RFP for 2024 Ballot Measure Public Outreach Consultant Services

Agency:	City of Foster City
State:	California
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	Q - Medical Services R - Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
Posted:	Dec 1, 2023
Due:	Dec 11, 2023
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

Date of Issuance: December 01, 2023

Due Date: December 11, 2023*

2024 Ballot Measure Public Outreach

Consultant Services

CITY OF FOSTER CITY

A. INTRODUCTION

The City of Foster City (the “City”) is seeking proposals from qualified firms for professional

services to provide public outreach services pertaining to a potential November 2024 ballot

measure. The City is seeking to modernize its business license tax structure that is fair and

equitable among businesses based on size and category.

B. FOSTER CITY OVERVIEW

Foster City is located midway between San Francisco and San Jose on the western shoreline

of the San Francisco Bay, east of U.S. 101, which provides convenient access to the San

Francisco Airport and San Francisco to the north and Santa Clara County to the south. The

City is bisected by State Route 92 (the J. Arthur Younger Freeway), which runs between Half

Moon Bay to the west and Highway 880 to the east via the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. The

City encompasses 12,345 acres, of which 9,726 acres are part of San Francisco Bay and

Belmont Slough, and 2,619 acres are land area.

South San

Francisco

San Francisco

International

Airport

San Mateo

Foster City

Location map; Source: Google Maps

The City of Foster City is a full-service, General Law City with a Council-Manager form of

government. The City Council also serves as the Board of Directors for the Estero Municipal

Improvement District (“District”). The District, although a separate legal entity, encompasses

the same geographical area, is inhabited by the same citizens and governed by the same

bodies and procedures as the City. The City/District collectively called (‘City”) has

approximately 177 employees who deliver high quality municipal services to its 33,056

residents. The City’s fiscal year 2023-24 appropriations for its General Fund is approximately

$58.26 million.

Foster City Municipal Code requires that any person who engages in a business in the City

must obtain and maintain a valid business license (link).

C. BUSINESS LICENSE TAX OVERVIEW

The City of Foster City's Business License Tax (BLT) Ordinance was enacted in 1972, shortly

after the City's incorporation. Since that time, the BLT Ordinance has only been updated once

in 2013. Foster City Municipal Code Title 5 “Business Licenses and Regulation” Chapters 5.04

to 5.40 outlines the provisions of the City's BLT. The model is based on the gross receipts

model with a single tax rate. The last update in November 2013 increased minimum tax and

maximum revenue caps upon which the tax is calculated and was phased in over a 3-year

period from calendar year 2014 to 2016.

The City has approximately 1,700 Business License Tax licensees. Per its adopted 2023-24

Budget (link), the current tax rate is 0.075% with a gross receipts cap of $38,129,333 for a

maximum tax of $28,597 for the calendar year 2023. There are approximately 24 businesses

with gross receipts that exceed the cap. The gross receipts cap is adjusted annually based

on inflation. FY 2022-23 revenues were estimated at $1.58 million and projected to reach

$1.62 million in FY 2023-24, but still below the FY 2018-19 level of $1.76 million.

Earlier this year, City Council adopted its key priorities and initiatives for the calendar year

2023 (link).

The Goal 3.1, reads:

“Identify new revenue sources and strengthen existing resources to ensure Foster City

finances are more resilient to economic fluctuations and support city services.”

Under this goal, one of the metrics for the success is as follows:

Consideration of a 2024 ballot measure on Business License Tax (BLT)

Metrics/Outcome/Deliverables:

• Initiate and engage in ongoing dialogue with City businesses to build strong

relationships and assess their needs and understand their perspectives on a

BLT ballot measure.

• Research BLT methodologies and consider feasibility of various methodologies

(e.g., gross receipts, square footage, employee count) with presentation to

Council in January 2024.

To protect Foster City’s fiscal stability and maintain essential services, the City is looking to

explore the possibility of amending the Business License Tax. The City has engaged with a

separate consultant (BLT consultant) to prepare a comprehensive report on the City’s current

BLT ordinance, other license tax fee structures, and notably, the impact of proposed changes

to BLT on the City’s revenue and business community. The BLT consultant is tasked with

providing an informational report to the City Council in January 2024. At the meeting, city staff

will seek Council direction on preferred BLT methodology. Based on the direction from the

City Council, the BLT consultant will also participate in the project in the stakeholder outreach

and engagement meetings to introduce the proposed changes to the BLT.

