HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2001-106 RESOLUTION NO. 2001-106
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA
AUTHORIZING THE ACTING CITY MANAGER TO ENTER
INTO A CONTRACT WITH ACCOUNTING AND TAX
COMPLIANCE SERVICES, INC., FOR THE PROVISION OF
REVENUE AUDIT SERVICES RELATED TO CERTAIN
PAYERS OF FRANCHISE FEES AND/OR UTILITY SERVICE
TAXES, WITHOUT COMPETITIVE BIDDING AND WITHOUT
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS,
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the Charter of the City of Dania Beach, Part III, Article 3, Section 4,
Subsection (J), authorizes the Acting City Manager to purchase supplies, services,
equipment and materials for the city government in amounts in excess of $15,000.00
without competitive bidding and without advertisement for bids if he is authorized to do
so in advance by a resolution adopted by the city commission during unusual conditions
or emergencies; and
WHEREAS, the Acting City Manager has determined that it is in the best interest
of the City to obtain the services of a firm to audit the accounts of certain payers of
franchise fees and/or utility service taxes as soon as possible in order to a) assist in
ensuring that the City is receiving its correct revenue and b) assist in ensuring that the
City protects and maximizes its revenue base with the changes associated with the
State of Florida S.B. 1878, Simplified Communications Tax Bill, FY 2000; and
WHEREAS, the Acting City Manager desires to procure the services of a firm with
experience in the provision of such services, and Accounting and Tax Compliance
Services, Inc., (ATCS) has performed satisfactory provision of these services to the City
of Hollywood, and is under contract for provision of said services to the City of
Hollywood for the period December 15, 2000 through December 14, 2003, as the result
of a competitive bid process;
RESOLUTION No. 2001-106
. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. That the City Commission finds that due to the presence of unusual
conditions that the Acting City Manager be and he is hereby authorized to enter into
contract and pursuant to the issuance of a letter of engagement procure the professional
services of ATCS for the purpose of performing revenue audits;
Section 2. That this resolution shall be in force and take effect immediately upon
its passage and adoption.
PASSED and ADOPTED this 12th day of June, 2001.
A
PATRICIAL FLURY
MAYOR-COMMISSIONER
*ATTEST: ROLL CALL:
COMMISSIONER BERTINO -YES
COMMISSIONER MCELYEA -YES
CHARLENE JO ON COMMISSIONER MIKES -YES
ACTING CITY C RK VICE-MAYOR CHUNN - YES
MAYOR FLURY - YES
APPROVED AS TO FORM
AND CORRECTNESS:
BY: '
TH M S VANSBRO
CITY ATTORNEY
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GARESOLUTIONS 2000-2001\R-RevenueAuditFranchiseFees.doc 2
AGENDA REQUEST FORM
CITY OF DANIA BEACH
To Administrative Services Department
Prepared By: David E. Keller Date: 5/30/2001
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Please complete the following items related to your agenda request.
1. Date of Commission meeting: 6/12/01
2. Title: Authorizing the City Manager to enter into a contract with Accounting and Tax Services,
Inc., for the provision of revenue audit services related to certain payers of franchise fees
and/or utility service taxes.
3. Commission action requested:
Adopt Resolution or Ordinance ® Expenditure ® Award Bid/RFP ❑
Presentation ❑ General approval of item ® Continued from meeting ❑
Other(please explain) ❑
4. Summary explanation & background:
• The City of Dania Beach collects revenue from franchise fees and utility service taxes from a variety of
providers of utility service, including electricity, gas, telephone, water, cable tv, etc. The most significant
of these payers is FPL, which pays approximately $1 million in franchise fees to the City, although slightly
less in FY 00 compared with FY 99. The Director of Finance recommends that FPL should be audited to
ensure that the City receives all revenues it is entitled to, and the practice of undertaking such revenue
audits is regularly undertakin by other municipalities in Broward County. In addition, the City should
undertake an audit of its telecommunications payers, in order to ensure that the City protects it revenue
during the new process being implemented by S.B. 1878, the Simplified Communications Tax Bill.
5. Attached Exhibits (please list):
1. Memo from Finance Director David E. Keller
6. List Additional Backup Materials Provided:
7. For purchasing requests only: Fund: Dept.
Account name: Account#:
r
Finance Director Approval C1 u U�� k
8. Reviewed and approved:
f
Department irector Date
iCity r Date
CITY OF DANIA BEACH
J DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
MEMORANDUM
TO: Jason Nunemaker, Memo: DF-01-007
Acting City Manager
FROM: David E. Keller, CGFM on./
Director of Finance
DATE: May 31, 2001
SUBJECT: Agenda item for Revenue Audits
Issue
The issue is the submission of an agenda item to the City Commission for its
consideration regarding the initiation of revenue audits.
•
Explanation
Cities throughout Florida should periodically engage the services of a firm to
conduct revenue audits of the payers of franchise fees and/or utility service taxes.
During preliminary review of this City's revenues, in preparation for developing
revenue estimates for the next fiscal year, I noticed that the payments from FPL for
last fiscal year (FY 00) were lower than the payments from FPL for the year previous
to that (FY 99). Although FPL has notified municipalities throughout the state that
the refund, or rebate, that they have made to their customers will have a negative
impact upon the revenue received by the municipalities, I believe it is prudent to
conduct an audit at this time to ascertain whether this City is receiving the revenues
it is entitled to. FPL is the largest payer of franchise fees to the City, accounting for
over 85% of the total franchise fees received by the City last year.
Furthermore, the state has recently put S.B. 1878, the Simplified Communications
Tax Bill, into effect. The bill is complex, and will change the way that cities receive
revenue from communications companies. While the state has promised that
individual cities will not receive less under the new disbursement procedures than
they received previously, the cities fear that they will lose some amount of the
future growth in that revenue to the State. However, I believe it is in the best
• interests of the City to also audit the payers of that franchise fee to the City, to
IADKelleWy Documents\Memos\01-007a.doc
ensure that the amount the City reports to the State as its col►ected revenue (which
would then be the minimum the State would "guarantee" the City to receive in
future years) is the maximum that the City is entitled to.
In the interests of obtaining the results of these audits in as timely a manner as
possible, I believe it is in the best interests of the City to "piggyback" off an existing
contract for such services from another City, and avoid the delays associated with
the development, issuance, and rating processes of an RFP. Furthermore, certain
firms specialize in conducting revenue audits of one or more types of utilities, for
example, the electric, gas, water, telephone, etc. The firm being recommended
currently is under contract with the City of Hollywood to conduct revenue audits of
FPL, where they were selected as the successful bidder through an RFP process.
The firm has a demonstrated track record of success in identifying monies owed to
cities by FPL. The firm also has expertise in conducting revenue audits of
communications companies.
Recommendation
For your information. Please include the referenced resolution on the upcoming
meeting of the City Commission scheduled for June 12, 2001 .
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1:\DKeller\My Documents\Memos\01-007a.doc