Reflecting Raleigh Cost of Growth Analysis

Request for Proposals #274-PLANDEV-331-2026-COG
Title: Reflecting Raleigh Cost of Growth Analysis
Issue Date: March 11, 2026
Due Date: March 31, 2026 no later than 5:00 PM EST
*LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED*
Issuing Department: Planning & Development
Direct all inquiries concerning this RFP to:
Jake Levitas
Planning Supervisor
Email: Jake.Levitas@raleighnc.gov
All information related to this solicitation, including any addenda, will be posted to the
North Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) at https://evp.nc.gov/.
(v.09/15/25)

Contents
1 OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE ............................................................................................................... 3
RALEIGH MARKET BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................. 4
2 PROJECT BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................. 5
3 SCOPE OF WORK............................................................................................................................... 6
TASK 1: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH & ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 6
TASK 2: FISCAL IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT SCENARIOS ................................................................................ 7
TASK 3: PARCEL-LEVEL COST INCREMENT MODELING TOOL(S) ..................................................................... 8
TASK 4: COST OF ACHIEVING SERVICE GOALS ............................................................................................. 8
TASK 5: FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ............................................................ 9
4 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PROCESS ......................................................................................... 10
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) TIMELINE ................................................................................................ 10
PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE (OPTIONAL) ................................................................................................ 10
PROPOSAL QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................. 10
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 11
5 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................................... 13
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS REQUIRED DOCUMENT FORMAT ....................................................................... 13
RFP DOCUMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 15
6 PROPOSAL EVALUATION ............................................................................................................... 16
PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA (STAGE 1) ............................................................................................. 16
INTERVIEW/DEMONSTRATION (STAGE 2) .................................................................................................... 17
FINAL SELECTION ...................................................................................................................................... 17
CITY'S AUTHORITY OVER SELECTION DECISION.......................................................................................... 18
NOTICE TO PROPOSERS REGARDING RFP TERMS AND CONDITIONS ........................................................... 18
CONTRACT TERM ...................................................................................................................................... 18
7 ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS ....................................................................................... 19
BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT & OPPORTUNITIES ............................................................................................... 19
RIGHTS TO SUBMITTED MATERIAL .............................................................................................................. 19
COMMUNICATIONS..................................................................................................................................... 19
LOBBYING ................................................................................................................................................. 19
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ........................................................................................................................... 19
PROPOSER EXPENSES .............................................................................................................................. 20
PROPOSER ACCEPTANCE .......................................................................................................................... 21
8 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................... 22
2

1 Overview and Purpose
The City of Raleigh (COR) is solicitating proposals from one or more firm(s) with which to
contract for the completion of a citywide fiscal impact analysis. The specific components
desired are:
1. Evaluate and compare the net fiscal impact of three (3) citywide development
scenarios;
2. Provide a methodology and tool(s) for calculating the incremental cost of service
based on location and development pattern to better inform annexation and rezoning
decisions;
3. Evaluate capital and operational costs associated with achieving level-of-service
(LOS) standards, anticipated population growth, and land development.
A detailed scope of services is provided in Section 3 of this document.
All information related to this solicitation, including any addenda, will be posted to the North
Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) at https://evp.nc.gov/.
All questions related to this solicitation must be submitted in writing (via email) to the
following individual - questions submitted via telephone will not be answered:
Contact Name Email Address
Jake Levitas Jake.Levitas@raleighnc.gov
The budget for this scope of work shall not exceed $300,000, inclusive of all expenses and
fees. Proposers are free to propose any budget amount within this limit that they feel
necessary to conduct the work. The City will consider cost alongside other factors in ranking
proposals and is not obligated to select the Proposal with the lowest proposed budget.
3

Raleigh Market Background
The City of Raleigh, the Capital City of North Carolina, remains one of the fastest growing
areas in the country. A great economy, top educational institutions, and exceptional health
care facilities are some of the characteristics that attract people to the triangle area. The mild
climate, diverse work force and proximity to Research Triangle Park combine to make
Raleigh a great place to live.
Raleigh is a 21st Century City of Innovation focusing on environmental, cultural, and
economic sustainability. The City conserves and protects our environmental resources
through best practice and cutting-edge conservation and stewardship, land use, infrastructure
and building technologies. The City welcomes growth and diversity through policies and
programs that will protect and enhance Raleigh's existing neighborhoods, natural amenities,
history, and cultural and human resources for future generations. The City leads to improve
quality of life for neighborhoods and standard of living for all citizens. The City works with
universities, colleges, citizens, and local partners to promote new technology, create new job
opportunities, and encourage local businesses and entrepreneurs. The City enlists and
prepares 21st Century staff with the skill sets to carry out the duties of the City through
transparent civic engagement and by providing the very best customer service to our citizens.
Raleigh is the second largest city in North Carolina with a population of 500,639. Raleigh
continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Raleigh and the surrounding
region continue to experience growth in population and commercial activity. Raleigh is both
the county seat of Wake County (the most populated county in North Carolina) and the state
capital. Current projections suggest that the city's population will increase to 750,000 by
2050, the next Comprehensive Plan's horizon year.
4

