Any person desiring to address the commission shall file a written request with the city clerk prior to consideration of the matter by the commission or prior to the public comment portion of a meeting. The person wishing to speak shall complete a comment card for each agenda item the person wishes to address, which shall include the person's full name, address, and the numbered agenda item. The person will not be recognized if the comment card is not completed.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), PERSONS IN NEED OF A SPECIAL ACCOMMODATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING SHALL, WITHIN THREE DAYS PRIOR TO ANY PROCEEDING, CONTACT THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE, 401 CLEMATIS STREET, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA 33401, {(561) 822-1210}
CALL TO ORDER:
CIVILITY AND DECORUM: The City of West Palm Beach is committed to civility and decorum by its officials, employees and members of the public who attend this meeting. The City Code, Secs. 2-31(8), 2-31(18) and 2-31(22), provides in pertinent part:
Officials shall be recognized by the Chair and shall not interrupt a speaker.
Public comment shall be addressed to the City Commission as a whole and not to any individual on the dais or in the audience.
Displays of anger, rudeness, ridicule, impatience, lack of respect and personal attacks are strictly prohibited.
Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistles, yells and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted.
Offenders may be removed from the meeting.
PRESENTATION (1):
Presentation of proposals regarding RFP No. 18-19-219; to secure an independent certified public accounting firm to provide financial auditing services to the City for the audits of the financial statements of the City including the Community Redevelopment Agency and the West Palm Beach Golf Commission for the five (5) fiscal years beginning October 1, 2019 and ending September 30, 2024.
The Procurement division issued a solicitation, RFP No. 18-19-219, to secure the external audit services for the annual audits of the financial statements of the City for five (5) years beginning with the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2019 and ending September 30, 2024.
Pursuant to Sec. 218.391(3), Florida Statutes, the audit committee established factors to use for evaluation of audit services, publicly announced requests for proposals, provided interested firms with a request for proposal, evaluated the proposals, and ranked and recommended, in order of preference, three firms deemed to be most qualified to perform the required services.
Seven (7) proposals were received. One firm was disqualified as non-responsive as the required small business participation was not included in the proposal.
The Audit Committee considered the following evaluation criteria listed in the RFP:
Skill and Experience
Staff and Capacity
Past Performance and Reference
Approach
Proposed services Fee
Proposer’s Adherence to RFP requirement
City Code Requirements:
Small business participation 15% goal
Compliance with Equal Benefits provisions of City Code
Service Disable Veterans Preference
Compliance with Equal Opportunity provisions of City Code
Impact to local economy in comparison to other bidders
Any suspension or debarment by any government entity
Consideration of any other factors specific to this RFP
Such other information as may be obtained
The Audit Committee reviewed each proposal based on the RFP evaluation criteria and recommended the top three (3) proposers to present in front of the City Commission:
Plante Moran (10 points)
Marcum (13 points)
Carr, Riggs & Ingram (14 points) ** The least points firm ranked the highest and so on.
The top three (3) proposers are each given a total of thirty (30) minutes and presentation outlines as follows:
20 minutes – Introduction, ability, capacity, skill and approach, past experience
10 minutes – Questions and Answers
An alphabetical order was used to determine the presentation order. The times established for each firm are as follows:
9:10 a.m. - 9:40 a.m. Carr, Riggs & Ingram
9:50 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Marcum
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Plante Moran
The presentation should be given by the firm’s key individuals who will be assigned to the City with the additional key staff and the subcontractor from the certified Small Business as necessary.
Each Proposer will also answer the following questions in their presentation:
What percentage of your time will be allocated to assessing the City’s IT controls?
During the engagement what type of technology will be utilized to perform the auditing services? Please include a brief discussion on how it will be integrated with existing City technology.
What assurances can you provide that the team members identified or presented as performing the engagement will actually be on-site and conduct the auditing services?
Is the amount presented on the proposals for services rendered? A flat fee, an amount that would not be exceeded, or billed per hour but could exceed the estimated number of hours?
How available are the audit partners to field questions related to issues as they arise prior to and/or after audit field work?
Is there a guarantee provided that all audit items will be completed by the deadlines provided by the City of West Palm Beach?
Has your firm worked with another city similar to the size of West Palm Beach, if so, please provide their names and if they are local to South Florida?
How many audit staff members would be on-site during the fieldwork portion of the audit?
What is your logistic/staff dedication approach to serve in West Palm Beach? Does the proposed fee include travel related expenses?
The Commission shall inquire of qualified firms as to the basis of compensation, select one of the firms recommended by the audit committee, and negotiate a contract. In accordance with the statutem, because the RFP evaluation criteria included compensation as a factor, the Commission shall select the highest-ranked qualified firm or must document in its public records the reason for not selecting the highest-ranked qualified firm. See Fla. Stat. 218.391(4)(b).
(Staff provided the complete evaluation package of all three (3) proposals to the Board under separate cover.)
ADJOURNMENT:
*Pursuant to Resolution No. 179-95, adopted according to the provisions of Section 286.0115, Florida Statutes, members of the Commission shall disclose on the record: 1) ex-parte communications - verbal or written and written communications shall be placed in the record; and 2) site visits, investigations, etc.
NOTICE: IF ANY PERSON DECIDES TO APPEAL ANY DECISION OF THE CITY COMMISSION AT THIS MEETING, THAT PERSON WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND FOR THAT PURPOSE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. THE CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH DOES NOT PREPARE OR PROVIDE SUCH A RE