HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee Presentation FinalAuditor Selection Committee1
Auditor Selection CommitteeCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe City Commission of the City of Winter Springs on May 10, 2021 passed Resolution 2021-06 establishing an Auditor Selection Committee. The following persons have agreed to participate on the committee:Rob Elliott – City Commissioner will chair the committeeMichael Blake – currently a member of the Board of Trustees for the City’s Pension TrustCarol Conroy – Finance Director for the City of CasselberryCity staff cannot participate as members of the committee, however the City’s Finance Director, Maria Sonksen, and the Assistant Finance Director, Holly Queen, will act as technical advisors to the committee. Ms. Queen will also act as the bid administrator on behalf of the committee.2
Purpose of the Auditor Selection CommitteeCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe Committee shall serve in an advisory capacity to the City Commission in selecting an auditor to conduct the annual financial audit required by section 218.391, Florida Statutes, and shall serve no other purposes. Specifically, the Committee shall establish factors to use for the evaluation of audit services, publicly announce requests for proposals, provide interested firms with requests for proposals, evaluate proposals provided by qualified firmsrank and recommend to the City Commission, in order of preference, no fewer than three (3) firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to perform the required service.3
Preparing the Request for Proposal (RFP)CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe committee shall be guided by the best practices as outlined in the GFOA Handbook including the list of 24 information elements that should be considered in designing an RFP for audit services. See Florida Auditor General – Auditor Selection and Auditor Selection Committee Guidance for elements to consider attached to Resolution 2021-06.The Request for Proposal, must be approved by the Committee. The Committee shall then publicly announce, in a uniform and consistent manner, each occasion when independent auditing services are required to be purchased by the City, (public announcement should follow the City’s current procurement process for RFPs).The Committee shall establish factors to use for the evaluation of audit services to be provided by a certified public accounting firm duly licensed under Chapter 473, Florida Statutes and qualified to conduct audits in accordance with government auditing standards as adopted by the Florida Board of Accountancy. Such factors shall include, but not be limited to, ability of personnel, experience, ability to furnish the required services, and such other factors as may be determined by the Committee to be applicable to its particular requirements.4
Evaluation CriteriaCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeA determination of the best qualified firm will be made by the Committee based on the evaluation criteria established and set forth by the Committee in the RFP. Price is NOT the sole or predominant factor under consideration. This is designed to assure that highly qualified firms will receive appropriate consideration and to discourage the submission of proposals with unrealistically low prices by less qualified firms. The above criteria and scoring was submitted to the Committee by the Finance Director as a framework for discussion purposes (see page 6‐7 of Auditor General Guidance).5
Adjectival ScoringCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeAn adjectival scoring system is used in accordance with the rating scale below. The Committee members adjectival rating score is multiplied by the percentage of maximum points (weight) resulting in a total score for that section.0 = Unsatisfactory: Not responsive to the question. (0% of the max. points)1 = Below Minimum Standards: Responsive to the question, but below acceptable standards. (25% of the maximum points)2 = Marginal: Minimal acceptable performance standards and responsive to the question. (50% of the maximum points)3 = Satisfactory: Above minimum performance, effective and responsive to the question. (75% of the maximum points)4 = Excellent: Exceeds expectations for effectiveness and responsiveness to the question. (100% of the maximum points)6
Draft RFP Review – Discussion - AdoptionCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe Draft Request for Proposal is laid out as follows:Section 1 – Project OverviewSection 2 – Proposal ScheduleSection 3 – General InstructionsSection 4 – Proposal Response and FormatSection 5 – Evaluation ProcessSection 6 – General Terms & ConditionsAttachments – to be completed by proposers and submitted with their response.Exhibit 1 – Scope of WorkExhibit 2 – Sample Standard AgreementThe draft reviewed by the committee was prepared in accordance with best practices as set forth by the GFOA Handbook’s list of 24 information elements that should be considered in designing and RFP for audit services. 7
Proposal ScheduleCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe City reserves the right to modify the dates and times of the Proposal Schedule. When the due date must be changed, respondents will be notified via an Addenda.8
Evaluation of Proposals CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeProposals will initially be reviewed by the City Staff for compliance with the bid proposal requirements. Staff will prepare a checklist to reflect proposal compliance with the elements of the RFP. submit all proposals and the compliance checklist to the Committee,provide information as to which proposals it deems responsive and non-responsive.The Committee shall evaluate proposals submitted by qualified firms. If compensation is one of the factors established by the Committee, compensation shall not be the sole or predominant factor used to evaluate the proposals.Lowest Bid Example provided (Section 4.04 B of the draft RFP)See Evaluation Criteria and Adjectival Rating Scale (Section 5 of the draft RFP)9
AppendixCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe Appendix provided includes the following:Resolution 2021-06 and the Auditor General’s guidance referred to herein (attached as a PDF)Draft RFP – Reviewed by Committee(attached as a PDF)Initial Compliance Checklist (attached as a PDF)Price Proposal Formula – Sample CalculationEvaluation Criteria – Example Calculations and Scoring10
AppendixCITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection CommitteeThe Price Proposal shall be evaluated using the formula below:The lowest price receives the maximum points. The lowest price is then divided, individually, by the other prices to determine the percentage. The percentage is then multiplied by the maximum points allowed. (The Weighted Score may be rounded to the nearest whole number.)The following is only an example:11
AppendixEvaluation CriteriaExample Calculations and ScoringEach committee member will be provided a scoring worksheet for each firm.Members will enter their scores and will provide printed copies to the bidadministrator.The bid administrator will aggregate each member’s scores in the a summaryworksheet, which will calculate the total score for each firm.The summary worksheet will produce the results needed for ranking the firms.CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS | Auditor Selection Committee12