title
Approve a contract with Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. for $95,225 to provide consultant services for the comprehensive analysis of the County’s Public Facilities Fee, with a contract term of February 1, 2024 through July 31, 2024; and Authorize the County Administrator to sign the contract and any subsequent amendments, pending County Counsel concurrence, that do not exceed 10% of the total contract amount
body
Published Notice Required? Yes _____ No __X___
Public Hearing Required? Yes _____ No __X___
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The County Administrator recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve a contract with Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. for $95,225 to provide consultant services for the comprehensive analysis of the County’s Public Facilities Fee, with a contract term of February 1, 2024 through July 31, 2024; and
2. Authorize the County Administrator to sign the contract and any subsequent contract amendments, pending County Counsel concurrence, that do not exceed 10% of the total contract amount.
SUMMARY:
California Government Code section 66000 requires that the premises and projections upon which the Public Facilities Fee (PFF) is established to be evaluated at least every five years. The last evaluation occurred in FY2018/19; therefore, a new analysis is recommended. Following a competitive bid process, Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) was selected to provide the necessary comprehensive analysis of the County’s PFF.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There are two components to the contract scope of work with EPS, which includes the engagement of a subcontractor with expertise in traffic methodologies, for the analysis of the County’s PFF.
1. $84,055 for EPS’ analysis of existing, proposed and modified components of the PFF.
2. $11,170 for Fehr and Peers’ analysis of the transportation component.
As indicated above, the net cost for the comprehensive analysis is $95,225 which will be funded from PFF revenue received for administrative and compliance costs, including the comprehensive analysis. The costs associated with the transportation component will be reimbursed from the Solano Transportation Authority which administers the expenditure of the Regional Transportation Impact Fee. Funding for this contract is included in the FY2023/24 Adopted Budget. There is no impact to the County General Fund associated with approving this contract.
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2023/24 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Solano County PFF supports public facility improvements, required as the result of future development within Solano County, through the collection of PFF by cities on behalf of the County. The Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code section 66000, et. seq.) requires that the premises and projections upon which PFF were established be evaluated at least every five years. The last evaluation for the County of Solano was completed in 2019 and the new evaluation should be completed in 2024.
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was released by the County on December 15, 2023. Only one firm submitted a bid (Attachment A). The bid received was from EPS, which was the firm selected to complete the two previous comprehensive analyses for Solano County. Following evaluation of the RFQ submittal, EPS was selected.
The contract (Attachment B) includes the following components, based on the scope of work and list described in the RFQ:
1. Comprehensive study evaluating the relationship between new development within the County and the amount of public facilities the County must acquire to accommodate growth through 2040.
2. Analysis to determine what components should be continued, added/eliminated or modified and what fees should be charged so that adequate revenues are raised to cover future costs for additional public facilities as growth occurs. Solano County currently collects the PFF for the following components: Countywide Public Protection, Health and Social Services, Library, General Government, Transportation and an administrative oversight charge.
The scope of work establishes a timeline that includes a review of a draft report by County staff; a final draft report for public review; time to meet with impacted local agencies, including cities, to confirm the methodology for projecting future facility needs as part of the review process; and a final report to be completed after public review. Staff anticipates the final report summarizing the methodology, findings, supporting justification, recommended fees and fee calculations will be presented to the Board by the end of the fiscal year. Following completion of the analysis and presentation of the report to the Board, any recommended revisions to PFF fees would subsequently be brought back to the Board for further consideration and adoption.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose any of the following:
1. To postpone or reject the response to the RFQ and direct staff to issue a new RFQ for the project; however, this is not recommended since the RFQ was conducted in conformance with the Public Contract Code and re-issuing the RFQ could increase the overall project cost, as well as extend the project schedule resulting in missing the required deadline for the update.
2. To not approve the contract; however, this action is not recommended as the analysis needs to be completed as soon as possible in order to meet a comprehensive review of the PFF as required by law.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION