City of Eagle Point, Oregon

Transcription

1 Request for Proposal (RFP) For Audit Services City of Eagle Point, Oregon September 18, 2014 Sections: 1. General Scope Description 2. Contract Duration 3. Standards to be Followed 4. General Proposal Guidelines 5. Specific Proposal Requirements 6. Proposal Submittal 7. Evaluation of Proposals 8. Background on the City Page 1 of 7

2 1. GENERAL SCOPE DESCRIPTION The City is seeking proposals from qualified certified public accounting firms to audit the financial statements of the City for three (3) years commencing with the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015 Any inquiries about the City s accounting system, finance staff, or financial process should be ed to Melissa Owens, Finance Director at melissaowens@cityofeaglepoint.org. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted. During the evaluation process, the City reserves the right to request additional information or clarifications from proposers. The City also reserves the right to interview any proposers. 2. CONTRACT DURATION The selected audit firm shall be designated as the City s auditor for a three-year term commencing with the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015 audit. The contract contains an annual renewal clause which, at the City s option, makes the contract extendable for one year periods beyond the initial term. Either party may cancel the contract effective at fiscal year end, by written notice delivered prior to December 31 of that fiscal year. 3. STANDARDS TO BE FOLLOWED Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS), and Governmental Auditing Standards (GAS) as promulgated by the AICPA, GASB, FASB, and any other authoritative group shall be followed during facets of the engagement. In addition, all aspects of the engagement shall be performed in accordance with the highest professional standards and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws including the current Single Audit Act, as amended by OMB Circular A GENERAL PROPOSAL REQUIREMENT The following describes requirements of the audit engagement: 1. The initial fiscal year of the contract shall be for the period of July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 and shall cover all funds of the City. 2. The proposal shall contain provisions that, if circumstances disclosed by the audit indicate that more intensive and detailed examination is required in addition to that which would be sufficient under normal circumstances, the firm shall provide all pertinent facts relating to the extraordinary circumstances together with the firm s estimate of the additional cost of services. Any fees relating to such extensions or examination procedures are to be considered as additional fees subject to negotiation and are not included within the scope of services to be performed under the original contract. 3. The audit shall satisfy the requirements of the Minimum Standards of Audits of Oregon Municipal Corporations and Local Budget Law in the State of Oregon, as periodically amended. The audit shall also be in compliance with those listed under Section 3. Page 2 of 7

3 4. The firm shall provide that observations, opinions, and comments concerning the inadequacies of internal control or other weaknesses, and recommendations as to corrections of these weaknesses, will be included in a separate management letter. Such observations, opinions, and comments are not to be constructed as special or additional services and will be limited to those resulting from the examination. 5. The Auditor shall be required to make an immediate written report of all irregularities and illegal acts or suspicion of illegal acts of which they become aware to the City Administrator and Mayor. 6. As part of the contract, if the Auditor prepares the CAFR, the Auditor shall provide the City with 1 electronic copy in Word/Excel and 1 electronic copy in PDF of the CAFR, formatted in a fashion for submission to Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) to qualify for the GFOA Certificate of Achievement 7. The Auditor shall be required to make a presentation to the City Council within two weeks of completion of the audit. 8. The City is not liable for any costs incurred by a proposer in the preparation and/or presentation of a proposal. 9. The selected proposer will enter into a Professional Services Agreement with the proposal becoming an element of the agreement scope of work. The selected proposer will also be required to obtain a City of Eagle Point Business License. 5. SPECIFIC PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS Section A Non-fee related requirements of the proposal: 1. Names and Oregon Municipal Audit Roster numbers of the partners, managers, and key staff employees assigned to this engagement. Describe their roles and provide a brief description of their professional experience. 2. List your firm s current municipal auditing engagement clients in Oregon, a few noncurrent engagements served within the last five years, and respective contact information for reference purposes. 3. Describe your firm s personnel development program and your continuing professional education requirements including the specialized areas of municipal accounting and auditing. 4. Describe your local office s experience and knowledge in performing examinations in accordance with the provisions of the Single Audit Act, as amended by OMB Circular A Attach one recent example of your work in this area to your proposal. 5. Attach to your proposal two samples of management letters that you have recently issued covering an audit of an Oregon municipality. 6. Comment on your firm s ability and willingness to provide constructive suggestions for improving the City s internal accounting controls, administrative procedures, and financial processes. 7. Explain how you would propose to use City personnel, if at all, to assist you during the audit, and indicate the approximate time requirement. Page 3 of 7

4 8. Provide a brief description of the audit procedures to be followed, presented in a form that will best aid the City in evaluating your proposal. 9. Provide a copy of your firm s most recent Peer Review report and related comment letter. 10. Disclose legal settlements within the last two years and pending or threatened legal actions related to audit services provided by the local firm. Section B Fee related requirements of the proposal: 11. The hourly rates and estimated hours for each assigned staff. 12. Estimate time spent, broken down by assigned staff, on testing internal controls, performing field-work, examining RSI and supplementary data, etc. Provide general time table from interim work through issuance of opinion letter. 13. As part of the overall audit contract, the City expects to receive from the audit firm a variety of technical assistance throughout the fiscal year that may include inquiries regarding accounting, reporting, and internal control issues. Indicate fees for these services and/or if they are included in your total annual base fee. 14. Indicate the total annual base fee for the initial fiscal year (including out of pocket expenses) that your firm will charge for the entire engagement, itemized between the City wide financial and the single audit portion. 15. Provide a detailed cost analysis (including out of pocket expenses) for developing the basic financial services for each year. The Auditor shall submit a fee proposal where the firm prepares the CAFR and another where the City prepares the CAFR; and a seperate fee proposal for any single audit requirements. 16. Estimate the annual base fee to be expected associated with examinations beyond the initial fiscal year, including a projection of a maximum annual percentage increase. Include the fee escalation methodology used. 17. Estimate any out-of-pocket expenses for this engagement including a not-to-exceed stated amount. Describe your firm s policy on charging only for expenses actually incurred, not to exceed this stated amount. 18. List your firm s billing rates for all other applicable professional services in case the City may request additional services not included in the standard contract. 19. Describe the method your firm uses in charging for any special requests, reports, or broadening the scope of this engagement. 20. Indicate proposed or preferred schedule of billing dates. 6. PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL Please keep proposals brief. Sealed proposals must be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 24, Please provide five copies no later than 2:00 pm on October 24, 2014 to the following: Page 4 of 7

