Financial Advisory Services

The Vendor is required to provide financial advisory services for include:
1. Debt management and planning
• Review the city's outstanding debt portfolio and identify opportunities for restructuring, refunding, or other debt service savings strategies.
• Assist in developing or updating debt management policies, post-issuance compliance procedures, and financing guidelines.
• Perform debt capacity, affordability, and scenario modeling in light of the city's budget, capital plan, legal debt limits, and revenue profile.
• Advise on financing alternatives, including general obligation debt, alternate revenue bonds, utility revenue debt, special service area debt, direct placements, revolving loan programs, lease or installment financing, and other available structures under state law.
• Ongoing advice regarding interest rate trends, investor demand, market access, refunding opportunities, and legislative or regulatory developments affecting municipal issuers.
2. Debt issuance services
• Serve as the city's lead financial advisor and transaction manager for bond, note, loan, lease, installment, or other financing transactions.
• Recommend the most advantageous financing structure, security pledge, amortization, call features, sizing, timing, and sale method for each transaction.
• Prepare a financing calendar and coordinate the work of the city, bond counsel, disclosure counsel if any, underwriters or placement agents if any, trustees, paying agents, escrow agents, printers, verification agents, and other participants.
• Assist in preparing, reviewing, and distributing the preliminary official statement, official statement, notice of sale, bid specifications, investor presentations, debt service schedules, and closing documents.
• Coordinate rating agency strategy, assist with presentations and materials, and advise on actions that may support or protect the city's credit profile.
• For competitive sales, organize the sale process, provide electronic bid support, analyze bids, calculate true interest cost and net interest cost as applicable, and recommend award of the bonds.
• For negotiated sales or direct placements, assist with solicitation, evaluation, negotiation, pricing analysis, and recommendation of financing terms.
• Coordinate closing, settlement, delivery of proceeds, and post-closing schedules and summaries.
3. General financial advisory services
• Attend meetings of the corporate authorities, finance committee, utility committee, staff meetings, or rating calls as reasonably requested.
• Advice on capital planning, utility financing strategy, debt affordability, reserve policies, and related public finance matters.
• Furnish periodic updates on municipal market conditions, federal and state policy changes, and other developments relevant to the city's financing program.