Event No. 3246_Independent Auditing Services_RFP

Agency:	City of Chicago Housing Authority
State:	Illinois
Type of Government:	State & Local
Posted Date:	Mar 25, 2024
Due Date:	Apr 23, 2024
Bid Source:	Please Login to View Page
Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

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CHICAGO HOUSING AUTHORITY (“CHA”)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) EVENT NO. 3246 (2024)

for

Independent Auditing Services

Required for use by

[Office of the Comptroller]

ISSUED ON: Thursday, March 21, 2024

ISSUED BY: DEPARTMENT OF PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS

PROPOSALS DEADLINE:

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 10:00 A.M., CT

Proposals may be submitted early but must be received electronically no later than the date and

time listed in the solicitation.

PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE DUE DATE AND TIME

Respondent Name:

Contact Name:

____________________________________________________

Contact Telephone: ____________________________________________________

Contact Email:

____________________________________________________

This selection process is unique to the Scope of Work described herein and notwithstanding any

other proposal, qualification or bid requests provided by the Chicago Housing Authority.

Proposers must comply with the requirements as defined in this RFP.

Tracey Scott

Chief Executive Officer

www.thecha.org

Sheila Johnson

Deputy Chief Procurement

Chicago Housing Authority

RFP Event 3246 (2024) Independent Auditing Services

Independent Auditing Services

Table of Contents

ARTICLE I INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................4

ARTICLE II INTENT AND PURPOSE...............................................................................................................4

ARTICLE III STATEMENT OF WORK/SCOPE OF SERVICES ....................................................................7

ARTICLE IV GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS ..........................................................................................................8

ARTICLE V SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS...................................................................................................12

ARTICLE VI INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS..................................................................................................20

ARTICLE VII EVALUATION PROCESS ...........................................................................................................22

ARTICLE VIII DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION GOALS ......................................................................................25

ARTICLE IX STANDARD PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT .....................................................29

ARTICLE X EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FORM ................................................................................................30

ATTACHMENT A – FEE PROPOSAL

FORM(S)

ATTACHMENT B – INTENT TO BID/SUBMIT

LETTER

ATTACHMENT C – VENDOR SUBMISSION

CHECKLIST

ATTACHMENT D – STANDARD

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT

ATTACHMENT E – REFERENCE

QUESTIONNAIRE

ATTACHMENT F – UTILIZATION PLAN

RFP Event 3246 (2024) Independent Audit Services

RFP Event 3246 (2024) Independent Auditing Services

Independent Auditing Services

KEY INFORMATION

1. RESPONDENT CONTACT WITH CHA: The Procurement Specialist identified below is

the sole point of contact regarding this RFP from the date of issuance until selection of the

successful proposer(s).

Mauricio Beltran, Senior Procurement Specialist

Chicago Housing Authority

Department of Procurement and Contracts

60 East Van Buren Street, 8th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60605

Phone: (312) 786-3391

E-mail: MBeltran@thecha.org

Responses shall be submitted via the Supplier Portal at https://supplier.thecha.org no later

than Tuesday, April 23, 2024 by 10:00 AM, CST.

The Proposer shall be responsible for electronic submission by the due date and

time. Late proposals will not be accepted.

An in-person pre-proposal conference is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at

1:00 p.m. CST to discuss the scope of services and the CHA diversity and inclusion

requirements. The meeting address is 60 E. Van Buren Conference Rooms 736A-C. In

order to participate onsite, you will need to RSVP by Monday, April 1 2024 at 12:00

p.m, CST with Patricia Rodriguez via email at PRodriguez@thecha.org. Please submit

your Company Name, Your Name and email address confirming reservation.

CHA encourages all interested firms to attend the Pre-Proposal Conference.

The Letter of Intent to Submit a Proposal, Attachment B, is due Monday, April 15, 2024,

at 11:00 a.m. CST. The Letter of Intent to Submit a Proposal, Attachment B must be

submitted via the Supplier Portal at https://supplier.thecha.org.

If you do not intend to submit a proposal in response to this RFP, please submit via the

Supplier Portal at https://supplier.thecha.org, a brief explanation in order to continue to

receive future bid/RFP notices.

Questions regarding clarification or verification of these specifications and CHA diversity

and inclusion requirements must be submitted via the Supplier Portal at

https://supplier.thecha.org. no later than Friday, April 5, 2024 by 10:00 AM, CST.

Electronic Submission: CHA requires Respondents to submit an electronic proposal for

the above-described Event. Respondent shall upload all documents via the CHA Supplier

Portal at: https://supplier.thecha.org. Electronic proposal submission requires only one

(1) copy. Each submittal section of the electronic proposal shall be labeled and separated

into a different file as described in “ARTICLE V Submittal Requirements.”

Note: There is no maximum file capacity size when uploading attachments in the Supplier

Portal. If you receive an error message that states the “Maximum size is: 50” while

uploading an attachment in the Supplier Portal, that error message is referring to the file

naming size. The name of your file cannot be more that 50 characters. For questions or

assistance with the Supplier Portal, please contact Harriet Herron-King, Procurement

Coordinator, at 312-913-7356, HHerron@thecha.org.

Respondent shall bear all costs of responding to this solicitation.

