CITY OF WINDCREST LEGAL COMPLIANCE REVIEW AND AUDITING SERVICES REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) 24-25-005

Solicitation ID:

2024-2025-005

Status:

Posted

Contact Name:

Natalia Witmer

Contact Number:

(210) 655-0022

Contact Email:

nwitmer@windcrest-tx.gov

Response Due Date:

5/13/2025

Response Due Time:

10:00 AM

Agency/Texas SmartBuy Member Number:

M0157

Posting Requirement:

21+ Days for Solicitation Notice

Solicitation Posting Date:

4/22/2025

Last Modified:

4/22/2025 12:13 pm

Attachment URL: https://www.windcrest-tx.gov/400/Bid-Openings-RFQs-RFPs

Class/Item Code:

95353-Investigation Services;
94620-Auditing;
95277-Research And Evaluation, Human Services (Including Productivity Audits);

The City of Windcrest,Texas is soliciting proposals from qualified and experienced firms(“Respondent”) whose principal officers are experienced in factualinvestigations, financial auditing and legal compliance determinations. The objectives are to perform a legalcompliance review and financial audit of certain City employees, officials,departments and outside contractors/vendors, and to perform other relatedservices as stated within this Request for Qualifications (RFQ).

One (1) copy of the RFQ may be obtainedon or after Tuesday, April 22, 2025, by contacting Natalia Witmer, MunicipalFinance Officer, at the City Hall Office, 8601 Midcrown Drive, Windcrest, Texas78239 or by calling (210) 655-0022 ext. (2820). Any inquiries concerning the RFQ should be addressed to the same.

Sealed proposals must be labeledwith “Professional Legal Compliance Review and Auditing Services” on theoutside of the envelope and mailed or hand delivered to the attention of NataliaWitmer at 8601 Midcrown Drive, Windcrest, Texas 78239, no later than 10:00 a.m.,Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at which time and place proposals will be publiclyopened and read. Late proposals will berejected and will be returned unopened. Faxed proposals will not be accepted.

This RFQ represents a competitiveprocess, which is designed to facilitate an open and fair opportunity forqualified firms to offer their services for consideration. This competitive RFQprocess will provide the City with the flexibility to select the Respondentwhose proposal is deemed most advantageous for the City based on demonstratedcompetence and qualifications to perform the services and to negotiate withsuch Respondent to arrive at a mutually agreeable contract at a fair andreasonable price. The purpose of this RFQ is to establish parameters withinwhich the Respondent is to provide Legal Compliance Review and Audit Serviceswithin a defined scope of work. The City reserves the right to accept or rejectany and/or all Proposals, to re-solicit for proposals, waive minortechnicalities or proceed otherwise as it shall deem to be in the City’s bestinterests. Receipt and consideration of any Proposal(s) shall, under nocircumstance, obligate the City to accept any proposal(s).

Conflict of Interest. Aperson or business, and their agents, who seek to contract or enter into anagreement with the City, are required by Texas Local Government Code, Chapter176, to file a conflict-of-interest questionnaire (FORM CIQ).

Certificate of InterestedParties (1295 Form). A person or business, and their agents, who seek tocontract or enter into an agreement with the City, are required by Texas LocalGovernment Code Chapter 2252, Subtitle F, Title 10, Section 2252.908, to file adisclosure of interested parties with the Texas Ethics Commission ( https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/whatsnew/elfinfo form 1295.htm )

Prohibition on Boycott ofIsrael. In the event Respondent is a company with ten (10) or morefull-time employees, and the contract value is $100,000 or more for goods orservices, then by submission of a response to this RFQ, the Respondent verifiesthat it: 1) Does not boycott Israel; and 2) Will not boycott Israel during theterm of any resultant contract.

Prohibition on Boycott ofEnergy Companies. In the event Respondentis a company of 10 or more full-time employees, and the contract value is$100,000 or more for goods or services, then by submission of a response tothis RFQ, Respondent verifies that it: 1) Does not boycott energy companies;and 2) Will not boycott energy companies during the term of any resultantcontract.

Prohibition on Discrimination Against Firearm and Ammunition Industries. In the event the Respondent is a companyof 10 or more full-time employees, and the contract value is $100,000 or morefor goods or services, then by submission of a response to this RFQ, Respondentverifies that it: 1) Does not have a practice, policy, guidance, or directivethat discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association; and2) Will not discriminate during the term of any resultant Contract against afirearm entity or firearm trade association.

Comptroller’s List. In accordance with Chapter 2252 of the Texas Government Code, Respondentwarrants and represents that its name is not included on the list maintained bythe Texas State Comptroller of companies known to have contracts with or toprovide supplies or services to a foreign terrorist organization unless theUnited States government has excluded the company from its federal sanctionsregime relating to Sudan, its federal sanctions regime relating to Iran, or anyfederal sanction relating to a foreign terrorist organization.

