Agenda packet — Hanford City Council, July 1, 2025 (part 1 of 6)

City Council Meeting
Agenda
July 1, 2025
7:00 PM – Regular Meeting
Council Chambers
400 N. Douty St.

Council Members will meet in-person in the Council
Chambers. The meeting will also be lived streamed on the City’s website: http://livestream.hanford.city/

5:00 PM CALL TO ORDER STUDY SESSION AND CLOSED SESSION:

ROLL CALL BY THE CITY CLERK:

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Study Sessions are considered Special Meetings under the Brown Act. Accordingly, comments from the public are limited to items listed on the agenda (GC 54954.3a). Public Comment will be accepted during each agenda item. A maximum of three minutes is allowed for each speaker. Please begin your comments by stating your name and providing your city of residence.

STUDY SESSION:

A. Update on the Low Barrier Shelter Navigation Center by Kings Community Action Organization
CLOSED SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF THE FOLLOWING:

A. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR (GC 54957.6)

Agency designated representatives: Mario Cifuentez and Chris Tavarez Employee Organization(s): EMEA, GEMA, PUMA, SEIU, HPOA, and Fire

CALL TO ORDER REGULAR SESSION:

ROLL CALL:

INVOCATION:

FLAG SALUTE:

PUBLIC COMMENT:

This is the time for citizens to comment on subject matters within the jurisdiction of the Hanford City Council. This is also

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the public’s opportunity to request an item from the Consent Calendar be pulled for discussion purposes or to comment on any item on the agenda. State law does not allow the Council to discuss or take action on issues not on the agenda, except that members of the Council or staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights (Gov. Code sec. 54954.2). A maximum of three minutes is allowed for each speaker. Please begin your comments by stating your name and providing your city of residence.

CONSENT CALENDAR:

Consent Calendar items are considered routine and will be enacted in one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these matters unless a request is made and then the item will be removed from the Consent Calendar to be discussed and voted upon by a separate motion.

A. Waive reading in full of resolutions and ordinances and approval and adoption of same by reading the title only.

B. City Clerk: Approval of the Minutes of the May 29, 2025, Special Meeting C. City Clerk: Approval of the Minutes of the June 3, 2025 Meeting D. Human Resources: Approval of the recommendation of the Council Subcommittee to select Bob Murray and Associates to conduct an extensive search for the position of City Manager and authorize City staff to enter into a contract with said firm.

E. Community Development: Approval of two blanket purchase orders over $50,000 for Fiscal Year 2025/2026 for Community Development Department, for the amount of $210,000.

F. Public Works: Approval of appropriation, not to exceed $128,750 from the Refuse Operating Fund 0306 account 749500 Professional and Special Services; and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with R3 Consulting Group, Inc. of Roseville, CA, not to exceed $128,750 for a prop 218 rate study and an operations and efficiency study in the City of Hanford Refuse Division.

G. Public Works: Approval of the purchase of one (1) Cimline M1 150 gallon crack sealing machine from Haaker Equipment of La Verne, CA in the amount of $81,741.67 and appropriation of $81,741.67 from Fleet Reserve Fund 0448 to cover the purchase.

H. Police: Approval of Blanket Purchase Orders (BPO's) and Purchase Orders (PO's) over $50,000 for the Police Department in the combined amount of $437,297 for fiscal year 2025/2026.

I. Finance: Approval of Blanket Purchase Orders (BPO's) $50,000 or greater for the Finance Division in the amount of $362,000 for fiscal year 2025/2026.

J. Finance: Adoption of Resolution 25-39-R approving the City of Hanford's annually updated Investment Policy for FY 2025-2026
K. Council: Approval of the appointment of Vice Mayor Nancy Howze to the Kings County Association of Governments (KCAG), the Kings County Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority (KCAVASA), and the Kings Area Regional Transit (KART) Boards, replacing former Mayor Lou Martinez's representation on these boards.

PUBLIC HEARING:

A. Community Development: Public Hearing to accept public comment and Adoption of Resolution No. 25-34-R approving the Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2025.

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B. Community Development: Annexation No. 166, Island #15: A proposal to annex a substantially surrounded county island, totaling 93.56 acres, into the City of Hanford from the Kings County jurisdiction.

Prezone No. 0014-25: A proposal to prezone the proposed territory to be annexed as R- L-12 Low-Density Residential (12,000 sq. ft. minimum lot size) and R-L-5 Low-Density Residential (5,000 sq. ft. minimum lot size) consistent with the 2035 Hanford General Plan Land Use Map.

C. Parks and Community Services: A public hearing to consider the Adoption of Resolution 25-38-R Ordering the Levy and Collection of Assessments as outlined in the 2025/2026 Annual Engineer's Report, which has been prepared pursuant to Chapter 3 of the Landscape and Lighting Act of 1972. The proposed assessments outlined in the Engineer's Report are less than or equal to the authorized maximum assessment for each Landscape Assessment District.

D. Utilities and Engineering: Public Hearing Regarding Annexation of Billingsley Subdivision Tract 937, and the Lunaria Subdivision Tract 938 into Community Facilities District No.

CFD 2025-1 (Public Safety Services) Under the Mello Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 and Related Actions including adoption of Resolutions as necessary.

E. Utilities and Engineering: Public Hearing Regarding Annexation of Billingsley Subdivision Tract 937 into Community Facilities District No. CFD 2025-2 (Public Maintenance Services) Under the Mello Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 and Related Actions including adoption of Resolutions as necessary.

