During the past two years’ budget deliberations, the City Manager has impressed upon the Mayor and City Council the need to diversify revenues streams, 1) to provide potential property tax relief and 2) to protect against economic declines affecting current revenues sources. On December 12, 2019 and again at the Budget Workshop on August 11, 2020, Interim Fire Chief Curd made compelling presentations on the City’s need to enhance and expand fire services and the resulting benefit to our businesses and residents of the improved service levels. The concept of instituting a Fire Assessment Fee has been a companion discussion. Florida Statute 197.3632 stipulates a uniform method for the levy, collection, and enforcement of non-advalorem assessments.
On August 29, 2020, the City Council provided a consensus for staff to move forward with Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit professional services for the development of a Fire Assessment Fee and the Procurement Department issued RFP #1000-20-3 on July 13, 2020. On August 27, 2020 the Evaluation Committee ranked the two proposals with the recommendation to award to Government Services Group, Inc. (GSP).
The Scope of Services is comprised of two (2) Phases and 18 Tasks in the study are as follows:
PHASE ONE:
Task 1: Evaluate Data Pertaining to Fire Rescue Services: Evaluate the City’s existing documents, ad valorem tax roll information, fire call data, agreements, reports, levels of service, five- year budget requests, projected long-term capital needs, and other data pertaining to the provision of fire services.
Task 2: Review and Evaluate Outstanding Issues: Research, identify and evaluate outstanding funding issues that need to be addressed during the development of the fire services funding options and apportionment methodology and assist the City in identifying policy decisions necessary to implement a City assessment program for Fiscal Year 2021-22.
Task 3: Determine Full Costs of Service: Evaluate the full cost of the fire service delivery using the City’s most current financial information including direct and indirect costs.
Task 4: Analyse Call Data and Correlate with Property Data: Evaluate a minimum of two years of City’s fire incident reports, correlate the fixed property uses on the reports to comparable property uses on the tax roll. Analyse all property use categories within the City to determine which parcels receive a special benefit from the provision of Fire Rescue Services.
Task 5: Develop the Apportionment Methodology: Develop a fair and reasonable method of apportionment and accurate classification of parcels using the current ad valorem roll and fire incident data reports. Review the assessment methodology for legal sufficiency and compatibility with the tax bill method of collection. Create a preliminary assessment roll database using the current tax roll and apply the apportionment methodology to the database to test validity and legal sufficiency.
Task 6: Identify Service Delivery Issues: Identify and analyse any potential service delivery issues that may affect the apportionment methodology.
Task 7: Determine Assessment Rates: Calculate a pro forma schedule of rates based on the developed apportionment methodology and revenue requirements for the assessment program using the developed assessment roll.
Task 8: Identify Revenue Requirements and Alternative Revenue Sources: Advise the City in determining the total fire department service assessment revenue requirements to ensure recovery of the costs of net fire service delivery revenue requirement, implementing the program and collecting the assessment. Identify alternative sources of revenue to fund the service delivery costs.
Task 9: Review Legal Sufficiency of Assessment Methodology: Review the assessment methodology for legal sufficiency and compatibility with the tax bill method of collection. Ensure that the data approach used is the data needed for the tax bill collection method in recurring years.
Task 10: Present Results to the City: Prepare a draft Assessment Report that identifies the apportionment methodology, benefited properties, pro forma assessment rates, and alternatives for funding fire services. The report will also include a cost analysis, revenue generation options, and the steps and timetable for implementing the fire assessment for Fiscal Year 2021-22. Present the draft report to City staff for input, revise as necessary, produce a final report, and present the report to the Riviera Beach City Council.
PHASE TWO:
Task 11: Assist With Ordinance Development: Advise and assist the City’s legal counsel with the legal requirements for the calculation, development and adoption of the final assessment rate ordinance and certification of the tax roll in accordance with Florida Statutes.
Task 12: Assist With Initial Assessment Resolution: Advise and assist the City’s legal counsel in drafting an initial assessment resolution that conforms to the assessment ordinance and that implements the City's policy decisions and proposed methodology.
Task 13: Assist With Final Assessment Resolution: Advise and assist the City’s legal counsel in drafting a final assessment resolution that conforms to the assessment ordinance and adopts final assessment rates.
Task 14: Produce Accurate Inventory and Tax Roll Information: GSG (Government Services Group, Inc.) will advise and assist with fulfilling the legal requirements for the adoption of the final assessment rate resolution and certification of the assessment roll in accordance with Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 92-264, Laws of Florida, as amended by Chapter 2003-348, Laws of Florida, including: (a) After verification of the final rates for the assessment program, create the notice roll by applying the rates to the assessment roll. Develop the first-class notice and assist in its distribution to affected property owners. (b) Produce the data exports needed for the production of TRIM notices by the Property Appraiser and provide to Property Appraiser based on their specifications.
Task 15: Certify, Export and Transmit the Final Assessment Roll: Update the tax roll and submit to the Palm Beach County Tax Collector for Fiscal Year 2021-22. The tax roll data will be provided in the electronic medium and format required by the County Tax Collector and be suitable for merger into the ad valorem tax roll files.
Task 16: Provide the City with Source Files: Provide all source files to the City in Microsoft Word and Excel.
Task 17: Assist with Public Education Efforts: GSG will develop public education materials and informational brochure documents. GSG will also be available to provide training to the customer service representatives and support to the customer service representatives in addressing property owner's inquiries. In addition, GSG would be available to attend community workshops, meetings with neighborhood organizations, etc. for an additional cost of $1,000 per on-site meeting.
Task 18: Additional Services: GSG will be available to provide additional services to the City. These services would include:
conducting public education workshops (for additional on-site visit costs of $1,000 per on- site meeting);
• designing informational brochures (included in the Public Education Task 17);
• assisting with challenges, public protests, administrative hearings or similar matters (on a separate hourly fee basis); and
• representing the City by serving as an expert witness and providing supporting documentation as necessary.