II. NATURE OF SERVICESREQUIRED

Scope of Work to be Performed

The Respondent shall perform acompliance review with a financial audit component covering approximately a two(2) year period.

Specifically, a series of eventsoccurred within the designated time period which centered around services theCity specifically contracted to obtain. Public controversy occurred around the services. The series of events overlapped with Citypolicy formation, City procurement practices, human resource issues involvingdepartment heads, and criminal and administrative investigations.

This legal compliance review andaudit will include a review of specific issues to be identified by the City andrelative to specific City employees, officials, departments and outside vendorsassociated with the above-mentioned series of events. Respondent shall confirmand prepare factual reports and timelines regarding the issues to be identifiedby the City and involving the interaction between the City, certain employeesand officials, as well as outside vendors. Largely, the factual report andtimeline will center around such issues as the proper policies for Cityemployees to follow, did they follow them, whether actions by employees orvendors violated policy or a law, and what recommendations can be made forefficiency or better compliance. TheRespondent shall also perform certain forensic accounting services in order toconfirm the expenditure of city resources over time as well as factualdeterminations related to the City’s procurement processes and decisions. Inrelation to the compliance review and audit, the Respondent shall reviewapplicable laws, policies, procedures and practices applicable to the City, andmake determinations regarding compliance with same by the City employees,officials, departments and vendors to be identified by the City. To the extentnecessary, the Respondent shall make recommendations to the City designed tofix and prevent any identified compliance issues.

Reports to be Issued

Following completion of theRespondent’s legal compliance review and audit, Respondent shall deliver, asappropriate, the following:

1) Areport of factual findings related to issues, persons, and entities identifiedfor review by the City, to include a certain forensic financial audit relatedto City resources.

2) 2)A report on involved City official, employee, department and vendor compliancewith applicable laws, regulations, policies and procedures.

3) Areport on recommended actions, policy changes, and/or corrective measures to betaken by the City in response to any legal or policy compliance issues found byRespondent.

Working Papers

All working papers and reportsmust be retained, at the Respondent’s expense, for a period of at least five(5) years after the fiscal year end. TheRespondent shall make available all original working papers for examination byauthorized representatives of Federal and State agencies, the City’s CityManager and Municipal Finance Officer, and any other entity to which access hasbeen granted in writing by the City’s City Manager or Municipal Finance Officer. In addition, the firm shall respond to thereasonable inquiries of successor auditors and allow successor auditors toreview working papers relating to matters of continuing financial significance.As requests for copies of working papers are fulfilled, the selected Firm willbe required to notify the City’s City Manager or Municipal Finance Officer ofthe request, as appropriate.

Errors or Omissions

The Respondent shall not be allowed to take advantage of anyerrors or omissions in this RFQ. Where errors or omissions appear in this RFQ,the Respondent shall promptly notify the designated contact person in writingof such error or omission it discovers. Any significant errors, omissions orinconsistencies in this RFQ are to be reported no later than ten (10) daysbefore the RFQ response is to be submitted.

Withdrawal Of Proposals

A representative of a Respondent may withdraw a proposal atany time prior to the RFQ submission deadline, upon presentation of acceptableidentification as a representative of such Respondent

Costs Incurred in Responding

All costs directly or indirectly related to preparation of aresponse to the RFQ or any oral presentation required to supplement and/orclarify a proposal which may be required by the City shall be the soleresponsibility of and shall be borne by the participating Respondents.

Non-Endorsement

If a proposal is recommended for award or awarded, thesuccessful Respondent shall not issue any news releases or other statementsthat state or imply the City endorses the successful Respondent’s services.

Proprietary Information

Information submitted to the City in connection with an RFQis generally considered to be public once a contract has been awarded andexecuted. If a Respondent wishes to seek protection for any submittedinformation, the Respondent is required to identify all purported proprietaryinformation in the Proposal by individually marking each page on which suchinformation appears with the words "Proprietary Information." Respondentsmay not mark their entire Proposals as proprietary. If a Respondentfails to identify proprietary information, it agrees that by submitting itsProposal all unmarked sections shall be deemed non-proprietary and madeavailable upon public request.

Respondents shall consider the implications of the TexasPublic Information Act, particularly after the RFQ process has ceased and theagreement has been awarded. While there are provisions in the Texas PublicInformation Act to protect proprietary information where the Respondent canmeet certain evidentiary standards, please be advised that a determination onwhether those standards have been met shall not be decided by the City but bythe Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas. In the event arequest for public information is made, the City shall notify the Respondentpursuant to 552.305, Texas Government Code. An affected Respondent may thensubmit to the Attorney General the Firm’s arguments against disclosure. TheCity shall not make arguments to the Attorney General on the basis of a Respondent’spurported proprietary interests.