GENERAL BUSINESS:

A. Finance: Adoption of Resolution 25-37-R to present to voters a measure to amend the municipal code and increase the transient occupancy tax by four percent.

COUNCIL REPORTS/GENERAL REPORTS:

Brief information-only reports from City Council and/or Staff, including committee reports and reports by City Council related to meetings attended at City expenses (AB1234).

ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS:

At this time, any Council Member may ask a question for clarification or may request a matter, which is not otherwise scheduled on a City Council agenda, to be placed on a future agenda. The Council Member referring the item shall provide sufficient information as to the nature of the item. The City Council, by concurrence of a majority, may direct the City Manager to put the item on a future agenda. (GOV. CODE SEC. 54954.2) A. Council Future Agenda Items
B. Upcoming Events and Important Dates:

July 4: City offices closed in observance of Independence Day July 15: Regular City Council Meeting
August 5: Regular City Council Meeting
August 19: Regular City Council Meeting
ADJOURNMENT:

Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packet are available to public inspection in the City Clerk’s Office located at 319 N. Douty Street, Hanford, California 93230, during normal business hours. Such agendas are also available at the city’s website, www.cityofhanfordca.com subject to staff’s ability to post the agenda before the meeting. If you need a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s office, 559-585-2515, 319 N. Douty Street, Hanford, California 93230, at least 2 days prior to the meeting {28 CFR 35.102.35.104 ADA Title II}

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11.B.

AGENDA

STAFF REPORT

MEETING DATE: 7/1/2025 AGENDA SECTION: CONSENT CALENDAR

SUBJECT:

Approval of the Minutes of the May 29, 2025, Special Meeting

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation: Approve the minutes of the May 29, 2025, Special Meeting.

BACKGROUND:

FISCAL IMPACT:

ATTACHMENTS:

1. May 29, 2025 Meeting Minutes

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11.C.

AGENDA

STAFF REPORT

MEETING DATE: 7/1/2025 AGENDA SECTION: CONSENT CALENDAR

SUBJECT:

Approval of the Minutes of the June 3, 2025 Meeting

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation: Approve the minutes of the June 3, 2025, meetng.

BACKGROUND:

FISCAL IMPACT:

ATTACHMENTS:

1. June 3, 2025 Meeting Minutes

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11.D.

AGENDA

STAFF REPORT

MEETING DATE: 7/1/2025 AGENDA SECTION: CONSENT CALENDAR

SUBJECT:

Approval of the recommendation of the Council Subcommittee to select Bob Murray and Associates to conduct an extensive search for the position of City Manager and authorize City staff to enter into a contract with said firm.

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommended Motion: That the City Council, by motion, approve the recommendation of the Council Subcommittee to select Bob Murray and Associates to conduct an extensive search for the position of City Manager and authorize City staff to enter into a contract with said firm.

BACKGROUND:

On May 16, 2025, City Manager Mario Cifuentez formally submitted advance notice of his resignation to the City Council. Following Council’s directive to secure the most qualified candidates for the role, City of Hanford staff initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to engage executive recruitment firms. A total of eleven firms submitted proposals in response.

A Special Meeting was held on June 19, 2025, to discuss the evaluation rankings of the firms.

Subsequently, on June 26, 2025, Mayor Paden and Vice Mayor Howze conducted interviews with the two highest-ranked firms. Following these interviews, Bob Murray and Associates was selected, by the Mayor and Vice-Mayor, as the recommended firm to lead a comprehensive recruitment process for the position of City Manager and is making that recommendation to the full council.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Due to salary savings by appointing an internal candidate as Interim City Manager, the fiscal impact is anticipated to be minimal.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Bob Murray Proposal

2. Bob Murray Oakdale Flyer

3. Bob Murray Davis Flyer

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A Proposal to Conduct an Executive Recruitment

for the Position of

CITY MANAGER

on behalf of the City of

1544 Eureka Road, Suite 180
Roseville, CA 95661
(916) 784-9080
(916) 784-1985 fax

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June 9, 2025

Mayor Lou Martinez and
Members of the City Council
City of Hanford
315 – 321 North Douty St.

Hanford, CA 93230

Submitted via email to: [email protected]

Dear Mr. Martinez,

Bob Murray & Associates is pleased to submit a proposal to conduct the City Manager recruitment for the City of Hanford. The following details our unique qualifications and describes our systematic—yet flexible—method of identifying, recruiting, and screening outstanding candidates on your behalf. Bob Murray & Associates is proud to offer straightforward, all-in pricing, eliminating surprises and making the experience simple and stress-free. This proposal includes information on our proven process, a timeline, and a guarantee.

As the premier public sector executive search firm specializing in positions that report directly to elected boards /councils, we understand the unique dynamics, high expectations, and political acumen required of leaders in these critical roles. We don’t just fill positions—we ensure the candidates we present to the City of Hanford are well- aligned with your organization’s goals, values, and culture. Our team is composed of experienced executive recruiters and former public -sector executives —professionals who are passionate about public service and attuned to current trends in government leadership. With over 34 years of experience and a network of more than 40,000 professionals and organizations, we’ve built a strong reputation for delivering exceptional candidates and achieving repeat success with our clients.

Bob Murray & Associates recognizes that we work at the pleasure of the City Council and our job is to facilitate the Council in finding the City’s next City Manager. Our best practice is to establish a strong partnership with the Council, to ensure the pla cement of a City Manager who is ideally suited to its needs. In developing this collaborative approach, we will seek the opportunity to meet with the council members individually to discuss their expectations for the City’s new City Manager. The feedback r eceived from the council members will be essential in providing guidance when recruiting and screening candidates for the position.

Current and recent recruitments we have completed similar in scope to your upcoming search include the following:

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2025
Davis, CA (City Manager) – current
Live Oak, CA (City Manager) – current
Oakdale, CA (City Manager) – current
Dallas County, TX (Assistant County
Administrator) - current
Fowler, CA (City Manager)
Louisville, CO (City Manager)

2024
Vernon, CA (City Administrator)
Folsom, CA (City Manager)
Murrieta, CA (City Manager)
Aliso Viejo, CA (City Manager)
Hayward, CA (City Manager)
Manhattan Beach, CA (City Manager)
Emeryville, CA (City Manager)
Reno, NV (City Manager)
Clovis, CA (City Manager)
Clayton, CA (City Manager)
Vancouver, WA (City Manager)
Orinda, CA (City Manager)
Pinole, CA (City Manager)
Novato, CA (City Manager)
Saratoga, CA (City Manager)
Sparks, NV (City Manager)
Salinas, CA (City Manager)
Pacific Grove, CA (City Manager)
Marin County, CA (County Administrator)

2023
Auburn, CA (City Manager)
Desert Hot Springs, CA (City Manager)
Downey, CA (City Manager)
Merced, CA (City Manager)
Moraga, CA (Town Manager)
Piedmont, CA (City Administrator)
Rio Vista, CA (City Manager)
San Bruno, CA (City Manager)
San Marino, CA (City Manager)
San Rafael, CA (City Manager)
San Ramon, CA (City Manager)
Santa Clara, CA (City Manager)
South Gate, CA (City Manager)
Ventura, CA (City Manager)
Winters, CA (City Manager)
Yountville, CA (Town Manager)

We work as a team on every search at Bob Murray & Associates. Your Project Lead would be Stephanie Dietz, Adele Fresé, Yasmin Beers, or Jon Lewis, who would not only direct and supervise the project team from beginning to end but also serve as the Recruiter for the project as well.

To learn first -hand about the quality of our services and why the majority of our engagements come from repeat and referred clients, we invite you to contact the references listed on page 15 of the attached proposal.

We look forward to your favorable consideration of our qualifications. Please do not hesitate to contact us at (916) 784-9080 with any questions.

Sincerely,

Valerie Gaeta Phillips
President, Bob Murray & Associates

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS ................................ ................................ ........4 STEP 1 DEVELOP THE CANDIDATE PROFILE ........................................................ 4 STEP 2 DESIGN/DISTRIBUTE BROCHURE AND ADVERTISEMENTS ........................ 5 Reaching Diverse Candidates ...................................................................... 6 STEP 3 RECRUIT CANDIDATES ............................................................................ 6 STEP 4 SCREEN CANDIDATES ............................................................................. 4 STEP 5 CONDUCT PRELIMINARY INTERVIEWS ...................................................... 4 STEP 6 SEARCH PUBLIC RECORDS ...................................................................... 4 STEP 7 MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................... 4 STEP 8 FACILITATE FINAL INTERVIEWS ................................................................ 5 STEP 9 CONDUCT BACKGROUND AND REFERENCE CHECKS ............................. 5 STEP 10 ASSIST IN NEGOTIATIONS ..................................................................... 6 COMPLETE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE ................................ ................ 6 COSTS AND GUARANTEE ................................ ................................ .............. 7 PROFESSIONAL FEE AND EXPENSES ................................................................... 7 Optional Services ........................................................................................... 7 GUARANTEE ....................................................................................................... 8 RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE ................................ ................................ ............. 9 FIRM PROFILE ................................ ................................ ................................ 10 REFERENCES ................................ ................................ ................................ . 15

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 4

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Bob Murray & Associates’ recruiters are specialists in finding positive placements and providing security and fairness to candidates and clients while ensuring the integrity of the search process. Outlined below are the steps in our proven recruitment process, refined through our 34+ years of experience in executive recruiting.

STEP 1 DEVELOP THE CANDIDATE PROFILE

Our understanding of the City of Hanford ’s needs will be key to a successful search.

Stephanie Dietz, Adele Fresé, Yasmin Beers, or Jon Lewis will meet virtually with the City of Hanford and key stakeholders to learn as much as possible about the ideal candidate for the City Manager position. Key stakeholders often include:

• Council/Board Members – up to five virtual one -on-one meeting s with the Recruiter
• Internal Stakeholders (e.g. Department Heads) – up to two virtual group meetings with the Recruiter
• External Stakeholders (e.g. Chamber of Commerce, Community Groups) – one virtual one-on-one or group meeting with the Recruiter

Internal and External Stakeholders

We find that many of our clients value a recruitment process that opens the opportunity for employees, community members, business leaders, and organization representatives to provide input regarding the ideal candidate. Our recruiters are skilled in virtually facilitating group staff meetings, forums for the business community, and/or town hall meetings that provide for equitable involvement from a variety of constituencies.

If the City of Hanford desires, we will work with the City to create a customized virtual community and/or staff input process. Please note: Virtual facilitation of stakeholder meetings is included in the professional fee. On-site Recruiter facilitation is available for an additional fee – please refer to “Costs and Guarantee” on page 7 for pricing information.

Online Stakeholder Surveys

Sometimes clients are seeking input from a wider range of stakeholders —such as community members, business leaders, and organization representatives —online surveys are ideal to solicit input regarding qualities of the ideal candidate. Our experienced recruiters excel at crafting targeted, thoughtful, open -ended questions and can design a customized survey, providing a link for easy sharing on your website.

After closing, your dedicated Recruitment Coordinator will send you the survey

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 5 response data for your review and analysis. This proposal includes one Online Survey.

Additional Online Surveys are available under Optional Services (please refer to page 7).

We want to become familiar with the values and culture of the organization, as well as to understand the current and future issues, challenges, and opportunities in the City of Hanford.

Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis will review and help define the City’s wish- list regarding the ideal candidate’s personality, management style, knowledge, skills, and abilities and will work with the City of Hanford to identify expectations regarding education and experience. The City and Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis will discuss compensation, benefits, and other key information necessary to ensure that outstanding candidates are attracted to this opportunity. The profile we develop together at this stage will drive subsequent recruitment efforts.

STEP 2 DESIGN/DISTRIBUTE BROCHURE AND ADVERTISEMENTS

Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis and your dedicated Recruitment Coordinator will use the candidate profile developed with the City of Hanford to create a professional recruitment brochure , with the assistance of our professional graphic designer. The four-page, full-color brochure will describe the community, organization, position, ideal candidate, and compensation and will include pictures provided by the City of Hanford that you feel best represent your organization and your community.

Upon your approval, Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis will send the brochure by email (and postal mail if desired) to a targeted audience, personally inviting potential candidates to apply for the City Manager position. We will also place the recruitment brochure on our website, which attracts over 11,000 unique hits weekly and is a trusted resource for candidates seeking execu tive and professional positions. Two sample brochures are included in this proposal package for your reference.

Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis will also design an effective advertising campaign appropriate for the City Manager recruitment. Our broadest outreach comes through our active social media involvement on LinkedIn as well as our monthly newsletter where upcoming and current positions are featured. Sources such as Western City Magazine, PublicCEO, and the Careers in Government website will be used to reach an extensive local government audience, while position-specific postings will be chosen to attract candidates who have built their careers in and are committed to the City Management field.

Suggested City Management -specific advertising sources for the City of Hanford ’s search include:

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International City County Management Association
League of California Cities
California City News
California City Management Foundation
League of Women in Government

Bob Murray & Associates does not typically place ads with job aggregators or general job posting sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster, or Indeed, as we have found that the broad reach of these sites does not necessarily lead to quality candidates for executive and professional positions.

Reaching Diverse Candidates

Bob Murray & Associates, a woman - and minority -owned business, is proud of its commitment to attracting and placing diverse candidates . Nearly 50% of our last 100 placements were women; Hispanic placements 25%; African American placements 13%; Asian placements 21%; and Native American placements at 1%. Not only do we place advertisements with websites designed to attract minority and female candidates, but our President, Valerie Phillips, is a member herself of many diversity -focused organizations including the Local Government Hispanic Network, the League of Women in Government, the Professional Women’s Network, Mexican Professionals, and Women Leading Government. She networks frequently with fellow members to gain insight into which potential candidates are leaders in their field.

Your Recruiter will seek to reach candidates in communities and organizations with demographic profiles and populations served like that of the City of Hanford , to maximize the potential for individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences to be considered for the City Manager position.

STEP 3 RECRUIT CANDIDATES

The strongest candidates are often those who are successful and content in their current positions and need to be sold on a new opportunity. Our extensive network of contacts, developed through over 2,100 successful placements, is a primary source for identifying and obtaining referrals for these candidates. Our in -house database of 40,000 current and former executive and professional candidates is a valuable resource that can only be built over time —time that we have invested into perfecting our process fo r finding the right candidates for our clients. Our aggressive outreach efforts are focused on phone calls to personally invite potential applicants, answer questions, and allay any reservations, and these efforts are essential to the success of the <position> recruitment.

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 4

STEP 4 SCREEN CANDIDATES

Following the closing date for the recruitment, your Recruiter will screen all resumes we have received, using the criteria established in the candidate profile as a basis upon which to narrow the field of candidates. Internal candidates receive sensitive consideration, and your Recruiter will discuss with the City how the City of Hanford wishes to proceed with these candidates.

STEP 5 CONDUCT PRELIMINARY INTERVIEWS

Your Recruiter will personally interview the top 10 to 15 candidates from the resume screening, with the goal of determining which candidates have the greatest potential to succeed in your organization. To reduce travel -related expenses to our clients and increase efficiency in the search process, these interviews are typically conducted via Zoom, Teams, or other convenient videoconferencing applications.

STEP 6 SEARCH PUBLIC RECORDS

Under the direction of your Recruiter , your dedicated Recruitment Coordinator will conduct a review of published print and online articles for each recommended candidate. Sources include Lexis-Nexis™, Google, social media, and our contacts in the field. This will alert your Recruiter to any further detailed inquiries we may need to make before our recommendations are finalized.

STEP 7 MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on our findings during the preliminary interview process, your Recruiter will meet with the City virtually or on site to share the complete applicant list and recommend a limited number of candidates for your further consideration. Your Recruiter will make specific recommendations and will help facilitate discussions regarding the candidate pool, but the final determination of interviewees will be up to you.

We typically recommend 6-8 candidates that we feel best match your expectations and prepare a detailed report on each candidate. This virtual “Recommended Finalist” eBook is provided to each member of the decision-making body and includes:

Candidate list with Recommended Finalists identified in Group 1 and Group 2 (primary and secondary recommendations), as well as Internal candidates Summary of experience and education for each Recommended Finalist candidate
Complete cover letter and resume for each Recommended Finalist candidate List of Other Applicants (those who did not meet minimum qualifications or were otherwise unsuitable, based on our screening process)

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Bob Murray & Associates maintains all search records for a period of seven (7) years following each recruitment, and we are happy to forward cover letters and resumes for each applicant by postal mail or email as soon as the recruitment closes to new applications.

STEP 8 FACILITATE PANEL INTERVIEWS

Our years of experience will be invaluable as we help you develop an interview process that objectively assesses the qualifications of each candidate. We will work with the City of Hanford to craft and implement an interview approach that fits your needs. This may include panel and/or individual interviews by the City Council ; key stakeholders, community/employee interview panels ; writing and presentation samples ; meet-and- greets; or other specialized process elements your Recruiter helps the City of Hanford to design.

Your Recruiter will be present on -site during the panel interviews to facilitate as necessary during the process and to guide discussion to consensus regarding final candidates. Bound interview books will be provided for each interview panel member containing:

Recruitment brochure with candidate profile
Interview schedule
Suggested interview questions
Experience summary, cover letter, resume, and rating form for each candidate
Ranking forms for use during the panel interview process

We will work closely with your staff to coordinate and schedule interviews. Our goal is to ensure that each candidate has a positive experience, as the way the entire process is conducted will influence the final candidates’ perception of your organization.

STEP 9 CONDUCT BACKGROUND AND REFERENCE CHECKS

Your Recruiter and your Recruitment Coordinator will conduct detailed reference checks for up to two (2) final candidates . To gain an accurate and honest appraisal of the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, we will talk candidly with people who have direct knowledge of their work and management style. In addition to gaining a 360- degree view of candidates from the perspective of their supervisors, subordinates and peers for the past several years, we will make a point of speaking confidentially to individuals who may have further insight into a candidate’s abilities but who may not be on their preferred list of contacts.

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 6 Your Recruitment Coordinator will work with the two (2) final candidates and our professional backgrounding firm, HireRight, to conduct credit, civil litigation, and motor vehicle record checks and verify candidates’ degrees.

STEP 10 ASSIST IN NEGOTIATIONS

We recognize the critical importance of successful negotiations and can serve as your representative during this process. Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, and Mr. Lewis know what other organizations have done to put deals together with great candidates and what the current market is like for City Manager positions in organizations like the City of Hanford ’s. Your Recruiter will be available to advise you regarding current approaches to difficult issues , such as housing and relocation. We will represent your interests and advise the chosen candidate and you regarding salary, benefits , and employment agreements, with the goal of putting together a deal that results in the appointment of your chosen candidate. With our prove n experience and vested interest in a positive outcome, we can turn a very difficult aspect of the recruitment into one that is straightforward and agreeable for all parties involved.

COMPLETE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE

We receive many unsolicited testimonials each year from clients and candidates alike noting our prompt, considerate, accurate, and professional service during the search process. Throughout the recruitment, in time intervals that suit the City of Hanford, we will provide you with updates on the status of the search and attend to all administrative details on your behalf.

Candidates receive immediate acknowledgement of their applications, as well as personal phone calls and/or emails (as appropriate) advising them of their status at each critical point in the recruitment. Candidates who receive preliminary or final interviews and are not chosen to move forward in the interview process will receive personal calls from your Recruiter on behalf of the City of Hanford.

It is our internal company standard that all inquiries from clients and candidates receive a response within the same business day whenever possible, and certainly within 24 hours if the inquiry is received during the work week. Your Recruiter will be available to the City of Hanford by office phone, cell phone, and email at any time to ensure a smooth and stress-free recruitment process.

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COSTS AND GUARANTEE

PROFESSIONAL FEE AND EXPENSES

The all-inclusive professional services fee for conducting the City Manager recruitment on behalf of the City of Hanford is $37,000. Services provided for in this fee consist of all steps outlined in this proposal , including design and distribution of the recruitment brochure, advertising, marketing and promotion, administrative support, public records research, comprehensive background reporting on the final candidate s, postage, technology, and two days of on-site meetings. This proposal is valid for 60 days from the date of the proposal.

Optional Services are listed below and ar e in addition to the professional services fee.

Expense reimbursement for Consultant travel related to additional on-site meeting days is billed at the actual rate (airfare/mileage, lodging) and is the responsibility of the City of Hanford.

The professional fee does not limit the amount of time invested by Bob Murray & Associates in promoting a successful outcome for this project. In fact, our mission for this project is to ensure we assist in identifying the right candidate for the City of Hanford. Therefore, Ms. Dietz, Ms. Fresé, Ms. Beers, or Mr. Lewis will contact the City at the first anniversary of the placement to confirm an effective transition has occurred.

