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Government Consulting Partners City of Santa Ana PW Proposal 7 what data is needed and we can quickly match what is needed with how to find it. Brad and Jeff first began working with Santa Ana in the late 1990s and Brad has been involved with city projects on an annual basis since 2015. We understand the city organizational structure, we feel comfortable communicating with the city’s finance and administrative departments, and we know the pluses and minuses of city reports – such as those produced by the Lawson system and the centralized accounting systems. We know the citywide account structure and the budget unit codes of funds, departments, divisions, etc. We feel at home reading technical data and can quickly communicate with city staff using the same “language” as we gather the documents and reports that will be the foundation of our calculations. Since this RFP has gone out, our team has spent hours online reviewing fee structures and noting areas of strength and areas that may be open for improvement. We will not only provide a cost analysis, but we will listen to staff about what is working well and what is not in terms of structure, management, process, etc. We look forward to talking about streamlining fee schedules, discussing pros and cons of valuation-based structures, square footage-based fee structures, and the convenience of fixed fee charges and balancing the accuracy vs. the administrative work required for accurate hourly rate charged fees. The second step of this study is after the costs have been reviewed and calculated – how does the city recover these costs? Cost recovery can be made in a number of ways, including user fee charges, grant funding, state and federal reimbursement (SB 90, Caltrans, etc.) GCP team members have experience guiding city governments through each potential aspect of cost reimbursement. This effort of cost calculation and the corresponding reimbursement of those costs is multidimensional. Each avenue of potential reimbursement has its own requirements. How are indirect costs calculated and are these calculations supported by substantial backup, do they follow the unique guidelines of each reimbursement option? Our project team has prepared hundreds of citywide cost allocation plans (both full cost and federal/state (2 CFR Part 200) cost plans), departmental cost plans and our team has submitted and navigated more calculations to approving authorities than has any other team of four members in the state. This gives us confidence that this section of the study will be successful. II. Billing Hours. The operations and services that public works is responsible for span across fund and department lines. Each operation and service has a profile. This profile – what is done, who is the customer, who does the work, how long does it take, etc. – will drive how the cost is calculated and how it is then charged and reimbursed. This profile also drives the requirements that shape how costs are calculated. For many user fee services the state code provides direction, for example, it is generally accepted by California agencies that user fee charges cannot recover more than reasonable estimates of the cost to provide the service. This generally applies to most of the services we will review in the city. This RFP is different than most city user fee RFPs. The services included in this study have profiles that dramatically vary. Understanding each service and how it will be charged and recovered is key to success. This section of the RFP – hourly rates – points directly to the reimbursement of Caltrans funded projects. Understanding how to calculate and then get reimbursement of those project costs requires an in-depth understanding of Caltrans rules and requirements. A major part of those requirements is the correct development and use of hourly rates. Hourly rates calculated for the estimation of fixed fee-based user fees in the general fund – can be exactly that – estimates. For Caltrans reimbursements, they cannot. The foundation of solid City Council 30 – 41 6/4/2024