Disclosure Requirements

Respondent must disclose to the City any known or reasonablyanticipated conflicts of interest regarding the Respondent providing servicesto the City and must also disclose any legal or disciplinary events that may bematerial to the City’s evaluation of the Respondent or the integrity of the Respondent’smanagement or advisory personnel.

III. DESCRIPTIONOF THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY

Administration

NataliaWitmer. NataliaWitmer

Interim City Manager Municipal Finance Officer

8601 Midcrown Drive, 8601 Midcrown Drive

Windcrest, Texas 78239 Windcrest, Texas 78239

The Respondent’s principal contacts with the City ofWindcrest will be the Interim City Manager, who will coordinate the assistanceto be provided by the City of Windcrest to the Respondent.

General Background

The City of Windcrest is located inthe northeast portion of Bexar County along IH-35. The City is a home-rule city governed by a CityCharter and the form of government is Council-City Manager. The City has approximately 82 employees and a2021/2022 budget of approximately $14 million. There are approximately 5300residents in Windcrest. The Cityprovides a full range of municipal services including police and fireprotection, construction and maintenance of streets and infrastructure,planning and zoning, recreational activities, code compliance, public works andgeneral administrative services. Inaddition, the City provides waste collection services. Waste collection isprovided through an agreement with another agency.

IV. TIME REQUIREMENTS

Proposal Calendar

The following is a list of keydates up to and including the date proposals are due to be submitted andawarded:

Advertisements for RFQs Tuesday, April 24, 2025

Tuesday,April 29, 2025

Earliest Date RFQs are released Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Due date for proposals Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Projected Date of Award Monday, May 19, 2025

Date Compliance Review and Audit MayCommence

The City of Windcrest will haveall records ready for compliance review and all necessary management personnelavailable to meet with the Respondent’s personnel by April 25, 2025, or at thelater date.

Exit Conference

An exit conference will be heldwith the Municipal Finance Officer, City Manager and Mayor at the completion ofthe compliance review. The purpose ofthis meeting will be to summarize the results of the field work and to reviewsignificant findings.

Date Final Reports are Due

The Respondent shall complete itsfactual findings and recommendations related to the legal compliance review andaudit and then submit a draft copy of any requested reports to the City byTuesday, July 1, 2025.

The City will complete its reviewof the draft reports as expeditiously as possible. It is not expected that this process shouldexceed one week. During that period, theRespondent shall be available for any meetings that may be necessary to discussthe reports. Once all the issues fordiscussion are resolved, the final signed report shall be delivered to the Citywithin 15 working days. It isanticipated that this process will be completed and the final report will bedelivered by Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

The original final report shouldbe delivered to the City Manager, City of Windcrest, 8601 Midcrown Drive,Windcrest, Texas 78239.

VI. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

RESPONDENTS ARE CAUTIONED TO READTHE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS RFQ CAREFULLY AND TO SUBMIT A COMPLETERESPONSE TO ALL REQUIREMENTS AND QUESTIONS AS DIRECTED. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ALL REQUIREMENTS MAYBE USED TO EXCLUDE A RESPONSE FROM CONSIDERATION.

General Requirements

1. Inquiries concerning the request for qualificationsand the subject of the request for qualifications must be made to:

Natalia Witmer

Interim CityManager

8601 MidcrownDrive

Windcrest, Texas78239

Any inquiries concerning therequest for proposals and the subject of the request for proposals must be madeby Friday, May 2, 2025.

CONTACT WITH PERSONNEL OF THECITY OF WINDCREST OTHER THAN THE CITY MANAGER OR MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERREGARDING THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS MAY BE GROUNDS FOR ELIMINATION FROMTHE SELECTION PROCESS.

2. The following material is required tobe received by the City for a Respondent to be considered:

· Cover Letter

· Executive Summary

· Table of Contents

· Firm Background and Prior Experience

· Scope and Legal Compliance and Audit Approach

· Other References

· Additional Data and Other Information

· Concluding Remarks

· Sealed Dollar Cost Proposal (submitted inseparate envelope)

3. Proposing firms are to submit two (2)copies of their complete response to this RFQ to the City.

Cover Letter

This section should contain thename of the proposed firm, the address of the proposing office, and contactpersons authorized to answer technical, price, and/or contract questionstogether with their telephone number and mailing address. The cover letter must also be signed by apartner authorized to bind the company.

Executive Summary

Prefacing the proposal, anexecutive summary of five pages or less should be provided which gives inbrief, concise terms a summation of your proposal. Identify the points that make your firmuniquely qualified for this engagement.

Table of Contents

The Table of Contents shallinclude an index of the proposal contents and attachments.

Firm Background and PriorExperience

Firm Qualifications andExperience. This section shouldstate: