The City of Issaquah intends to procure consultant services to develop new utility rates for Water, Sewer, and Stormwater services within the City's service area. The City last completed a rate study in 2020. Since then, a new 6-year CIP has been developed covering the years 2024 through 2029, and master plans have been developed for storm/surface water and sewer utilities. A new rate study needs to be performed for public services to account for the newly adopted capital improvement plan and long-range forecasting for future capital investments. The Water System Master Plan was updated in 2019. The Storm and Surface Water Master Plan was updated in 2023. The current sewer master plan was last updated in 2002, and the most current version is under development. The awarded firm will be provided the draft CIP chapter for review after award to assist in sewer rate planning. It is imperative for the City to ensure that the following elements are considered: the rising costs of providing services, the City's need to continually improve utility system infrastructure and provide reliable services, and the need to maintain adequate reserves for the utility system within a sustainable and defensible rate structure for the community. Review background information for each system (Water, Sewer, and Stormwater) including but not limited to: a. Regulatory requirements, bond covenants, and other contractual requirements and operations. b. Historical revenues, operating expenses, debt service requirements, reserve policies and ratios, billing and collection procedures, approved rates and charges, and customer information and consumption data. c. Audit fee structure for all billing rates to ensure accurate collections and calculate possible revenue lost and collection impact to customers. d. Current utility system plans and a proposed schedule of capital projects or programs. e. Other pertinent data as necessary. The selected consultant will lead the effort in acquiring necessary information from the City relating to updating utility rates and general facilities charges (GFCs) to incorporate, planned CIP expenditures, operating expenses, staffing and equipment needs, existing supplemental grants and planned programs for each of the three revenue producing utilities, including water, stormwater, and sewer Work will include coordination with the planning department on the Comprehensive Master Plan Update and future growth projections for a 10-year horizon within the City. Preliminary work will include water rate projections that would include a new centralized treatment plant, planned for construction in 2034, and scenarios that would incorporate bond measures or rate increases in different years during the 10-year projection period. These rate scenarios would all incorporate the City's reserve and financial management policies. Work will require SEPA submittal, code updates, community engagement, and collaboration with stakeholders including the following departments: Public Works, Finance, Utility Billing, and Community Planning and Development. This effort will be completely funded by City utility revenue funds. The total budget available will be $300,000, utilizing City utility revenues. Please submit any questions on Public Purchase. All questions will be answered in writing and posted on the Public Purchase website. Deadline for questions Friday, January 12, 2024 Submitted to Public Purchase by 3 pm Provide a written narrative demonstrating knowledge, methodology, policies, and procedures to accomplish this project as outlined in the General Scope of Work. Identify the significant features and potential issues that may be encountered and possible steps to eliminate or minimize those issues. Provide a schedule showing preliminary draft of a workplan of deliverables and a realistic timeframe for completion of this project. Describe the Consultant's procedures for scope change control, schedule and cost control and quality control. This should also include a description of the consultant's control measures regarding their Subconsultants' project related work. The total budget is $250,000 for the Utility Rate Study.
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