It is recommended that the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, authorize the issuance of Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2024-246-WG for a revenue enhancement study of the City’s utilities department.

The City periodically reviews its business components to ensure that operations are being performed in the most robust and prudential manner possible. Through this RFQ, the City is requesting proposals from qualified firms experienced in conducting revenue enhancement studies, for the purpose of analyzing the City’s Utilities Department. By way of this study, the City is seeking to identify and recover unread, misread, and unmetered water revenues. Additionally, the City seeks the resulting study to culminate in a written analysis wherein the determined cause(s) of revenue loss, including wastewater service problems, meter-related malfunctions, or lost accounts, are fully delineated and result in recommendations for future enhancements to correct the problems.

On October 11, 2019, pursuant to RFP 2018-234-JC, the City entered into an agreement with ISI Water Company to provide a revenue enhancement study for the City utilities department. The current Agreement for these services is scheduled to expire on October 18, 2024.

In anticipation of the expiring contract, the Administration requests approval to issue Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2024-246-WG for a revenue enhancement study for utilities.

The City seeks a revenue enhancement study for the purpose of analyzing the City’s Utilities Department. The selected Consultant will produce recommendations for future enhancements to correct the identified problems.

I.               Scope of work for the revenue enhancement study of the City’s Utilities department shall include, but not be limited to, the following tasks:

·       Identifying and analyzing the cause of revenue loss from unread, misread, and unmetered water and sewer usage, wastewater services problems, meter-related malfunctions (meter inaccuracies due to meter age shall not be considered for the purpose of compensation), or lost accounts, and recovering associated lost revenues.

·       Lost revenue due to incorrect billing and collection of the City’s water, sewer, and stormwater charges billed to the City’s utility customers

·       Meet with the Public Works Department, Office of Budget and Performance Improvement (OBPI), and Finance personnel to discuss the objectives of the study, the departments involved, the sections and functions to be included in the study, and organizational changes that have occurred since the last study was implemented.

·       Review the results of the previous revenue enhancement study from 2018.

·       Collect any data needed for the applicable fiscal year(s) and area(s) being studied.

·       Collect organizational, personnel, and financial information relative to the study.

·       Develop an expenditure analysis that ties back all revenue study elements to the department(s) affected.

·       Quantifying the potential revenue enhancement associated with the correction of these problems.

·       Produce a draft document, including all supporting discoveries, statistical data, recommendations, and assumptions for review by City staff.

·       Incorporate comments from City staff, and provide a final report including all supporting discoveries, statistical data, and assumptions in original form (i.e., Word, Excel) as well as in PDF format.

·       The study shall determine where new operational efficiencies may be implemented to provide more future control.

II.              The Contractor shall provide the investigation, Work Orders, and field services necessary to maximize the billable revenue to the City.

·       Investigate each account and determine if there is a loss of revenue to the City associated with that account.

·       Submit Work Orders with recommendations for changes in billing procedures and/or changes in physical service. This information will be provided for each account.

·       The Contractor shall provide to the City on a periodic basis a complete list of all Accounts researched on which the Contractor has identified potential increased revenues to the City. This Research Report shall be submitted for the purpose of "Documenting the Find," and the Contractor shall be entitled to its portion of the increased revenues on said Accounts if the Work Order( s) included therein are subsequently approved by the City.

Following the receipt of proposals, an Evaluation Committee will review proposals in accordance with the criteria established in the draft RFQ (attached).

The City expects to incur no expenses as a result of this RFQ. It is the City’s intent that the fees paid to the selected consultant(s) will be based on a percentage of the recovered costs.

Based on the foregoing, it is recommended that the Mayor and Commission of the City of Miami Beach, Florida, authorize the issuance of RFQ 2024-246-WG Revenue Enhancement Study for Utilities.

LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE

In accordance with Resolution No. 2023-32857, adopted by the City Commission on December 13, 2023, the following information has been provided by the Administration.

1.    Was the Agenda Item initially requested by a lobbyist which, as defined in code Sec. 2-481, includes a principal engaged in lobbying?  No.

2.     If so, specify name of lobbyist(s) and principals(s): Not applicable