Title:
Title
Agreement: Approve Harris & Associates, Inc as Special Tax Administrator on City Bonded Districts
End
FileID
File ID: 2019-01827
Location
Location: Citywide
Recommendation:
Recommendation
Pass a Motion 1) approving Harris & Associates, Inc. as Special Tax Administrator for City Bonded Districts during fiscal years 2019/20 through 2024/25; and 2) authorizing the City Treasurer to enter into a Professional Services Agreement in an amount not to exceed $650,000.
Contact: Brian Wong, Debt Manager, (916) 808-5811; Claudia Lara, Treasury Analyst, (916) 808-2267, Office of the City Treasurer
Body
Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Professional Services Agreement (Harris & Associates, Inc.)
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The City is responsible for administering districts that levy special assessments (for one assessment district) or special taxes (for currently 16 community facilities districts and improvement areas) to pay debt service and other administrative costs associated with bonds issued to finance the construction of or acquisition of public facilities, or to finance the payment of development impact fees. To assist with this administrative responsibility, the City is seeking the services of a special-districts administrator to calculate the correct amount of assessments and apportion special tax levies to be submitted to Sacramento County, prepare an annual levy report for each district, calculate prepayment amounts, maintain historical levy and delinquency records for each district, and provide other similar services as needed.
Policy Considerations: The recommended action is consistent with the Sacramento City Code, Chapter 3.64 (Contracts for Professional Services).
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: The recommended action concerns administrative activities that will not have an effect on the environment and thus do not constitute a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. See 14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§15061(b)(3) and 15378(b)(2).
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
Rationale for Recommendation: Retaining the services of an independent special-districts
administrator will provide the City with the resources needed to maintain the current level of effort in preparing and tracking the annual levy for each district and for ensuring compliance with certain bond covenant and disclosure requirements. After reviewing the proposals submitted in response to a Request for Qualifications, the selection committee recommends Harris & Associates, Inc., to serve as the Special Tax Administrator through fiscal year 2024/25 to best meet the City’s needs.
Financial Considerations: The Professional Services Agreement not-to-exceed amount is $650,000 for the term of the agreement. The annual cost of district administration varies depending on the number of parcels within each district and additional services required per district. All costs are individually budgeted and funded by the districts with no impact to the City’s General Fund.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Harris & Associates, Inc. qualifies as an LBE.
Background: A selection committee comprised of staff from the Finance Department, City Attorney’s Office and the City Treasurer’s Office evaluated the proposals and conducted interviews. It was determined that Harris & Associates, Inc. is the firm that best meets the needs of the City at this time for the special-district-administration services. As such, the selection committee recommended to the City Treasurer the selection of Harris & Associates to serve as the City’s new special district administrator. City staff are continuing to work with NBS staff to reconcile and correct certain errors. During the Request for Qualifications process, NBS communicated verbally to City staff that they would not be submitting a Statement of Qualifications for consideration.
RFP Process
Responses were received from the following three firms:
• Harris & Associates, Inc.
• Willdan Financial
• DTA
The evaluation criteria used by the selection committee in reviewing the written proposals focused on these six areas:
• Experience
• Qualifications
• Software Resources
• Methodology / Approach of Work
• Referrals / History with City of Sacramento
• Quality of Submittal / Cost Proposal /Interview