Project Align - Utility Organizational Readiness, Billing and Data Integrity, Water and Sewer Rate Study, and System Development Fee Study
Closed State & local contract opportunity Posted
- Solicitation number
- 280-10-26-0001
- State
- North Carolina
- Responses due
Opportunity facts
- Jurisdiction
Opportunity details come from evp.nc.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The City of Lexington, North Carolina is requesting proposals for Project ALIGN, a comprehensive utility organizational readiness and financial strategy consulting engagement, with proposals due November 2, 2026 at 4:00 PM and questions due October 26, 2026.
The scope encompasses utility operational and organizational assessment, end-to-end process mapping, policy and standard operating procedure development, centralized utility billing and data integrity review, water meter reading and billing controls, sanitation billing review for trash and recycling, third-party billing and data exchange controls, a comprehensive water and sewer rate study, a system development fee study, stormwater billing and financial analysis, and implementation support across the City's Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Sewer, Stormwater, Sanitation, Finance, IT, and Customer Service functions. The City emphasizes a stormwater billing and fee framework that is equitable, administratively workable, legally supportable, understandable to customers, and sustainable over time. The engagement must be implementation-oriented, translating recommendations into usable reports, queries, reconciliations, process maps, policy drafts, SOPs, financial models, data cleanup assistance, training, and transition steps rather than a report-only deliverable.
The City seeks not-to-exceed fixed-cost compensation plus reimbursable expenses and declines to use percentage-of-recovered-revenue as a compensation basis. Proposals must include a standard hourly rate schedule, breakdown by major workstream or phase, and separate identification of optional services. Professional liability insurance requirements vary by contract size: $2 million per claim / $2 million aggregate for contracts between $500,000 and $5 million, and $5 million per claim / $5 million aggregate for contracts exceeding $5 million. General liability, workers' compensation, and umbrella coverage are also required.
Project commencement is anticipated for November 2026. The City does not intend to conduct financial statement audits or forensic investigations. Questions due October 26, 2026 at 5:00 PM; responses and addenda issued by October 28, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
Opportunity text
The City of Lexington invites proposals from experienced consulting firms or multidisciplinary teams to support Project ALIGN, a forward-looking utility organizational readiness and financial strategy initiative. The selected consultant will help the City strengthen the systems, processes, policies, organizational structure, financial practices, data controls, and management tools needed to remain responsive as service demands, infrastructure needs, customer expectations, technology, and regulatory requirements evolve. The engagement includes utility operational and organizational assessment, end-to-end process mapping, policy and SOP development, centralized utility billing and data integrity, water meter reading and billing controls, a focused sanitation billing review for trash and recycling, third-party billing and data exchange controls, a comprehensive water and sewer rate study, a system development fee study, stormwater billing and financial analysis, and implementation support. For Stormwater, the City is particularly interested in a billing and fee framework that is equitable, administratively workable, legally supportable, understandable to customers, and sustainable over time. The City seeks a team that can connect financial analysis with the day-to-day processes that create customer accounts, deliver utility service, generate bills, exchange data, allocate costs, and support management decisions. The City expects an implementation-oriented engagement. Recommendations should be translated, where appropriate, into usable reports, queries, reconciliations, process maps, policy drafts, SOPs, financial models, data cleanup assistance, training, and transition steps rather than a report-only product. Project ALIGN is intended to prepare the City's utility and support functions for the next stage of organizational and financial maturity. The City is seeking an independent, practical review of how work is organized, how information moves, how financial decisions are supported, and how customer and development activity becomes utility service and billing.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Project_ALIGN_RFP final.pdf |
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