Optional Services

Additional virtual stakeholder meetings: $250/meeting
Additional on-site meeting days: $1,500/day/Consultant, plus travel expenses Online Surveys : $500/each (includes preparing recommended questions, preparing and sharing the survey link, closing the survey, and sending the survey response data for your review and analysis
Additional background checks: $300/candidate
Additional reference checks: $500/candidate
Additional hires: $9,000/candidate

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GUARANTEE

In the event a candidate recommended by our firm resigns or is terminated within the first 12 months of employment, Bob Murray & Associates will provide the City of Hanford with professional services to secure a replacement. Services will be provided at no cost, aside from the following reimbursable expenses incurred on the City of Hanford’s behalf during the new search:

Brochure design and distribution ($695 reprint only, $1,275 edit/reflow/reprint)(if needed)
Advertising actual costs (estimated at $2,975)
Public records search for all new candidates ($500)
Background Checks ($300/candidate)
Reference Checks ($500/candidate)
Consultant travel reimbursement (if travel is needed)
Plus any applicable Optional Services, if desired

In the event that a placement is not made from the initial recruitment, Bob Murray & Associates will provide professional services to conduct one additional recruitment.

Services will be provided at no cost. However, the City of Hanford will be responsible for the reimbursable expenses as noted above.

We are confident in our ability to recruit outstanding candidates and do not expect the City to find it necessary to exercise this provision of our proposal.

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RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE

We are prepared to start work on this assignment upon receipt of a signed professional services agreement or other written, authorized notification . A full search can be completed in 13-16 weeks from the date of initial meetings with our client.

The final recruitment schedule will be determined in collaboration with City of Hanford.

A typical timeline of tasks and events is included here for reference.

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FIRM PROFILE

OUR STAFF

Bob Murray & Associates is a small firm focusing exclusively on executive search services. We have a team of seventeen (17):

Bob Murray, Founder
Valerie Gaeta Phillips, President
Gary Phillips, Executive Vice President
Joel Bryden, Vice President
Yasmin Beers, Senior Executive Recruiter
Adele Fresé, Senior Executive Recruiter
Stacy Stevenson, Senior Executive Recruiter
Jon Lewis, Executive Recruiter
Stephanie Dietz, Executive Recruiter
Melanie Richardson, Executive Recruiter
Jeff Mori, Executive Recruiter
Michael Ishii, Executive Recruiter
Ian Schmutzler, Executive Recruiter
Alexandria Kopack, Recruitment and Operations Manager
Kathy Lolas, Senior Recruitment Coordinator
Grace Marshall, Senior Recruitment Coordinator
Steph Souza, Recruitment Coordinator

YASMIN BEERS, SENIOR EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

Yasmin Beers brings over 33 years of municipal government experience to Bob Murray and Associates. Yasmin retired as the City Manager for Glendale with a population of over 200,000. She served as Chief Executive Officer overseeing close to 2,000 employees serving in Police, Fire, Public Works, Parks, Community Development, Library Arts & Culture, Innovation Performance & Audit, and Water & Power to name a few.

Yasmin’s three decades of experience in public service brings extensive background in public sector finance, human resources management, contract negotiations, strategic planning & organizational leadership, policy development, emergency response & planning, team building and performance improvement. Throughout her career, Yasmin has had a great deal of experience in recruiting, selecting and hiring employees for executive and management level positions with a focus on the organizational needs and culture.

Page 30 of 744 ends

Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 11 Yasmin currently serves on the Glendale Memorial Hospital Community Board of Directors and the Advisory Board for Village Christian School. Yasmin is a past member of Soroptimist International of Glendale where she served as President in 1999/2000.

She is a past board member of Glendale Healthy Kids, Salvation Army and the American Red Cross. In 2011 the Glendale Chamber of Commerce recognized Yasmin as Woman of the Year; in 2013 she was the recipient of The Armenian American Woman of Excellence Award; in 2014 Yasmin was recognized by the Glendale Educational Foundation for her distinguished service and philanthropic efforts; in 2015, YWCA awarded Yasmin with the Heart & Excellence Award; in 2017, she was recognized by Business Life Magazine as a Women Achiever; and in 2018 the California State Senate recognized Yasmin as one of the Woman of the Year, each a tribute to her core values that represent her civic responsibilities, volunteerism and community service.

Yasmin has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Northridge and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Woodbury University.

ADELE FRESÉ, SENIOR EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

Adele Fresé brings 27 years of local government experience to Bob Murray & Associates, having retired as Chief of Police in Salinas, CA prior to joining the firm in 2021. Adele began her public service career in 1985 as an active-duty member of the United States Marine Corps before serving the City of Corpus Christi for 20 years.

Adele has extensive experience in hiring and promotional processes, as well as interviewing candidates for advancement in all aspects of local government.

During her 7 years as a Chief of Police, Adele exercised strong leadership and implemented monumental changes leading to the diversification of her agency’s sworn staff. Adele’s commitment to collaboration with the public and law enforcement agencies earne d her the Partner of the Year Award from Homeland Security Investigations, and her Department the Community Policing Award from the Community Policing Institute of California.

Adele received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration from California State University at Hayward, and a minor degree in Sociology. She earned a Master of Science in Public Safety, completed the Senior Executives in State and Loc al Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School, and PERF’s Senior Management Institute for Police. She is a Texas Certified Public Manager.

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 12

JON LEWIS, EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

Jon Lewis brings over 30 years of municipal government experience to Bob Murray and Associates. Jon began his career in public service in 1991 with the City of Newport Beach, an iconic coastal community of 53 square miles in Southern California. After suc cessfully working his way through the ranks of the Police Department, he honorably retired in December of 2022 after serving as the Chief of Police for nearly seven years. Jon is known for his commitment to selfless service, ethical leadership and maintain ing longstanding community partnerships.