5 Mail Melissa Owens, Finance Director City of Eagle Point PO Box 779 Eagle Point, OR Delivery Service Melissa Owens, Finance Director City of Eagle Point PO Box Buchanan Ave S Eagle Point, OR City personnel will time and date stamp the receipt of the proposal. No faxed materials will be accepted. Postmarks are not considered proof of delivery. Any amendments to this RFP will be in writing and will be issued to all persons or businesses that have indicated an interest to receive RFP amendments. No proposal will be considered if it is not responsive to any issued amendments. Questions, inquiries, or comments regarding this request for Proposal or the City s accounting system, finance staff, or financial processes, should be directed to Melissa Owens, Finance Director at melissaowens@cityofeaglepoint.org or phone (541) X EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS The City intends to select the CPA firm that exhibits the strongest ability to provide the highest quality services primarily based upon the following criteria: Firm s local municipal audit experience The number of staff members available to meet contract obligations Experience and qualifications of individuals to be assigned to this engagement Approach to the engagement, including work plan and schedule Fees and charges The selection team shall be comprised of the Finance Director, the City Administrator and any other persons designated by the City Administrator. The City retains sole discretion in this decision and reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and negotiate or hold interviews with any one or more of the respondents. The time frame for final selection is targeting a decision date prior to the end of October BACKGROUND ON THE CITY General Information The City of Eagle Point has a population of approximately 8,600 and is located in Southern Oregon. The City has continued to add new residential units and some commercial during the economic downturn. Page 5 of 7

6 City services include water delivery, storm water services, streets, parks, recreation services, planning, building, police, municipal court and administration. Fire services are provided by Fire District 3. The City of Eagle Point annexed with Rogue Valley Sewer (RVS) special district in Although there was an annexation there is still a financial relationship with RVS. The City is responsible for a Sewer General Obligation (GO) bond and a Sewer Revenue Bond in which RVS reimburses the city for the debt payments. The City collects property tax to pay a portion of the GO bond. The City of Eagle Point does sewer billing for Rogue Valley Sewer for City of Eagle Point customers and forwards those funds to RVS on a monthly basis as a pass through. The City is responsible for billing and collecting the following: 3,300 utility customers each month 1 transient tax account each quarter 425 business license accounts each year The City has continued to issue building permits even during the economic downturn. Although, not at the same level of per year that we were issuing in the past. Interest in building has increased substantially over the last couple of years. When issuing building permits we collect the appropriate permit fees and SDC fees. We collect SDC fees for Medford Water Commission at the same time and pass these fees on to the Medford Water Commission on a monthly basis. The City is currently working with USDA Rural Development to receive a loan in the amount of $2.5M for water projects. We will have the funding in place in 2014/2015. Projects will start in 2014/2015 and be completed in 2015/2016. Majority of projects will be completed in 2015/2016 which means that a Single Audit circular 133 will be required for 2015/2016. All projects should be completed in 2015/2016 so the City is not anticipating any Single Audit requirements other than 2015/2016 We have other loans in place through USDA Rural Development which means that all audits must be completed under GAGUS standards. Single audits in the past have been because of loans received by USDA Rural Development. A copy of the most current budget document and financial reports will be forwarded upon request. Accounting System The City uses Tyler Incode financial software. The software includes general ledger, accounts payables, payroll, cash receipting, utility billing, miscellaneous billing, business license and building permit modules. City Funds General Fund Special Revenue Street Fund Sewer Fund (this is a pass through fund not an operating fund) Vending Machine Fund Jackson County Housing Authority Fund (Closed in 2013/2014) Museum Fund Enterprise Funds Water Operating Fund Page 6 of 7

7 Storm Water Operating Fund Capital Project Funds Street Capital Project Fund Park Capital Project Fund Water Capital Project Fund Capital Purchase Reserve Fund Debt Service Fund Water Debt Fund 98 GO Bond Fund SDC Funds Street SDC Fund Park SDC Fund Storm Water SDC Fund Water SDC Fund Auditing and City Staff City staff will prepare a variety of work papers supporting the year-end general ledger balances and recaps of major revenues and expenditures. Responders should indicate the extent to which they will look to city staff for work paper preparation. While there is flexibility in the fieldwork dates, the City has generally been ready for fieldwork to commence by the middle of September. Responders should indicate a proposed timetable for interim fieldwork, main audit fieldwork, and reviews. It is the City s desire to have the audit opinion delivered prior to the end of November. However, it is required that it be delivered before the end of December. Page 7 of 7