Water And Sewer Rate Study

CITY OF GENEVA
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)
2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STUDY
March 12, 2026
1800 South Street
Geneva, IL 60134
630-232-1551

CITY OF GENEVA
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
FOR 2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STUDY
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for engineering and financial services for the 2026 Water and
Sewer Rate Study are to be addressed to Bob VanGyseghem, Superintendent of Water &
Wastewater, by email to bvangyseghem@geneva.il.us and must be received before 3:00 p.m. CST
on Monday, April 6, 2026.
The RFQ in its entirety shall be a maximum of twenty (20) single-sided pages using a 12-point font.
Questions concerning the 2026 Water and Sewer Rate Study should be directed to Bob
VanGyseghem, Superintendent of Water & Wastewater, by email bvangyseghem@geneva.il.us,
no later than 3:00 p.m. CST on March 23, 2026, as identified in schedule listed in the RFQ.
The Firm shall submit two (2) hard copies and one (1) PDF on a thumb drive.
A general description of scope of work for this RFQ can be found on the City of Geneva website:
https://www.geneva.il.us/
The City of Geneva reserves the right to refuse and reject any or all qualifications and to waive
any or all formalities or technicalities or to accept the qualification to be the best and most
advantageous to the City of Geneva and hold the qualification for a period of 60 days without acting.
Qualifications submitted past the deadline date and time will not be accepted.

CITY OF GENEVA
REQUEST FOR
QUALIFICATIONS
FOR 2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STUDY
PURPOSE OF RFQ
The City of Geneva is seeking submittals from qualified companies to provide a water and sewer
rate study that includes cost of service and evaluation of connection fees.
The purpose of this study is to determine revenue requirements, costs of service, fee structures,
rate design, and fund balance targets necessary to sustainably operate the City's Water & Sewer
Fund.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The City of Geneva owns and operates a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant, Water
Distribution System, Sanitary Collection System, and Wastewater Treatment Plant. Geneva has a
population of 21,247 with approximately 8,443 customers. Utility revenues are generated primarily
through user charges.
OBJECTIVES
* Evaluate the existing water and sewer rate structures for compliance with applicable laws, bond
covenants, and regulatory requirements. Make recommendations for any changes that are
necessary to achieve compliance.
* Evaluate and establish minimum fund balances for the water & sewer fund, based on best
practices.
* Evaluate & recommend rates that are financially sustainable.
* Ensure rates are structured to fairly allocate costs among customer classes.
* Evaluate water and sewer service connection fees that have not been updated since 2012.
* Review the existing five-year capital improvement plans for both sewer and water funds and
recommend financing strategies.
* Evaluate the plan for the current and future issuance of debt service to fund future capital
projects.
Current rate increases are scheduled through 5/15/2027 under Ordinance No. 2023-04. Study will
evaluate the current rate increases and recommend any changes. Rate study will recommend rate
increase(s) for no more than five (5) years beginning 5/15/2028.
Links to 2023 rate study and presentation to City Council.
https://www.geneva.il.us/DocumentCenter/View/16972/Geneva-2023-Water-Sewer-Rate-Study-
Report
https://www.geneva.il.us/DocumentCenter/View/16941/2023-Geneva-Water-Rates-Presentation

SCOPE OF SERVICES
The City has identified a general scope of services as described below. At a minimum, this project
shall include:
1. General:
a. Review historical financial statements, budgets, audits, and rate ordinances.
b. Review customer data by class and usage.
c. Review existing debt, future debt, capital improvement plans, and funding
requirements.
d. Evaluate historical revenues and expenses.
e. Analyze fund balance and reserve policies.
f. Review compliance with bond covenants and other financial constraints.
g. Identify structural deficits or surpluses.
h. Allocate costs between water and sanitary sewer utilities.
i. Allocate costs between customer class.
j. Evaluate equity and rate design considerations.
k. Evaluate water and sanitary connection fees that have not been updated since 2012.
l. Develop multi-year financial projections.
m. Model alternative rate scenarios. Evaluate impacts on customer classes.
n. Assess affordability consideration
o. Develop recommended rate structures and adjustments.
p. Provide clear documentation supporting rate.
2. Meetings:
a. Conduct a project kick-off meeting with City staff.
b. Conduct up to six (6) additional meetings including three (3) planning meetings, one
(1) meeting to review preliminary report, and two (2) evening presentation to the
City Council and/or Committee of the Whole.
3. Reports:
a. Draft Report: A draft report shall be presented to the City for review and comment.
This report should compile all of the results and associated recommendations
including but not limited to: a discussion of the revenue requirements, cash flow
forecast, comparison of alternate rate designs and the proposed rate structure and
impact, analysis of fees, and funding strategies for the CIP and other projects.
Recommendations should be outlined and identified in exhibits, tables, and graphs.
A spreadsheet model shall be presented in digital format for implementation by the
City. The Consultant shall incorporate the City's comments into the final report.