BLT is considered a general tax that would require a 2/3rd majority vote of the City Council (4

out of 5 Councilmembers) to be placed on the ballot and a simple majority vote (50% + 1) of

the voters to pass. Based on City Council direction and following stakeholder engagement,

the proposed BLT ballot measure will be placed in the November 2024 General Election.

In order to adequately inform the City Council, its residents, and the business

community, City is looking for comprehensive outreach to its residents and business

community.

D. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The City seeks proposals for public outreach consultant services pertaining to Business

License Tax measure. The City desires to better understand residents and business

community’s opinion, ensure voters are accurately informed and understand the outcome of

their vote(s) associated with the ballot measure.

1. Meet with City staff to discuss the project scope, purpose, uses and goals to ensure

that the proposal will be appropriate to the needs of Foster City.

2. Develop a Comprehensive Outreach/Engagement Strategy after discussion with city

staff and present it to the City Council in February 2024.

3. A dedicated webpage with information regarding the current business license tax

program, background on modernizing the tax, FAQs, discussions to date, the options

being considered, and the timeline for a ballot measure. The webpage should be

periodically updated to inform the residents and business.

4. Craft appropriate informational and educational materials and provide advice on

distribution methods.

5. A direct, targeted outreach to the approximately 24 businesses that would potentially

be impacted by proposed changes to the BLT Ordinance. This could be a Business

Focus Group Meetings and/or Business Leaders Roundtable in coordination with the

Foster City Chamber of Commerce.

6. Design, advertise and conduct up to five (5) public outreach meetings/community

workshops, including for residents and businesses. Meetings shall be designed for

hybrid participation.

7. Present an update to the City Council at critical stages of the outreach (at minimum

two (2) meetings).

Consultants shall initiate work by January 2024 with the first milestone date of February 2024

when the consultant shall present the outreach/engagement strategy. A draft schedule is

included below for informational purposes. The City seeks to complete the polling and a

portion of the public outreach by June 2024 to provide ample time to share the results of the

survey and outreach efforts with the Council. Upon further direction from the Council, public

education and outreach would continue until approximately one month before the election. In

October 2024, the consultant shall provide a concluding report on all the outreach efforts.

Following is a tentative timeline of the ballot measure related engagement work:

MONTH (2024)

Jan

Feb

Feb-June

May/June

July/August

ASSOCIATED ENGAGEMENT MILESTONE

Prepare outreach/engagement strategy and finalize the

website. Craft initial informational and educational materials.

Present to the Council outreach/engagement strategy in

February (meeting #1).

Targeted outreach and (5) public outreach meetings; conduct

survey.

Present an update to the Council regarding outreach efforts and

the outcome of the survey and the meetings (meeting #2).

Update informational and educational materials.

Present final report to the Council (meeting #3)

E. PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE FOR RFP

The following is a preliminary schedule for the award of the contract.

Distribution of RFP

Deadline to Submit Written Questions

Deadline to Respond

December 1, 2023

5:00 pm December 5, 2023

5:00 pm December 11, 2023

Note that this schedule is preliminary. The schedule may be adjusted, as needed, by the City.

The deadline for submitting proposals may be extended if the City does not receive adequate

responses from qualified firms. Accordingly, the date for awarding the contract will change.

*Depending upon the proposal amount (if over $50k), the award of the contract will need to

go to the City Council for approval.

F. DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN QUESTIONS

All inquiries regarding this RFP shall be directed to Sofia Mangalam, Community Development

Director, via telephone at (650) 286-3239, or, preferably, via email at

smangalam@fostercity.org before 5:00 pm on December 05, 2023. It is the responsibility of

consultants to carefully review this RFP and any addenda including checking the City website

regularly.

Except as specified above, consultants and their representatives may not communicate with

any officer, director, employee, or agent of the City with respect to this RFP except as may be

reasonably necessary to carry out the procedures specified in this RFP. Nothing herein

prohibits consultants or their representatives from making oral statements or presentations in

public to one or more representatives of the City during a public meeting. The City will not

respond to verbal inquiries and interested consultants are specifically discouraged from

contacting the city in person or by telephone during this RFP and selection process.

This is the opportunity summary page. You are currently viewing an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation. For more information, please visit the Publication URL Web page.

RFP for 2024 Ballot Measure Public Outreach Consultant Services

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