2 Project Background
The City's Comprehensive Plan is a foundational planning document that guides the growth
and development of the city. The current plan is the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, which was
adopted in 2009 and updated in 2019. Raleigh has initiated the process of writing a new
Comprehensive Plan to guide growth and development through 2050. This process - known
publicly as Reflecting Raleigh - began with an extensive community engagement phase in
2024-2025 and will continue with plan drafting and development over the next several years.
Continued population growth and the land use decisions Raleigh makes in response to that
growth impact the City's ability to fund and deliver public services. We are undertaking this
evaluation to understand the fiscal impact of different growth framework scenarios,
including the current Growth Framework Map in the adopted 2030 Comprehensive Plan.
Additionally, revenue generation and capital and operational costs vary within the city based
on existing infrastructure, development density, and other built and environmental factors. As
a component of this work, we are also seeking to understand marginal costs of growth
based on location. Refining the City's existing average cost methodology for forecasting
costs associated with individual annexation and rezoning decisions based on location will
better inform policy decisions at a more granular level.
Relatedly, Raleigh has both adopted and aspirational level of service standards that guide
planning decisions. The Raleigh Fire Department uses the National Fire Protection
Association Standards for response times to guide station location decisions and provide
context for development decisions. The Raleigh Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources
Department ("Parks") aspires to the Trust for Public Land's goal of providing residents with
high-quality public open space within a 10-minute walk of their home. Understanding the
fiscal impacts (revenue minus operational, capital, and lifecycle maintenance costs) of
achieving these standards will help the City set attainable goals in the next Comprehensive
Plan and align the Plan with the City's operational budget and capital improvement program.
In sum, this analysis will be used to assess and refine Raleigh's Future Land Use and Growth
Framework Maps and inform policies related to growth and infrastructure concurrency. This
analysis will also link land use planning with Raleigh's Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
and Operational Budget, allowing for steady-state budgeting by forecasting capital and
service needs based on incremental growth. In addition to summary analysis, the selected
consultant will provide tools and data to help support clear monitoring of progress towards the
long-term goals and updates to the Comprehensive Plan. Finally, this analysis will reveal and
help communicate tradeoffs between different patterns and types of development.
This study will be completed in parallel with a separate but closely related Facility Fee
Study, to be published under a separate RFP. Findings from the preliminary research and
analysis phase of this study (Task 1) will be shared with the consultant team for the fee study
as a common foundation for both scopes of work.
5

3 Scope of Work
The City of Raleigh has outlined the following priority outcomes for this study. Each proposer
should present their recommended approach to achieving and/or exceeding these outcomes.
To inform Raleigh's future growth strategy, staff are seeking professional services to
complete a citywide fiscal impact analysis. The specific components desired are:
1. Evaluate and compare the net fiscal impact of three (3) citywide development
scenarios;
2. Provide a methodology and tool(s) for calculating the incremental cost of service
based on location and development pattern to better inform annexation and rezoning
decisions;
3. Evaluate capital and operational costs associated with achieving level-of-service
(LOS) standards, anticipated population growth, and land development.
Task 1: Preliminary Research & Analysis
A review of best practices, and an assessment of existing conditions and anticipated growth
are required to ground the analysis for future deliverables. For this task, the consultant shall
prepare a written report that reviews the City's current approach to service delivery, capital
planning, and financing, documents current practices and standards, summarizes best
practices in the field, and establishes guiding principles related to the policy issues. This task
will require the consultant to meet with staff from several relevant departments to understand
current approaches and tools used by the City.
The report shall address, at minimum, the following topics:
1. Best practices and emerging issues
a. Guiding principles, best practices, and up to four (4) peer city approaches to
long-term operational and capital planning
b. Emerging issues, such as land availability, demographic changes in existing
areas, redevelopment and infill, urban development, change in development
scale or form, and areas designated for conservation or otherwise protected.
c. Policy concerns and opportunities
d. Identification of preferred data and methodology for population projections
2. Service delivery
a. Review of key City general fund departments' current approach to service
delivery and capital planning based on information provided by staff.
Enterprise-funded services shall be excluded from this analysis. Review
should include an assessment of operational, adopted, and/or aspirational
service standards. Key departments are the following:
6

