Water, Wastewater, and Natural Gas Rate Study Services

The City of Benson, Arizona is issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) #2026-RFP-003 to procure comprehensive professional consulting services for a Water, Wastewater, and Natural Gas Rate Study. The primary objectives include analyzing historical and projected usage data, classifying customer groups based on service demands, allocating costs using industry-standard methodologies, developing and evaluating alternative rate structures, and ensuring rates are fair, equitable, and sufficient to cover operational, maintenance, and capital improvement needs. Key deliverables encompass financial analysis of revenues and expenses, customer classification and cost allocation, rate design evaluation, detailed reports with presentations to city officials and the public, and a dynamic rate model for ongoing financial planning. Proposals will be evaluated on a 100-point scale using six criteria: Capability & Technical Approach (30 points), Experience (25 points), Qualifications of Proposed Team (20 points), Price (16 points), Professional References (5 points), and Overall Proposal Quality (5 points). A non-mandatory pre-proposal conference is scheduled for November 18, 2025, at 1:00 pm via Zoom, with questions due by November 24, 2025, at 10:00 am and responses provided by December 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Proposals must be submitted electronically to the City's e-procurement portal by December 5, 2025, at 3:00 pm local Arizona time. Proposers must provide comprehensive documentation including cover letters, business contact information, current W-9 forms, availability statements, detailed technical approaches, team resumes with certifications, and three to five professional references with letters of recommendation.

No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises or restrictions on organization types have been identified in this solicitation. No incumbent vendor or current contractor is identified in the RFP documentation. Proposers must maintain current insurance coverage including Commercial General Liability ($1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate), Commercial Automobile Liability ($1,000,000 combined single limit), Workers' Compensation (statutory with $1,000,000 employer's liability), and Professional Liability/Errors & Omissions ($1,000,000 per claim/$2,000,000 annual aggregate). The City reserves the right to award one or more contracts and may terminate any agreement within 30 days of written notice. No specific budget ceiling or award value range is publicly identified in the solicitation documentation. The City is exempt from federal excise tax but subject to state and local sales taxes, and pricing shall be submitted as a single line item for total service cost using the provided pricing table.