Chicago Housing Authority

RFP Event 3246 (2024) Independent Auditing Services

Independent Auditing Services

ARTICLE I

INTRODUCTION

CHA is the third largest public housing authority in the nation and the largest single owner of rental

housing in Chicago. Through its public housing and voucher programs, CHA serves 132,000

people in almost 63,000 households across all 77 of Chicago’s community areas. CHA’s mission

is to create and sustain strong communities where seniors thrive and everyone can unlock their

economic power, ensuring that every neighborhood in Chicago has quality affordable housing

and everyone feels welcome.

In its procurement of its good and services, CHA seeks relationships with vendors who share our

values for inclusive and equitable contracting opportunities. CHA strives to be fair, transparent,

and practical, and works to optimize the use of public funds through purchasing decisions. For

more information, visit www.thecha.org.

ARTICLE II

INTENT AND PURPOSE

The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is required to perform an annual audit and report on

general purpose financial statements (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report) in conformity

with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards and on major programs, in accordance with Uniform

Guidance provisions, Title 2 U.S Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, the Single Audit.

The intent of this RFP is to request qualified firms to submit proposals for annual auditing services

to the CHA. The qualified respondents must be a Certified Public Accounting firm registered to

practice in the state of Illinois and have professional staffing to provide auditing and assurance

services to organizations the size of CHA.

Respondents must submit a proposal that addresses all components of this RFP. CHA reserves

the right to select one or more Respondents through this solicitation.

CHA anticipates it will award a fixed rate contract for a base period of two (2) years and reserves

the right to extend the contract(s), at its sole discretion for up to three (3) additional one-year

option periods. CHA anticipates the contract resulting from this RFP to begin in December 2024.

The CHA’s latest Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR or previously known as

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) can be found on the CHA website under the

following link:

https://www.thecha.org/https/wwwthechaorg/about/plans-reports-and-policies/cha-budget-and-

financial-reports

Project Background

The CHA is part of the HUD Moving To Work program initiative that provides participating public

housing agencies the “opportunity to design and test innovative housing and self-sufficiency

strategies for low-income families” by giving the agencies flexibility to use HUD assistance to

create demonstration programs outside the restrictions of the United States Housing Act of 1937.

HUD extended the Authority’s participation in the MTW program through 2028.

In addition to the public housing unit portfolio, the Authority manages Housing Choice Voucher

program under the MTW, Moderate Rehabilitation, Mainstream Five-year, Emergency Housing

and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing programs. Several public housing projects were

converted to Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD) to preserve and improve Public

Chicago Housing Authority

RFP Event 3246 (2024) Independent Auditing Services

Independent Auditing Services

Housing Units. RAD projects are owned and operated as Authority entities or as general partners

of Low-Income Housing entities with public ownerships and are reported as blended component

units.

The CHA’s primary accounting system is Lawson Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system

with General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Cash Ledger, Purchasing, Payroll, Capital Assets,

Accounts Receivable, Billing and Revenue, Project and Activity and Cost Allocations as

subsystems. In addition, property management and HCV Section 8 program activities are

recorded using Yardi system. These transactions are interfaced to the Lawson general ledger

monthly.

CHA has adopted the Project Based Accounting (PBA) system to operate and manage its

properties. The PBA is a system of budgeting and accounting for projects that allows for analysis

of actual revenues and expenses associated with each property. It also includes reporting all data

to complete a project based financial statement, namely, assets, liabilities and equity, in

accordance with GAAP. The PBA system requires CHA to segregate Central Office finances and

allocate its cost to the properties. The CHA operates on a calendar year basis and anticipates

completing its year-end close by January 31st of each year.

The following is a description of the SIX major programs included in the scope of services:

Public Housing Program

The Public Housing Program is one of the Agency’s primary funding sources. This program

provides housing to low-income residents. The Authority is the owner of approximately 14,832

public housing units located throughout the City of which 12,158 are available for occupancy. The

Authority receives revenue from dwelling rental income and an operating subsidy provided by

HUD. The CHA engages private property managers to manage the units and ensures CHA

residents receive all necessary housing and related services, such as routine maintenance and

repair, scavenger service, and security. The public housing program operating budget for 2024,

including centralized procurements and office overheads, is approximately $296 million.

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers/ Special Voucher programs/ Moderate

Rehabilitation/

The Section 8 and Mod rehab programs establish partnerships between public and private

housing providers throughout the City to provide affordable housing to qualified residents. The

CHA currently administers approximately 53,454 housing choice vouchers. Two private

consulting firms manage the programs through contractual agreement with the Authority. The

operation of the Housing Choice Voucher and Moderate Rehabilitation programs is funded under

an Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) with HUD. The ACC provides appropriations for housing

assistance. Each contract is represented by a separate fund or accounting entity, to account for

revenues and expenditures. The Authority earns an administrative fee from HUD for facilitating

and managing the public/private housing partnerships. The 2024 budget for these programs is

$728 million.

Rental Assistance Demonstration Program

The Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (“RAD”) is a property structure where HUD

approved properties previously subsidized under Low Rent Housing are operated as project-

based vouchers (PBV) under Housing Choice Program. Under the RAD program, the properties

Chicago Housing Authority

Date	Categories	Description	Attachments
Mar 25, 2024	Formal Over 250K	Event No. 3246_Independent Auditing Services_RFP	Event No. 3246 Independent Auditing Services

Event No. 3246_Independent Auditing Services_RFP

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