City Council Announcements
May 13, 2004
A. Decisions, Feedback & Information needed by staff
PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT – The Council Office received nine proposals in response to a request for proposals. A project steering committee consisting of two representatives of the Fire Department, one representatives of the Department of Management Services, and three staff members of the Council Office rated the proposals and provided summary information to the Council Audit Subcommittee (Eric Jergensen, Jill Love, Carlton Christensen). The Council Audit Subcommittee is recommending contracting with TriData, a division of System Planning Corporation. TriData is a management consulting firm that specializes in providing analyses in the areas of fire protection/preventions and emergency management. The firm was founded in 1981 and is headquarter in Arlington, Virginia. TriData has a database for comparisons with other fire departments of similar size and has made over 100 fire department studies including 30 of metro areas similar to Salt Lake City. TriData’s proposal was for a maximum fee of $159,111 for 1979 hours. Attached is a summary sheet of the firm’s experience, audit approach, project team, and some references. Also attached are the summary sheets of two alternative firms: Emergency Services Consulting ($99,445 for 610 hours) and Matrix Consulting Group ($135,000 for 808 hours). In addition to the summary sheets, the Council may wish to review the actual proposals before making a final decision or conduct interviews with one or more firms.
SPECIAL AUDIT SERVICES (SMALL AUDITS) – The Council issued a request for proposals with the intent to enter into contracts with several audit or consulting firms. It is the Council staff’s understanding that when an audit project is needed, the Council may contact several of the contracted firms and offer them the opportunity to submit their proposed approach to a particular audit project, the staff that will be assigned to the project, the timeline to complete the audit based on the scope and budget as determined by the Council. It is also staff’s understanding that based on the particular experience of each consultant, the audit approach and timeline, the Council Subcommittee will select a consultant for the audit services. The Council may, at its discretion, assign any particular audit project to one of the contracted consultants or with some other consultant without contacting all contracted firms.
The Council Office received ten proposals in response to a request for proposal. A committee of four Council staff members and one representative from the Department of Management Services rated the proposals and provided summary information to the Council Audit Subcommittee. The Council Subcommittee recommends contracting with the following three firms: Citygate Associates, Matrix Consulting Group, and the Par Group. Attached are summary sheets relating to these three firms. In addition to the summary sheets, the Council may wish to review the actual proposals before making a final decision. The Council may wish to conduct telephone interviews with one or more firms.
The Council Subcommittee recommends that the Administration be invited to suggest audits. Department heads could also be invited to request audits within their departments. Council Member Christensen suggests that in those instances where a City department has requested an audit, the department be allowed to take corrective action prior to release of the audit report.