Background:
The City of Sunrise owns and operates a water and wastewater utility providing regional service to approximately 63,000 metered accounts. The City’s utility service area includes the City of Sunrise, City of Weston, a portion of the Town of Southwest Ranches, and a portion of the Town of Davie.
The last Rate Sufficient Analysis was completed in 2021 and was focused on the creation of a conservation rate structure and was revenue neutral, with consideration of the 2020 Utilities Master Plan recommendations. Since that time, several impactful regulations have been introduced within the water and wastewater industry including Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and Biolsolids from wastewater residuals. The City also completed a Supervisory and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Vulnerability Analysis in 2024. New regulations will require additional projects that were not included in the 2020 Utilities Master Plan nor contemplated as part of the recent Rate Sufficient Analysis, which necessitates an updated Rate Sufficiency Analysis.
To complete the Rate Sufficiency Analysis, City staff recommends entering into an agreement with a Financial Consultant, Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. (Raftelis). Raftelis has satisfactorily provided financial consulting services for the City for many years and completed the City’s last Rate Sufficiency Analysis.
The scope of work includes the development of a detailed forecast of service area demands, projections of revenues and operating expenses which would include transfers to the other funds, a "by-capital project" funding analysis, and the evaluation of capital re-investment rate in support of the long-term funding of renewals, replacements, improvements and betterments to the System assets and utility plant. The results will be compiled in a report and presentation to stakeholders.
Raftelis provided a scope of work and fee for the study, which are considered fair and reasonable for the required effort to complete these services. It is requested that the City Commission waive the competitive bid requirement for these financial advisory services pursuant to Section 5-173(c)6 of the Code of the City of Sunrise, Florida. The Resolution authorizes the City Manager to approve up to $10,000 of additional services, if needed. These services are adequately budgeted for within the FY 2025/2026 budget.