During his tenure as Chief of Police, the Newport Beach Police Department achieved reduction in crime to historic lows through effective, data -driven community policing strategies as well as excellence in emergency response and 911 call answer times.

Jon graduated with honors from California State University Long Beach with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Speech Communication and holds a Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Chapman University. He is a graduate of several advanced law enforcement training courses including the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College. Jon has authored two university-level textbooks in criminal justice and is an instructor with the Center for Criminal Justice Research and Training at California State University Long Beach.

He and his wife, Darcy, have two children and reside in Orange County.

STEPHANIE DIETZ, EXECUTIVE RECRUITER

Stephanie Dietz brings over 20 years of municipal and public agency experience to Bob Murray and Associates. Stephanie retired as the City Manager for the City of Merced, a City with a population of nearly 100,000 and the newest University of California campus. She served as the Chief Executive Officer overseeing more than 500 employees who provided services within the areas of Police, Fire, Development and Inspection Services, E ngineering, Public Works, Parks & Recreation, Arts & Culture, Housing, and the Office of Neighborhood Safety.

For 20 years, Stephanie garnered experience across city and county governments, along with the University of California, specializing in public finance and budgeting, human resources, labor relations, strategic planning, public safety, water management, redistricting, and leading city -initiated sales tax and charter ballot initiatives. Her professional career saw great success, with projects that included the construction of a new municipal airport terminal, the award of several state and federal grants to construct 850 affordable housing units, and the annexation of UC Merced. Throughout her professional career, she has been responsible for recruiting and retaining executive -

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 13 level leaders who reflect the culture of their communities while fostering a spirit of innovation.

Stephanie serves on the Merced Irrigation District Board, on the Merced College Foundation Board, and as an Advisory Board Member for the Central California Small Business Development Center. In 2023, Stephanie was recognized by the California State Assembly as Woman of the Year for her innovative solutions in affordable housing and transportation and her pioneering spirit as the first female City Manager for the City of Merced. Stephanie also volunteers on the boards of several local non -profits that support youth sports and local FFA chapters, ensuring students have the community support needed to be successful.

Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts with a Minor in Mathematics from California State University, Fresno, and a Master of Arts in English from National University.

CORPORATION

Bob Murray & Associates was founded in May 2000 and operated under the corporation name MBN Services, Inc. until June 2014; our new corporation name is GVP Ventures, Inc., incorporated in California in 2014. Contact information for the corporation and the firm is as follows:

GVP Ventures, Inc. OR Bob Murray & Associates
1544 Eureka Road, Ste. 180
Roseville, CA 95661
(916) 784-9080
[email protected]

Our corporation and firm are financially sound (and have been so since 2000), with documentation from our accountant available to your organization prior to final execution of a professional service agreement. We have never been involved in any litigation, aside from our personnel serving as expert witnesses when called to do so.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Our firm, represented by either our President or our Executive Vice President, are involved in the following organizations to remain engaged with current and future issues relevant to the work we conduct on behalf of clients like City of Hanford:

California Special Districts Association
California City Management Foundation (CCMF)
Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL)
International City/County Management Association (ICMA) International Network of Asian Public Administrators (I-NAPA) League of California Cities

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 14 League of Women in Government
Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC) Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC) National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA)

Members of our leadership team not only attend events sponsored by these associations but are also frequently called upon to serve as panel members and to provide specialized lectures regarding industry -specific issues. Recent and upcoming speaking engagements and trainings provided by our staff include:

“Role of the Chief” class, annually presented by Jon Lewis on behalf of the California Police Chiefs Association;
MMANC and MMASC annual mock interviews;
Annual League of California Cities Booth; and
Annual League of California Cities City Manager’s Conference (City Manager hosted event).

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Bob Murray & Associates Proposal for the City of Hanford Page 15

REFERENCES

Clients and candidates are the best testament to our ability to conduct quality searches.

Clients for whom Bob Murray & Associates has recently conducted similar searches are listed below:

CLIENT: City of Aliso Viejo, CA
POSITION: City Manager
REFERENCE: Mayor Tiffany Ackley
(949) 425-2510

CLIENT: City of Murrieta
POSITION: City Manager
REFERENCE: Ms. Rosa Vega, Administrative Manager
(951) 461-6010

CLIENT: City of Reno, NV
POSITION: City Manager
REFERENCE: Ms. Norma Santoyo, Assistant City Manager, (775) 300-0677

CLIENT: City of Sparks, NV
POSITION: City Manager
REFERENCE: Ms. Jill Valdez, Human Resources Director, (775) 300-0677

We appreciate the City of Hanford’s consideration of our proposal and look forward to working with you.

Page 35 of 744 ends

CITY MANAGER
Candidates should possess increasing responsible
experience in an administrative and managerial
capacity in a municipal organization. Qualified candidates typically possess a Bachelor’s Degree from a four-year
college or university in public or business administration or political science along with five (5) years of increasingly responsible related experience in municipal administration, including three (3) years of high-level responsibility, or equivalent combination of education and experience. A Master’s Degree is preferred.

