceptance of the County’s terms and conditions (Attachment 3)

• Prepared for interview (if applicable)

3.5 Interviews

After review of each responsive proposal, the County may award a contract to a successful Proposer based on the evaluation criteria, or it may establish a short list of Proposers for further consideration. The short list of Proposers may be asked to provide additional information, or an interview/demonstration as determined by the County in its sole discretion.

3.6 Execution of contract

Before a contract becomes effective between the County and any Proposer, the contract award must be approved by the County Board of Supervisors or its designee. If for any reason the County Board of Supervisors or its designee does not ratify and sign the contract then there are no binding obligations whatsoever between the County and the Proposer relative to the proposed contract.

4 Attachments

Attachment 1 – Scope of work Attachment 2 – Proposal format and content Attachment 3 – County of Sacramento Standard Consulting Agreement Attachment 4 – Written Agreement to Indemnify for Release of Propriety Information

Attachment 1 – Scope of work

The selected consultant will be responsible for the following:

The scope of services includes, but is not limited to the following two phases and associated tasks:

I. Phase 1

Phase 1 is intended to inform the County’s efforts to update the various fee programs and produce revised nexus studies pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act at the completion of Phase 2.

Phase 1 tasks include, but may not be limited to the following:

1. Evaluate the existing fee programs and associated impact fee study assumptions, methodologies, and structure and:

a. Identify information, assumptions and methodologies that need to be updated to reflect current conditions, policies, applicable laws, development agreements, and best practices.

b. Review and evaluate the current fees

c. Provide recommendation(s) for modifications that could simplify and/or provide flexibility for fee program implementation

2. Present findings, options and recommendations to County staff and others as directed.

County shall review this information and provide feedback to Consultant as necessary.

3. Pursuant to work completed in tasks 1-2 above, Consultant shall prepare and submit to the

County a Phase 2 work plan prior to County issuing a notice to proceed for Phase 2. This work plan is intended to be the roadmap for achieving the tasks outlined in Phase 2 and shall include, at a minimum, the following:

a. Key tasks and milestones

b. Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and deliverables

c. Communication Plan to include information such as meetings with County Project

Manager

d. Outreach plan to engage and establish buy-in from key stakeholders which include but are not limited to, various County departments, building industry associations, individual developers/landowners and builders, and where appropriate the general public

e. Detailed timeline to be updated as necessary through completion of project

County shall review the proposed work plan and provide feedback to Consultant as necessary.

Consultant shall assist with preparation of documents to present all or aspects of the Phase 1 work plan to County Board of Supervisors or other stakeholders as directed by County.

II. Phase 2

Phase 2 is intended to produce updated fee program(s) and associated nexus studies pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act. Phase 2 tasks include, but may not be limited to the following:

1. Pursuant to the approved Phase 2 work plan, Consultant shall prepare a report (nexus study) containing information, methodology, and findings as necessary to determine the appropriate development impact fees to support infrastructure needs associated with anticipated growth in the various fee program areas. This report shall contain, but not be limited to:

a. Background information

b. Description of the overall methodology

c. Supporting justification

d. Calculations that demonstrate the legal nexus between recommended fees and the impact created by new development

e. Relationship between the fees use and type of project on which it would be imposed

f. Purpose of the fee.

g. How the fee would be used.

h. Description of the relationship between the need of any additional infrastructure and the type of development project on which the fee would be imposed

i. Fee Program exemptions, appeals, credits, or offsets.

j. Any additional matters that County staff should be made aware of, findings, and recommendations

k. Identification of the legal basis for the fee

2. Consultant shall provide deliverables to the County intended to assist the County in implementing the Fee Program over time. Those deliverables include but are not limited to the following:

a. Recommended best practices for preparing and presenting reports and findings as required by the Mitigation Fee Act and Sacramento County Code.

b. Recommendations for outreach to stakeholders including but not limited to various County departments, building industry associations, individual developers/landowners and builders, and where appropriate the general public regarding the fee programs

3. Consultant shall assist with preparation of documents to present all or aspects of its work in Phase 2 to the County Board of Supervisors or other stakeholders, as directed by County.

