Name: Angela Athitakis
DU-COMM ANNUAL AUDIT - REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
SECTION I - INTRODUCTION
DuPage Public Safety Communications (DU-COMM) is an Intergovernmental Agency formed in 1975 to provide Emergency Communications Services to Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Departments. DU-COMM serves twenty-seven (27) Agencies covering more than 700,000 residents of DuPage County.
DU-COMM is an association of units of local government, as they are defined in Article VII, Section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Illinois, 1970, and is a "public agency" as defined in the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 5 ILCS 220/2(1), that is voluntarily established by its members pursuant to Article VII, Section 10, of the Constitution of the State of Illinois (1970) and the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 5ILCS 220/1 et seq.
It is organized for the purpose of:
1. Providing the equipment, service and other items necessary and appropriate for the establishment, operation and, maintenance of a joint public safety communications system for the mutual benefit of the members of DU-COMM.
2. Providing such contractual services to other units of local government.
3. Providing a forum for discussion, study, development and implementation of recommendations of mutual interest to its members regarding public safety communications and criminal justice, fire safety, emergency medical and telephone emergency request systems, public safety information communications and data processing systems and other topics and projects of mutual public safety concern to its members.
DU-COMM has a Board of Directors, an Executive Committee, a Chiefs Operations Committee, and the position of Executive Director of Communications. Members shall share the authorized development cost, capital equipment, capital assets and, operating cost of DU-COMM's common system. Each member’s annual contribution shall be established by DU-COMM’s budget according to the method stated in DU-COMM’s Policy and Procedures and may not be increased without specific approval of the corporate authorities of each participant. Each member of DU-COMM makes quarterly assessment payments. The fiscal year for DU-COMM is May 1st - April 30th.
DU-COMM’s annual operating budget is about $7.2 million dollars and the capital budget is about $980,000 dollars.
DU-COMM has several bank accounts. They include an Operations checking account from which all bills are paid and into which all revenue is deposited and the following investment accounts with the Illinois Funds: Operating Reserve, Capital Reserve and Tower Reserve.
SECTION II - SCOPE OF AUDIT
The independent auditors shall express and opinion on the general-purpose financial statements and the combining, individual fund and account group financial statements and accept "in relation to" responsibility for any supplemental data. If an unqualified opinion cannot be expressed, the auditor shall bring such matter to the attention of DU-COMM before finalization of the report to determine whether or not the problems leading to such qualifications can be resolved.
The examination shall be made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and Government Auditing Standards" issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. The audit requirements of the Single Audit Act amendments of 1996 and all related regulations prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall also be followed.
SECTION III - REPORTS REQUIRED
DU-COMM acknowledges its responsibility for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of all financial statements; however, DU-COMM expects the auditor to possess and demonstrate sufficient expertise in government accounting and reporting to assure that all reporting requirements are met.
During the course of the examination of DU-COMM's financial statements, the independent auditor may find weaknesses in internal controls. The independent auditor shall bring such matters to the attention of DU-COMM for discussion before the issuance of the report. The auditor shall summarize such findings and recommendations in the form of a separate Management Letter to DU-COMM.
The independent auditor shall prepare, type and reproduce the following reports:
* 30 copies of the Single Audit Report
* 30 copies of the Management Letter
SECTION IV - DU-COMM's RESPONSIBILITY
The Executive Director shall be responsible for coordinating the completion of the annual audit. The Executive Director will assign a staff member to function as liaison with the auditor to expedite completion of the examination. It will be the responsibility of DU-COMM to provide the auditor fully adjusted trial balances for all funds and other supporting documentation necessary to conduct the audit.
SECTION V - TIME REQUIREMENTS
RFP and Contract Award
Release of RFP to Vendors: February 4, 2008
Proposal Due Date: March 10, 2008
Interviews with Selected Bidders: Week of March 31, 2008
Award of Contract by Executive Committee: April 22, 2008
Completed Audit Report to DU-COMM: No later than September 12, 2008
The audit schedule due dates are subject to change in future contract years.
SECTION VI - OTHER
The auditor shall promptly notify the Executive Director of any suspicion of fraud, defalcation or misapplication of funds. Such notice shall be in addition to any notice to grantors required by single audit legislation.
In the event of a merger of the audit firm with another firm of certified public accountants or the change of partners to the audit firm, this contract will be transferable to the successor firm with the approval of DU-COMM. The audit firm will provide at least one consistent team member for the length of the contract.
The auditing firm's governmental expertise and technical assistance may be needed periodically throughout the year. Assistance at implementing new standards or other changes will be provided at no cost to DU-COMM. The staff may also require limited assistance with financial reporting or other areas for which there will be no additional charge.
The auditors shall be available to meet with the Executive Committee or the Board of Directors to answer questions regarding the proposal or on the completed audit or management letter if requested.
The working papers and notes shall be retained at the auditor’s expense for the term of five (5) years. DU-COMM will have the right to have these working papers reviewed by an appropriate third party. The firm shall respond to reasonable inquires of successor auditors.
SECTION VII - CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS
As required in Section VIII below, bidders are to state separate "not to exceed" fees for performing the services described herein for each of DU-COMM's fiscal years ending April 30, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. By acceptance of its proposal, DU-COMM will contract with the successful bidder for audit services for the fiscal year ending during 2008. DU-COMM may, at its exclusive option each successive year, contract with the successful bidder for audit services for any subsequent fiscal year through FYE 2011 at the "not to exceed" fee stated in the proposal. It is DU-COMM's desire and expectation that the successful bidder will be retained for four (4) years.
Audit services performed for the audit period ending April 30, 2008 shall be paid by DU-COMM in accordance with the scheduled submitted pursuant to Section VIII, below, for provision of all the services described in the successful proposal,
SECTION VIII - RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
New issues to consider- Recognition of GASB 34 by the proposing auditors.
To secure information that facilitates systematic application of evaluation criteria, vendors are required to submit proposals with the information and in the format described below:
Title Page
State the name of the firm submitting the proposal and the RFP subject.
Table of Contents
Clearly identify the material by section and page number.
Transmittal letter (Limited to three Pages)
Briefly outline and summarize the key elements of the proposal as to your firm's experience, qualifications, references, technical expertise, audit standards and understanding of the work to be performed and time requirements.
Bidder Profile
Discuss organization and size of firm, the location of the office from which the work is to be done and the total number of partners and professional staff to be employed in this engagement.
Identify the principal, supervisory and management staff who will perform the audit. Include resumes for each person detailing educational background and years of governmental auditing experience. .
Describe the firms audit experience similar to the proposed examination. Provide client names, contact persons and phone numbers of governmental clients served in the last four years.
Discuss governmental industry experience in terms of training, organizational involvement such as GASB or GFOA.
Technical Approach
Describe your audit approach.
Detail of staff allocation between Partners, managers, senior and staff accountants.
Fees and Billing
Provide a maximum "not to exceed" fee proposal for the first year inclusive of all expenses and for the following three (3) years and rates for any additional services.
SECTION IX - SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL
Each proposal shall be submitted no later than 3:00 pm March 10, 2008 to:
Brian Tegtmeyer
Executive Director
DU-COMM
600 Wall Street
Glendale Heights, IL 60139-0015
Five (5) copies of the proposal must be submitted.
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