b. Final Report: Final report shall incorporate all review comments and revisions. It
shall also include a concise executive summary and a phased implementation option
if the recommendation includes a significant change to the current rates and rate
structure.
c. Provide progress reports as necessary/requested.
4. Current System Rate Assessment:
a. Water and Sewer Rate Study:
i. Analyze the current water and sewer rate and make recommendations
regarding future water and sewer rate structures to provide sufficient funding
of current and future operational and capital costs for five years.
Any suggested changes to the rate structure must be technologically feasible
with the City's water meter reading and water billing technology.
1. Water and sewer rate recommendation shall establish the projected
revenue requirements necessary to ensure an adequate cash flow in a
stable predictable manner.
2. Develop a fair and equitable fee and rate analysis, which should
include periodic and ongoing end-of-service life replacement of water
and sewer infrastructure assets including water mains, sewer mains,
and control systems.
3. The benefits of any proposed modification shall be weighed against
the financial impacts on rate payers.
4. Prepare a forecast of revenues, operation and maintenance expenses,
and capital improvement costs for a five-year period.
5. Recommend which capital projects anticipated over the five-year
study period should be financed with cash on hand and which should
be financed with debt.
6. Recommend other non-traditional funding opportunities such as
grants, low-interest loans, or other such financing options. These
other options should be explained in detail and provide the contact
information of the appropriate state/federal agency.
7. Recommend funding strategies for capital improvements and major
non-recurring operational expenses.
8. Evaluate the existing water and sewer rate structures for conformity
with existing statutory regulations and make recommendations for
any changes that are necessary to achieve compliance.
9. Compare and recommend alternate rate structures and a charge
schedule (residential vs. non-residential) that ensures water and sewer
services are delivered on a self-supporting basis and which will
distribute costs equitably to appropriately allocate fixed and variable
costs, using AWWA recognized methods.
10. Compare revenue under existing rates for each customer class with
their allocated cost of service to determine the adequacy of present
revenue levels for each class and the indicated adjustment in rates
required to equitably distribute costs to the respective classes of
customers.

ii. Provide data comparisons of City's water and sewer rates as they relate to
other communities. A minimum of 15 communities shall be included in addition to
the following: Batavia, St. Charles, West Chicago, Carol Stream, Wheaton, and
Bartlett. Any additional communities considered for inclusion in shall be
comparable in terms of population, water source, water mains, satellite system, etc.
Comparison should include:
1. Rate. This shall include the unit of measurement and a conversion to
the City's unit of measurement (if different). For municipalities that
have services provided by regional or group treatment entities the
total community rate and any individual community rates shall be
broken down.
2. Population of community and total area.
3. Size of distribution system (in miles).
4. Description of production system. (# of wells, depth of wells, etc.).
Or if system is part of a multi community group i.e. DuPage Water
Commission
5. Production capacity.
6. Average daily production.
7. Any sewer and water charges levied by taxes or by other methods not
included in water rates.
8. If wastewater is sampled separately and billed based on loadings for
industrial users.
9. Wastewater Treatment, is it a City function or by others.
5. Deliverables:
At the conclusion of the study, the consultant will furnish the City with the following
documents:
a. Electronic copy of final report should be provided in Adobe PDF readable format in
full color (Cover should not be a separate file.). MS Excel Spreadsheets should also
be provided in digital format with a spreadsheet rate model that can be used by the
City in the future to adjust rates as necessary.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE
Request for Qualification Issued 3/12/2026
Written Questions due by 3:00 pm CST 3/23/2026
City Responses to Questions due by 3:00 3/27/2026
pm CST
RFQ Due by 3:00 pm CST 4/6/2026
Selection of Most Qualified Firm (MQF) 4/17/2026
Contract Negotiations 4/20/26-
4/24/26
Recommendation of Firm to 5/4/2026
Committee of the Whole
City Council Action 5/18/2026
Project Kickoff Meeting Before end of
May
Preliminary Draft Report Due October 2026
City Council Presentation Early
November
METHOD OF EVALUATION
A selection committee consisting of City Staff will be established to evaluate the proposals
submitted by interested firms. The selection committee will review the submitted information
based on the criteria listed below:
* Proposed Project Staff Capabilities (40%)
* Proposed Technical Project Approach (20%)
* Firm's Workload Capacity and Availability (10%)
* Firm's Experience on Similar Projects (20%)
* Recommendations of Past Clients (10%)
The selection committee may decide to conduct interviews with interested firms to assist in
evaluating the RFQ submitted.
The selected respondent will then negotiate with the CITY OF GENEVA on fee and contract
conditions. If a reasonable fee cannot be achieved with the respondent of choice, negotiations will
proceed with the second-choice respondent until a mutually agreed upon contract can be negotiated.

SUBMITTAL FOR 2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STUDY
To enable the CITY OF GENEVA to efficiently evaluate the responses, it is important that
the Respondents follow the required format in preparing their responses. Responses that do
not conform to the prescribed format may not be evaluated.
The RFQ in its entirety shall be a maximum of twenty (20) single-sided pages using a 12-point font.
The Firm shall submit two (2) hard copies and one (1) PDF on a thumb drive.
CONTENT OF SUBMITTAL
Each response shall be submitted as outlined in this section. Please include an outside cover and/or
first page, containing the name of the Project.
A table of contents should be next, followed by dividers separating each of the following sections:
Divider #1: Firm Information
a. Firm name, addresses, and telephone numbers of the main firm office as well as the office
in charge of this study.
b. Structure of firm, i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and size of firm.
c. Year's firm has been in business.
d. Name of principals in firm.
e. Organizational description.
f. Description of firm's philosophy.
g. A brief history of the team and the services routinely provided in-house on municipal (or
related) rate studies.
h. Describe the general financial capability of the Respondent. If requested during the
selection or negotiation process a financial statement and balance sheet may be required.
i. List any actions taken by any regulatory agency against or involving the firm or its agents
or employees with respect to any work performed within the last 10 years.
j. List all litigation against or involving the firm or its agents or employees with respect to
any work performed within the last 10 years.
k. All insurance coverage that the firm has which would be applicable to the work.
Divider #2: Project Personnel and Experience
a. An organization chart that explains team member responsibilities.
b. Name of the Project Team Leader in charge of project.
c. The resumes of all persons to be assigned to the project with their prospective roles
identified. (Resumes will not count towards the 20-page submittal requirements)
d. Documentation that the firms on the team (architects and engineers) are registered in the
State of Illinois.
a. Project personnel experience on similar scope working with government agencies within
the northeast Illinois region including project description and outcome
b. List of all current projects for the proposed personnel and deadlines for the projects
Divider #3: Project Approach
a. Describe your firm's understanding of the project.
b. Describe how the firm will organize to perform the services.
c. Description of team's approach to code analysis and jurisdictional approvals.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS, NOTIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION
A. No Gratuities - Respondents will not offer any gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary
value to any official or employee of the CITY OF GENEVA for the purpose of influencing this
selection. Any attempt by a Respondent to influence the selection process by any means other than
disclosure of qualifications and credentials through the proper channels, will be grounds for
exclusion from the selection process. Accordingly, contacts with members of the CITY OF
GENEVA, which are outside of the established process should not be initiated.
B. All Information True - By submitting a response, Respondents represent and warrant that all
information provided in the response submitted shall be true, correct and complete. Respondents
who provide false, misleading or incomplete information, whether intentional or not, may be
excluded.
C. Interviews - After the initial evaluation of the statements of qualifications, Respondents will
be notified of their status in the selection process. Respondents who are "short-listed" should
expect and anticipate subsequent interviews which will most likely focus not only on the
Respondent's approach, but on an appraisal of the persons who would be directly involved in the
Project. "Short listed" respondents may be asked to make a presentation to the CITY OF GENEVA
selection team.
D. Inquiries - Please refrain from contacting the CITY OF GENEVA staff to make inquiries
about the progress of this selection process. Respondents will be contacted when it is appropriate
to do so.
E. Cost of Responses - The CITY OF GENEVA will not be responsible for the costs incurred by
anyone in the submittal of responses.
F. Contract Negotiations - This RFQ is not a contract or a commitment of any kind. If this RFQ
results in a contract offer by the CITY OF GENEVA, the specific scope of work, associated fees,
and other contractual matters will be determined during contract negotiations.
G. No Obligation - The CITY OF GENEVA reserves the right to evaluate the responses
submitted; waive any irregularities therein; select candidates for the submittal of more detailed or
alternate proposals; accept any submittal or portion of submittal; reject any or all Respondents
submitting responses, should it be deemed in the CITY OF GENEVA's best interest; or cancel the
entire process.
H. Professional Liability Insurance - The Respondent shall have the appropriate liability
insurance written by an insurer authorized to transact insurance in the State of Illinois.