This is a service / maintenance or supply contract in Derby, Kansas. Contact the soliciting agency for additional information.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES o Provide a comparison of current water, sewer, and stormwater costs against appropriate communities throughout the region. o Recommend a five-year baseline rate structure to fund water, sewer, and stormwater utilities with consideration given towards inflation, increased costs related to future capital projects and service delivery demands. o Deliver utility rate study findings to the City Council, no later than April 23, 2024 in order for staff to incorporate future rate changes into the 2025 City Budget and CIP planning. STUDY REQUIREMENTS The consultant will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive cost of services and rate design for water, sewer, and stormwater utilities, including the following major elements: o For each system (water, sewer, stormwater), review key background information including, but not limited to: o Regulatory requirements, bond covenants and other contractual requirements and operations; o Historical revenues, operating expenses, debt service requirements, reserve policies, billing and collections procedures and approved rates and charges; o Possible land development and the load it may place on the system(s); o Source(s) or supply, current system facilities and the proposed capital improvements plans; o The City's projected revenue, operation expenses, debt service and other funding o Review water meter, sewer connection and miscellaneous fees to assure they are reasonable and not outdated. Develop proposed rate and fee initial adjustments that, in concert with proposed future incremental increases, will be adequate to pay each system's costs for the near term (5 years). o Ensure rates are as fairly structured for ratepayers as possible. o Define and separate fixed and variable costs. The study should identify costs to be allocated across all customer classes and those costs that are specific to a class. o Comment as to the extent to which the projected revenues meet projected operating and capital needs to satisfy bond covenants and/or recommended reserve levels. o Consider system development fees, CIP timing, growth levels, etc. o Assess revenue needs for the next five-year financial planning period, to include adequate coverage for operations and maintenance, capital projects and debt service. o Prepare a report that demonstrates how the analysis was performed and its results, including the following: o A brief description of each system, including facilities, plant capacity, etc.; o Source(s) of supply (including a description of water right/entitlements and status), historical and projected net sustainable yield and use with a statement of the consultant's opinion as to the expected sufficiency to meet demand; o Service description, including population and potential growth projections; o A description of capital improvement programs, including State and Federal regulatory requirements, a 5-year summary of proposed capital expenditures and a statement regarding sufficiency of improvements to meet operating needs and regulatory requirements and reasonableness of the cost estimates; o In depth, comprehensive revenue and expense projection for the next five years; o In depth rate structure comparison o The benefits of any proposed modifications shall be weighed against the financial impacts on ratepayers. Analyze the proposed rates for customer impacts and develop alternate rates modeled to address financial impacts on ratepayers. The analysis is to include: o Preparation of typical bill comparisons for each proposed rate structure for representative customer classes using the current rate schedules as a baseline; o Compare customer class and proposed rate structures with neighboring utilities that provide the same services; o Any preference in long-term versus short-term rate benefits o Make one or more presentations, as appropriate, at a public meeting(s) that clearly portrays the importance of making the changes as recommended. Final public meeting will need to occur no later than April 23, 2024 City Council meeting. QUESTIONS Any questions regarding this RFP shall be directed in writing to Megan Sneller, Finance Director at megansneller@derbyweb.com. Questions regarding this document must be submitted in writing to Megan Sneller, Finance Director, at megansneller@derbyweb.com by noon on September 18, 2023. Questions of a substantive nature will be answered in writing as an addendum and posted on the Derby website by no later than noon on September 25, 2023. The City of Derby, Kansas (hereinafter referred to as the "City") invites proposals of qualified consultants to submit a response to this Request for Proposal (RFP) for review and consideration by the City of Derby, Kansas to conduct a comprehensive water, sewer, stormwater utility rate study. Please carefully review this document. If you are interested in making a proposal consistent with the conditions, instructions, requirements, and specifications as contained herein, submit the Proposal Response Form together with a comprehensive proposal in a sealed envelope. The outside of the envelope should be clearly marked with the Proposer's (the company in which the City will contract with to perform the requested study) name and address and identified as "2023 UTILITY RATE STUDY RFP". All proposals must be valid for 120 days. It is the sole responsibility of the proposer to see that its response and the appropriate documents are delivered on time. Any response received after the scheduled closing time for receiving proposals will be returned to the proposer unopened and will not be considered. It is the responsibility of the proposer to check Derby's website for information and updates and acknowledge all addenda in its response. Information provided in a proposal will be considered proprietary and will not be divulged during the proposal review process unless otherwise required by law. Because the services sought will require the expenditure of public funds, part or all of the successful proposal, as well as a resulting contract, will likely be public records within the meaning of the Kansas Open Records Act. Prior to acceptance of a proposal, the information contained in each proposal will be used for evaluating the proposer's ability to handle the scope of services and will not be shared with persons not involved in the evaluation of proposals unless otherwise required by law.