i. Transportation
ii. Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources
iii. Police
iv. Fire
b. Key supporting departments to interview/coordinate with include: Budget,
Finance, and Engineering Services.
c. Key enterprise-funded departments to interview/coordinate with include:
Water and Stormwater. These will likely be largely excluded from the
primary analysis, but may be incorporated to some extent due to the
potential impact of growth patterns on their future maintenance costs.
d. How to translate service needs into different types of capital facilities and
operational needs, including staffing, in different settings
e. The role of service areas and other geographies
3. Preliminary recommendations for the approach to scope items 2-5
Deliverables: Summary report of findings related to best practices and emerging
issues, service delivery, and preliminary recommendations for remaining tasks.
Task 2: Fiscal Impact of Development Scenarios
The City would like to understand the anticipated cost and revenue of Raleigh's projected
growth over the next 20 years, inclusive of operational and service provision needs as well
as infrastructure and capital needs. Building on the research and analysis completed in Task
1, the consultant will model, calculate, and assess (1) the net cost of growth of different
potential development patterns citywide, and (2) the incremental cost of growth based on
land area and location in the city. As part of this analysis, the consultant will recommend a
methodology for applying the incremental cost analysis to parcel-level annexation and
rezoning requests.
Deliverables: Memorandum describing net overall cost and incremental cost analysis;
Recommendations for how to apply the incremental cost analysis to parcel-level
annexation and rezoning requests; Set of maps showing net cost per unit of land area
for Raleigh's anticipated future jurisdiction (including GIS files for staff use).
7

Task 3: Parcel-Level Cost Increment Modeling Tool(s)
Building on the research and analysis completed in Tasks 1 and 2, the consultant will
develop, and provide to the City, a modelling tool or tools to calculate the incremental cost
of service based on location and development pattern to better inform annexation and
rezoning decisions.
Deliverables: Editable spreadsheet model that can be used by the City on an ongoing
basis to update cost assessments as growth factors and costs for service evolve; User
guide for editable tool/spreadsheet; Documentation of any underlying methodology.
Task 4: Cost of Achieving Service Goals
The City would like to understand the fiscal impact of meeting defined level-of-service
(LOS) standards, and how costs and revenue vary based on development patterns. As part
of this task, the consultant shall determine current levels of service for each of the key
departments identified above: Transportation, Parks Recreation and Cultural Resources,
Police, and Fire.
The consultant will also evaluate the gap between current level of service and the desired
level of service based on established LOS standards for Raleigh's current population, as well
as services needed to accommodate future growth while meeting the established service
standards. Ideally, this analysis will forecast service needs in 5-year intervals between 2025
and 2050, the anticipated life of the next Comprehensive Plan. Anticipated revenue should be
included in the net cost assessment.
Specific components of this analysis include:
* Coordination with staff to identify LOS standards based on the information collected
and recommendations prepared in task 1
* Assessment of current service, gap and future service needs
* Opportunities for service improvement
* Revenue assessment
* Net cost analysis
* Operational and capital costs of meeting service standards as Raleigh's population
grows based on different development patterns
Deliverables: Summary memorandum explaining level of service analysis and all
proposed LOS standards; Summary memorandum with cost and revenue analysis
today, in 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050, based on development pattern; Level of
service report with recommendations
8

Task 5: Final Recommendations for the Comprehensive Plan
The final task of this scope of work is the preparation of a summary report with
recommendations for Raleigh's Next Comprehensive Plan. These recommendations may
include:
* Recommendations for the comprehensive plan's overall growth strategy
* Recommendations for land allocation based on capital needs
* Recommendations for linking the goals of the comprehensive plan to the City's
operating budget and capital improvement program
* Other recommendations for capital planning and department business operations
The report should focus on recommendations with justification and analysis for each
recommendation based on the results of tasks 1-5.
Deliverables: Final report and executive summary.
9

4 Request for Proposal Process
Request for Proposal (RFP) Timeline
Provided below is a list of the anticipated schedule of events related to this solicitation. The
City of Raleigh reserves the right to modify and/or adjust the following schedule to meet the
needs of the service. All times shown are Eastern Time (EST).
RFP Process Date and Time
RFP Date March 11, 2026
Pre-Proposal Meeting (optional) March 16, 2026, 1:00 PM
Deadline for Written Questions March 18, 2026
City Response to Questions (anticipated) March 25, 2026
Proposal Due Date and Time March 31, 2026, 5:00 PM
Evaluation Meeting (anticipated) Week of April 6, 2026
Interviews (if required) Week of April 6, 2026
Selection Announced (tentative) Week of April 13, 2026
Pre-Proposal Conference (Optional)
If the City of Raleigh elects to conduct a Pre-Proposal Conference or Site Visit, attendance by
prospective proposers is strongly encouraged but is not mandatory. Prospective Proposers
are encouraged to submit written questions in advance. Date, time, and location of pre-
proposal conference is shown above in the RFP Timeline.
At the appropriate time, the Pre-Proposal Conference can be joined via the Teams link here:
https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/23243170826740?p=7vdJdeH8qJyNG86OUe
Proposal Questions
Requests for clarification and questions to this RFP must be received by the City not later
than the date shown above in the RFP Timeline for the submittal of written inquiries. The
firm's failure to request clarification and submit questions by the date in the RFP Timeline
above shall be considered to constitute the firm's acceptance of all City's terms and
conditions and requirements.
10