Deliverables All documents and deliverables produced, including those enumerated in Phases 1 and 2 above, shall be provided in draft form for the County’s review. Consultant shall expect two (2) iterative rounds of comments and adjustments from the County on any document before County determines that it is final.

Attachment 2 – Proposal format and content Proposals shall not exceed 35 of pages and must adhere to the following format:

1. Cover letter

The Proposer must submit a cover letter that includes the following:

a. Title of this RFP - REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, REVIEW AND UPDATE OF VARIOUS

SPECIAL DISTRICTS ADMINISTERED IMPACT FEE PROGRAMS

b. A statement that the proposal is effective for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days or the date the contract takes effect, whichever is later;

c. A statement confirming that the Proposer has reviewed and agrees to be bound by County of Sacramento Terms and Conditions (Attachment 3) including insurance provisions, or alternatively, a statement confirming that the Proposer has reviewed and agrees to the bound by County of Sacramento Terms and Conditions (Attachment 3), excluding only those provisions that have been redlined for negotiation purposes and are included in their Proposal;

d. A statement that the Proposer does not have an actual or perceived conflict of interest regarding this RFP or in submission of their Proposal; or alternatively, a statement explaining any conflict of interest and how to avoid, mitigate or neutralize the conflict;

e. A statement that he Proposer’s proposal/solution meets all of the requirements .

f. Name and mailing address of firm (include physical location if mailing address is a P.O. Box);

g. Contact person, telephone number and e-mail address; and

h. The person authorized to execute the contract (“Signatory”)_shall sign this letter.

2. Local Office: Provide a description of the local office that will provide the services under this agreement. Include relevant information about the Office’s capabilities, size, range of services, and length of time in existence.

3. Fee Schedule: Provide a cost per task as described in the scope of work.

2. Proposal

The Proposal shall contain the following information (and in the same order):

a. A brief profile of the Proposer, including the size, organizational structure and history.

b. A statement of qualifications that includes:

i. Understanding of Tasks: Provide a brief response, which demonstrated an understanding of the key elements/issues in regard to the requirements of the mitigation fee act and legislative requirements of fee programs.

ii. Experience: Briefly describe your firm’s experience with the requested services.

c. A plan for delivering services consistent with the scope of work in Attachment 1, including but not limited to the following:

i. description of the proposed services

ii. detail on methodology for completing services

iii. schedule

iv. proposed dates for services/ deliverables/ milestones

v. description of prior experience performing such services

vi. capacity to perform the services, including availability of staff and resources

d. Name of project or account manager to be assigned to the County.

e. Resume of key staff. Information for key staff must include:

i. professional credentials;

ii. education or certifications;

iii. expertise and capability;

iv. applicable professional affiliations and accreditations, and

v. applicable professional experience.

f. A narrative of the experience of the Proposer in implementing similar services for other clients, including governmental clients similar in size to Sacramento County, if available.

g. A minimum of three (3) references for whom the Proposer has provided services similar to those described in this RFP. If Proposer will be using subcontractors, a minimum of three (3) references must be provided for each subcontractor. The County reserves the right to check other references not provided by the Proposer. The following information is required for each reference:

i. customer name and address;

ii. point of contact (name, telephone number, email) for contractual/administrative matters and technical performance;

iii. period of contract performance; and

iv. description of work performed.

Emphasis should be given to providing references where 1) the resources used are the same or mostly the same as those who will be used for the County’s purposes, and 2) the references are governmental organizations of similar size to the County. The County may request additional references from Proposer.

h. Pricing/costs submitted by task/deliverable using time and materials basis with a not to exceed amount.

Attachment 3 – County of Sacramento Standard Consulting Agreement

Refer to OpenGov attachments.

Attachment 4 – Written Agreement to Indemnify for Release of Proprietary Information Refer to Open Gov Attachments.