Professional Budget Consultant - 2026

Agency:	City of Orange Township
State:	New Jersey
Type of Government:	State & Local
NAICS Category:	541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services 541618 - Other Management Consulting Services
Posted Date:	Oct 24, 2025
Due Date:	Dec 4, 2025
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Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

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Department of Administration

Christopher Hartwyk Business Administrator

Municipal Building

29 North Day Street, Second Floor

Orange, New Jersey 07050

REQUEST FOR

QUALIFICATIONS

Professional Budget Consulting Services

January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

1:00 PM – December 4, 2025

RFQ: Professional Budget Consulting Services

January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

I. ABOUT THE CITY OF ORANGE TOWNSHIP

The City of Orange Township (“City”) is located in Essex County, New Jersey, and is home to approximately

31,000 residents across 4 wards (North, South, East and West). Administration of City government is

overseen by an elected Mayor and a 7-member Municipal Council (1 member from each ward and 3 at-

large members), with day-to-day operations delegated to the City’s several departments. Through the

Business Administrator, the Department of Administration is responsible for, among other things,

overseeing the annual development of and advising the Mayor and Municipal Council on matters involving

the City’s budget.

II. NATURE/SCOPE OF SERVICE

The City is requesting Qualification Statements from individuals interested in providing professional

budget consulting services to the City. Each respondent to this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) must be

licensed by the State of New Jersey as both a Certified Public Accountant and Registered Municipal

Accountant, and must demonstrate the technical expertise and experience necessary to perform independent

audits of municipalities in the State of New Jersey. The successful respondent will be retained for the express

purpose of rendering opinions on activities and procedures related to the City’s financial aﬀairs for the 2026

calendar year (i.e., January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026), and will be required to execute the City’s

form of agreement, which includes indemnification, insurance, termination and licensing provisions. A

draft agreement is available for review upon request.

A. General Statement of Duties

The successful respondent will work with City Administration to provide the necessary professional

consulting services and resources on a timely basis. The scope of work shall broadly include all professional

budgetary consulting services the City may require, including without limitation:

1. reviewing the budget document submitted by the Administration for the 2026 calendar

year, including all anticipated revenue items and appropriation requirements;

2. reviewing all anticipated revenues to determine maximum available revenues that may be

utilized by the City to support the budget, and recommending where, if at all, it may be

fiscally-prudent to anticipate or enhance additional revenue items;

3. reviewing all supporting documentation submitted by the Administration to support

budget appropriations, including the following:

a. salary and wage requests;

b. departmental expense requests;

c. insurance costs;

d. statutory costs (e.g., pension contributions, etc.);

e. solid waste disposal expenses;

f. debt service obligations; and,

g. any other relevant matters;

4. preparing a summarized budget workbook to assist the Municipal Council during the

budget evaluation process;

5. providing a detailed analysis of property tax impacts on property owners in the City;

6. attending all Municipal Council meetings and public hearings related to the budget, an

any other meetings as may be requested;

7. preparing the budget document for submission to the State of New Jersey in the format as

required by the Department of Community Aﬀairs, Division of Local Government

Services; and,

8. providing continuous budgetary and other financial advisory services throughout 2026

calendar year as requested by the Administration and/or Municipal Council.

B. Term of Appointment

The successful respondent shall be appointed for a period of 12 months, beginning January 1, 2026,

and continuing through December 31, 2026.

RFQ: Professional Budget Consulting Services

January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

Page 2

III. MANDATORY MINIMUM QUALIFICATIOINS

At minimum, respondents must demonstrate the following to be considered:

A. at least 10 years of experience providing professional financial consulting services to governmental

entities, of which, at least 5 shall be in providing such services to New Jersey municipalities;

B. current, valid licensure by the State of New Jersey as a Certified Public Accountant and as a

Registered Municipal Accountant; and,

C. demonstrated knowledge of the City’s current financial state.

IV. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

There is no limit to the amount of information or supporting documentation a respondent may submit,

however it is strongly suggested that submissions not exceed 30 pages. It should also be noted that the City

is not obligated to search for clarification through additional or unformatted information accompanying the

formatted response. Where conflicting information is provided, the City may, at its option, either request

clarification or consider the information unresponsive. Notwithstanding, all Qualification Statements shall

include at least the following information:

A. a cover page identifying the RFQ title and listing the respondent’s contact information (e.g., name,

address, telephone/fax, email, etc.);

B. an executive summary highlighting key points of the respondent’s submission, including all

pricing proposals;

C. a description of the respondent’s experience, particularly in providing professional budget

consulting services to governmental entities;

D. a discussion of what the respondent believes the City’s intended budgeting strategy is, identifying

any gaps between that strategy and the strategy respondent would recommend;

E. a description of the respondent’s business structure (e.g., sole proprietor, corporation, LLC,

partnership, etc.) and ownership, including the number of years the respondent has conducted

business under his/her/its present name;

F. resumes of all principals and professional staﬀ who would work directly with the City, as well as

copies of valid New Jersey Certified Public Accountant and Registered Municipal Accountant

licenses, as applicable;

G. a list of any subcontractors the respondent proposes to utilize in providing services to the City, as

well as the information listed under items 5 and 6 above for each subcontractor;

