Financial Auditing Service for the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority

1. NOTICEREQUEST FOR PROPOSALFinancial Auditing Service for the Lakeland Downtown Development AuthorityFOR THE CITY OF LAKELANDFriday, May 12, 2023RFP No. 2023-RFP-050Sealed proposals will be received electronically by the Purchasing Manager via OpenGov, the City’s e-Procurement Portal (“Portal”), until 2:00 pm – Friday, June 2, 2023. Proposals received after this specified time and date will not be considered. The sealed proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud on the same date and time in the office of the Purchasing Manager for the following:RFP Documents may be accessed by visiting our Website athttps://procurement.opengov.com/portal/lakelandgov or by contacting the City of Lakeland Purchasing Division @ (863) 834-6780.RFP Documents are Required for Submittal. Respondents are required to submit their response through the Portal. Respondents shall sign up on the Portal if an

account does not exist.THE CITY OF LAKELAND IS SOLICITING SEALED PROPOSALS FROM QUALIFIED VENDORS TO PROVIDE: Financial Auditing Service for the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority.THE PROPOSALS SUBMITTED SHALL BE IN COMPLETE ACCORDANCE WITH, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, THE ATTACHED CITY OF LAKELAND SPECIFICATIONS, ALL CODES AND REQUIREMENTS REFERENCED THEREIN.All Questions regarding this request for qualifications shall be in writing and submitted electronically via the Portal through the Question and Answer tab before 5:00 pm on Friday, May 26, 2023. Responses will be released on the Question and Answer Tab. 1.1. CLARIFICATION AND/OR EXCEPTIONS OF DOCUMENTATION Bidders requiring clarification or having a dispute with these documents must advise the City Purchasing Division of the nature of the required clarification or basis of the dispute, in writing, no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, May 26, 2023 via the Portal's Question and Answer tab. If no written contact has been made by this specified date, the Bidder waives the right to any future consideration and accepts the documents as published and/or revised by the City. Additionally, submitting a signed bid shall be construed as a total compliance statement. Note: Any use of brand names (manufacturer) in this invitation and specification is for Bidder convenience only and shall not limit this offering. Equal or better equipment and alternate bids may be given consideration. 1.2. FLORIDA PUBLIC RECORDS LAWRespondent’s submittal information shall be subject to Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, generally known as the “Florida Public Records Law.” This statute provides that all documents, papers, records and similar material produced or received by an agency or political subdivision of the State are subject to public inspection and review under reasonable conditions and at reasonable times. Accordingly, unless specifically exempted by law, all bids and materials received with bids, marketing information, quotations, proposals, specifications, correspondence, forms, contracts, bonds, financial statements, prospectus, corporate resumes, product summaries, lab reports, inspection and test reports and any other such material will be considered a matter of public record. The City and its staff cannot regard any document, information or data as proprietary or confidential unless so advised by the City Attorney.Additionally, should a Contractor enter into an Agreement with the City, the Contractor shall comply with Florida Statute Chapter 119, the Florida Public Records Act as it relates to records kept and maintained by Contractor in performance of services pursuant to this Agreement. In accordance with Florida Statute §119.0701, the Contractor shall keep and maintain public records required by the City in performance of services pursuant to the contract. Upon request from the City’s custodian of public records, Contractor shall provide the City with a copy of the requested records or allow the records to be inspected or copied within a reasonable time at a cost that does not exceed the cost provided pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 119 or as otherwise provided by law. Contractor shall ensure that public records that are exempt or confidential and exempt from public records disclosure requirements are not disclosed except as authorized by law for the duration of the contract term and following completion of the contract if the Contractor does not transfer the records to the City. Contractor shall, upon completion of the contract, transfer, at no cost, to the City all public records in possession of the Contractor or keep and maintain public records required by the City to perform services pursuant to the contract. If the Contractor transfers all public records to the City upon completion of the contract, the Contractor shall destroy any duplicate public records that are exempt or confidential and exempt from public records disclosure requirements. If the Contractor keeps and maintains public records upon completion of the contract, the Contractor shall meet all applicable requirements for retaining public records. All records stored electronically must be provided to the City, upon request from the City’s custodian of public records, in a format that is compatible with the information technology systems of the City. 1.3. EXPARTE COMMUNICATIONPlease note that to insure the proper and fair evaluation of a proposal the City of Lakeland prohibits exparte communication (i.e., unsolicited) initiated by the Respondent to the City Official or Employee evaluating or considering the proposals prior to the time a bid decision has been made. Communication between Respondent and the City will be initiated by the appropriate City Official or Employee in order to obtain information or clarification needed to develop a proper and accurate evaluation of the proposal. Exparte communication may be grounds for disqualifying the offending Respondent from consideration or award of the proposal, then in evaluation, or any future proposal.1.4. INSURANCE AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS All insurance shall be secured from or countersigned by an agent or surety company recognized in good standing and authorized to do business in the State of Florida.The Contractor shall, within ten (10) days of notification of award and prior to commencement of work, take out and maintain in full force and effect minimum insurance coverage as specified in the attached requirements. This insurance shall remain in force and effect throughout the duration of the contract.A certificate of existing insurance coverage should be submitted with the proposal as proof of insurability. If the current coverage does not meet the RFP requirements, then the Respondent should request an affidavit of insurability from the Respondent’s insurance agent that certifies the requirements can and will be met. Failure to provide