The City is interested in refinancing its current debt in the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Fund and potentially acquiring new debt to finance some of its capital improvement projects. The Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) has established a best practice that recommends the use of a Financial Advisor to assist in the structuring and issuance of bonds or other forms of debt. Unless the issuer (the City) has sufficient in-house expertise and access to market information, it should hire an outside Financial Advisor to undertake a debt refinancing or financing. While current staff may have a good understanding of this process, it is not at the level of a Financial Advisor; and therefore, concur that the expertise of a Financial Advisor is needed.
PROCESS TAKEN:
Request for qualifications were solicited on October 19, 2015, in which 3 qualified responses were received. Each firm was invited to meet with the City Manager, Finance Director and Assistant Finance Director in an interview format to present their qualifications and to answer questions by the interviewers. Following the interviews, each firm was evaluated based on experience and qualifications of the firm, cost of services, and overall presentation. Exercising her due diligence, the City Manager selected Ford & Associates, Inc. as being the firm best qualified to assist the City with it's refinancing and financing needs.