H. a proposed fee schedule, including detailed breakdowns on all fee and cost components, as well as

an estimate of the City’s total annual spend for all services provided;

I. at least 2 references who can reflect on the respondent’s prior municipal experience, including:

1. name of municipality;

2. contact person and title; and,

3. telephone number and email address;

J. a list of any judgments, claims or suits pending or outstanding against the respondent, with

explanations regarding the nature and status of each;

K. a statement regarding whether the respondent is now or was ever involved in any bankruptcy or

reorganization proceedings during the last 10 years, with explanations of any such circumstances;

L. proof of errors and omissions insurance with a policy limit of at least $1,000,000.00 per occurrence

(the successful respondent will be required to provide a Certificate of Insurance naming the City as

an additional insured);

M. a signed Mandatory Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Statement;

N. a copy of a Federal Letter of Approval of Equal Employment Opportunity Policies, or New Jersey

Certificate of Employee Information Report, or completed AA-302 Employee Information Report;

O. a signed Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance Statement;

P. a completed Non-Collusion Aﬃdavit;

RFQ: Professional Budget Consulting Services

January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

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Q. a completed Business Ownership Disclosure for the respondent and each proposed subcontractor;

R. a completed Political Contribution Disclosure for each principal with 10% or greater

ownership interest in the respondent and/or any proposed subcontractor; and,

S. a valid New Jersey Business Registration Certificate for the respondent and each

proposed subcontractor.

Each respondent must submit 1 bound original, 5 paper copies, and a digital copy of the complete

Qualification Statement, no later than 1:00 PM, prevailing time, on December 4, 2025, addressed to:

City of Orange Township

Department of Law

ATTN: Gracia Robert Montilus, Esq., City Attorney

29 North Day Street, Second

Floor Orange, New Jersey

07050

The Qualification Statement and all required forms must be signed in ink by the respondent, or a person

authorized to do so on his/her/its behalf.

Submissions may be sent by mail, courier service (e.g., FedEx, UPS, etc.), or delivered by hand—email

or fax is not permitted. Qualification Statements received after the submission deadline will be rejected without

notice. All questions regarding this RFQ must be submitted in writing to the City Attorney at the address above.

V. SUBMISSION EVALUATION & CONTRACT AWARD

The Administration’s objective in soliciting Qualification Statements is to enable the City to select

professionals that will provide high quality and cost-eﬀective services. The City Attorney will review all

timely submissions for completeness and minimum compliance, and only those that demonstrate the

capability and willingness to provide high quality services in the manner required will be evaluated by the

Administration.

A. Evaluation Methodology

Each submission will be evaluated to determine if the respondent has met the professional and

administrative requirements described in this RFQ, with greater consideration given to:

1. the extent to which the submission complies with the requirements set forth under Section IV

above;

2. the extent to which the respondent’s approach to budgeting strategies fits with the City’s financial

goals—the respondent should describe his/her/its specific approach and how it will meet the City’s

needs;

3. the respondent’s prior experience; and,

4. the respondent’s cost proposal—the successful respondent will be that who proposes the greatest

value to the City, and whose pricing is appropriate to the work scope, which may not necessarily be

the respondent with the lowest proposed cost.

The successful respondent shall be determined by an evaluation of the Qualification Statement submitted, and

the City is under no obligation to explain the results of the evaluation process to any respondent or other third

party.

B. Contract Award

A contract will be awarded a professional service agreement under a “fair and open” process as defined

under the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-1 et seq. The

Municipal Council will take action on this RFQ within 60 days of the submission deadline.

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RFQ: Professional Budget Consulting Services

January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

Page 4

VI. GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

The following are general terms and conditions applicable to this RFQ that may not be explained

elsewhere.

A. City’s Rights

The City reserves the right to modify all procurement schedules with notice to applicable potential

respondents. Furthermore, the City reserves, holds and may exercise, at its sole discretion, the following rights

and options with regard to this RFQ and the procurement process:

1. the right to investigate any respondent as the City deems necessary or convenient to

clarify the information provided as part of the Qualification Statement, and to request

additional information to support the information included in any submission;

2. the right to suspend or terminate the procurement process described in this RFQ at any

time, and if terminated, the right to commence a new procurement process without any

obligation to the Respondents;

3. the right to reject any or all submissions, and/or to waive any immaterial deficiencies

in any Qualification Statement, should it be deemed in the City’s best interest; and,

4. all other rights provided under applicable law.

B. Cost of Preparation & Submission

Each Qualification Statement and all information required to be submitted pursuant to the RFQ

shall be prepared at the respondent’s sole cost and expense. Any claims against the City, its oﬃcers, oﬃcial

s or employees for reimbursement of costs or expenses associated with preparation of the Qualification

Statement or other information required by the RFQ will be rejected.

C. Disposition of Submission

By responding to this RFQ, respondents acknowledge that all submissions shall become property of the

City and will not be returned. In accordance with the law, the successful respondent’s entire submission will

become publicly available following the contract award.

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This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

Bid Title:	Professional Budget Consultant - 2026
Category:	Bids and Request for Qualification (RFQs)
Status:	Open

Professional Budget Consultant - 2026

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