adequate insurance coverage may be cause for disqualification as non-responsive to the RFP requirements. The Contractor agrees to accept and abide by the City of Lakeland safety regulations in complete accordance with the attached requirements.1.5. INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT The Contractor agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Lakeland in complete accordance with the attached requirements. This agreement shall be signed, notarized and returned with the RFP submittal. Failure to provide the Hold Harmless Indemnification Agreement may be cause for disqualification as non-responsive to the RFP requirements.1.6. DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE CERTIFICATION By submitting a proposal in response to this Request for Proposal, you are certifying that your company is a drug-free workplace in accordance with Florida Statute 287.087.1.7. SUSPENSION AND DEBARMENT CERTIFICATION By submitting a bid in response to this Invitation to Bid, you are certifying that your company, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 29: (1) is not presently suspended or debarred as, and/or listed on the U.S. General Services Administration’s System for Award Management (SAM) as such; and (2) will at all times remain eligible to bid for and perform the services subject to the requirements set forth herein and other applicable laws. Bidder agrees that any contract awarded to Bidder will be subject to termination by the City if Contractor or its subcontractors fail to comply or maintain such compliance.1.8. PUBLIC ENTITY CRIMES A person or affiliate who has been placed on the convicted vendor list following a conviction for a public entity crime may not submit a proposal on a contract to provide any goods or services to a public entity, may not submit a proposal on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work, may not submit proposals on leases of real property to a public entity, may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any public entity, and may not transact business with any public entity in excess of the threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, for CATEGORY TWO for a period of 36 months from the date of being placed on the convicted vendor list.1.9. CONFLICT OF INTEREST / STATEMENT OF NON-COLLUSION The award hereunder is subject to Chapter 112, Florida Statutes. All respondents must disclose with their proposal the name of any officer, director, or agent who is also an employee of the City of Lakeland. Further, all respondents must disclose the name of any City of Lakeland employee who owns, directly or indirectly, an interest of five percent (5%) or more of the respondent’s firm or any of its branches.The respondent shall certify that he/she has not, either directly or indirectly, entered into any agreement, participated in any collusion, or otherwise taken any action in restraint of free competitive bidding in connection with the proposal and that the respondent is not financially interested in, or otherwise affiliated in a business way with any other respondent on the same land or improvements.1.10. ADDENDAIt is the Respondent’s responsibility to review all available project documents including Addenda, Notices and Questions & Answers prior to submitting a proposal. Respondent shall acknowledge all addenda electronically within their submission via the Portal.The failure of a Respondent to submit acknowledgement of any addenda that affects the proposal price(s) may be considered an irregularity and may be cause for rejection of the proposal.1.11. LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE A copy of City’s Local Preference Policy, Ordinance No. 5912 dated January 3, 2022 is attached.A Local Business shall be defined as a vendor, supplier or contractor that: (i) conducts business within the jurisdictional limits of Lakeland Electric’s service territory by providing goods, services or construction; (ii) maintains a physical business location within the jurisdictional limits of Lakeland Electric’s service territory in an area legally zoned for conducting such business; (iii) conducts business on a daily basis from the local business location; (iv) has conducted business from such location for at least twelve (12) consecutive months prior to the due date for the applicable bid or proposal; and (v) provides a copy of its local business tax receipt, if located within the City of Lakeland, or a copy of its Polk County local business tax receipt, if located outside of the City limits but within Lakeland Electric’s service territory.1.12. BID PROTEST PROCEDURE The City’s procedure on bid disputes is located in the City’s Purchasing Manual and can be found at https://www.lakelandgov.net/departments/purchasing/bid-dispute-policy.1.13. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AGREEMENTA copy of the agreement to be entered into with the successful Respondent is included with this RFP Attached herein, should the City require such.1.14. OPENGOV PROCUREMENTThe City of Lakeland uses OpenGov, the e-Procurement Portal (“Portal”), to administer the competitive solicitation process, including but not limited to soliciting quotes, sealed bids, proposals, and qualifications, issuing addenda, posting results and issuing notification of an intended decision. Bidders are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves well in advance of their intention of submitting a proposal to ensure familiarity with the use of the Portal. The City shall not be responsible for a Bidder’s inability to submit a proposal by the end date and time for any reason, including issues arising from the use of the Portal.1.15. RFP SUBMITTAL Respondent shall complete all electronic sections of their response and submit a response before the due date and time identified in the Timeline of this solicitation. Electronic sections may comprise of but are not limited to Contact Information, Addenda Confirmation, Questionnaire, Pricing and Company Profile.The City of Lakeland at its sole discretion reserves the right to waive technicalities or irregularities, to reject any or all proposals, and/or to accept that proposal which is in the best interest of the City. The award of this proposal, if made, may be based on considerations other than total cost and may be awarded based on various considerations, including without limitation; Respondent’s experience and/or qualifications, past experience, administrative cost, standardization, technical evaluation and oral and/or written presentations as required. The City reserves the right to accept all or part, or to decline the whole, and to award this RFP to one (1) or more Respondents. There is no obligation to buy. The RFP, if awarded, will be in the judgement of the City the most responsive to the City’s needs. The City of Lakeland encourages the use of minority and women owned businesses as subcontractors or in joint venture arrangements.City of Lakeland, FloridaMark D. Raiford, CPPBPurchasing Manager