COMPENSATION
The current salary range for the City Manager position is $213,607.20 - $259,640.76. Placement within this range is negotiable and dependent upon experience and qualifications. The City of Oakdale also offers an attractive benefits package which includes the following:

Medical/Dental/Vision – City Contribution $1,080 monthly plus ½ cost over $1,150
Vacation Accrual – 80 hours per year (starting)
Management Leave – 80 hours per year
Sick Leave Accrual – 96 hours per year
Holidays – 12 days per year (to include one “floating” holiday) Life Insurance – One times salary ($300,000 max)
City Paid Long-Term Disability Insurance
CalPERS Retirement
• Tier 2 – 2% at 60
• Tier 3 (Pepra) – 2% at 62
Other Benefits
• Technology Allowance
• 457 Plan (City contribution/match negotiable in contract) • City is on a 9/80 schedule (every other Friday off)

TO APPLY
If you are interested in this out-
standing opportunity, please apply
online at:
www.bobmurrayassoc.com
Filing Deadline:

June 1, 2025
Following the closing date, resumes
will be screened according to the
qualifications outlined above. The
most qualified candidates will be
invited to personal interviews with
Bob Murray & Associates. A select
group of candidates will be asked
to provide references once it is
anticipated that they may be
recommended as finalists. Refer-
ences will be contacted only
following candidate approval.

Finalist interviews will be held with
the City of Oakdale. Candidates
will be advised of the status of the
recruitment following selection of
the City Manger.

If you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to call Ms. Valerie
Phillips at:
(916) 784-9080

Page 36 of 744 ends

THE COMMUNITY
The City of Oakdale is situated in the
heart of California’s Central Valley in
Stanislaus County, 15 miles northeast of
Modesto at the base of the foothills. Primarily
an agricultural community, Oakdale is home
to several large manufacturing firms including
Sconza Candy Company, A.L. Gilbert Company, and
ConAgra Foods. The City is known as the “Cowboy Capital of the World”, offering a taste of the Old West with its historic town, boutique shopping, and unique events. With a population of just under 24,000, Oakdale enjoys a small-town charm. The City has affordable land prices with many attractive residential neighborhoods and an abundance of residential building sites.

In-city recreation includes an 18-hole country club golf course, community recreation swimming pool, and numerous city and recreational parks. Oakdale is a great city whose citizens, many of which are long term residents, embrace a strong sense of community and an outstanding quality of life.

The City of Oakdale is considered the gateway to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite National Park embraces almost 1,200 square miles of scenic wild lands set aside in 1890. The park ranges from 2,000 feet above sea level to more than 13,000 feet and major attractions include an alpine wilderness, three groves of Giant Sequoias, and the glacially carved Yosemite Valley with impressive waterfalls, cliffs and unusual rock formations. The Stanislaus River winds through the town offering opportunities for water sports and fishing. Nearby lakes are well suited for boating and water skiing. Camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, and skiing are available within an hour’s drive in the Sierras.

CITY GOVERNMENT
Oakdale is a full-service City, with 125 full-time and part-time employees, functioning under an operating budget of $41 million.

The City has a five-member City Council, including a directly elected Mayor. The Mayor and Council Members are each
elected for overlapping four-year terms. The
Council is progressive, with a shared
vision of the City. The City
delivers municipal services
through four departments:

Administration, Police,
Finance and Public
Services. Oakdale con-
tracts out for Fire
services, through the
Modesto Fire Department (MFD). City
Council, management, and staff
work well together, which contributes
to a healthy working environment.

THE POSITION
The City Manager, appointed by
City Council, is the highest admin-
istrative management level position
in the City and has responsibility
for the administrative operation of
City departments which may in-
clude developing, recommending
and implementing policies, program
planning, fiscal management, and
administration and operations of
all City functions and services.

The incumbent is responsible for
accomplishing the City’s goals
and objectives, along with ensuring
that the citizens are provided with
desired and mandated services
in an efficient and cost-effective
manner. The City Manager accepts
full responsibility for all City activities,
programs and services, including
directing the development and
implementation of goals, objectives,
policies and procedures. This position
ensures that established goals and
priorities are achieved. Duties include
but are not limited to the following:
• Deciding on actions to be taken
in the administration of City
policies and procedures.
• Developing policy recommen-
dations for City Council action.
• Providing administrative and staff
support to the City Council.
• Receiving administrative direc-
tion from the City Council.
• Preparing and presenting staff
and City Administrator reports
to the City Council.
• Researching and preparing
technical and administrative
reports and studies.
• Responding to citizen re-
quests and complaints,
researching circum-
stances, preparing
and implementing a
resolution of the issues.
• Directing, overseeing,
and participating in
the development of
the City’s work plans.
• Assigning and monitoring
work activities, projects, and
programs to department heads.
• Reviewing and evaluating depart-
ment’s operations, methods, and procedures.
• Overseeing and participating in the development and administration of the City budget.
• Directing and forecasting City funding requirements.
• Monitoring and approving expenditures.
• Selecting, training, motivating and evaluating management staff. • Providing or coordinating management staff development. • Working with staff to correct deficiencies and implementing discipline and termination procedures.
• Representing the City to outside groups and organizations. • Participating in community and professional groups and organizations. • Acting as a department head if a vacancy exists.
• Coordinating City activities with outside agencies and organizations.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The City of Oakdale is seeking a thoughtful,
measured, and diplomatic candidate to serve as
the next City Manager. The ideal candidate is an
effective communicator who demonstrates
transparency and integrity along with the ability
to develop and administer sound citywide goals,
objectives, policies, and methods for evaluating
achievement and performance levels. The successful
candidate is open-minded, confident, and highly
professional with the ability to provide effective leadership to a full-service municipal organization. In addition to excellent municipal management skills and exemplary customer
service skills, the ideal candidate should offer knowledge of modern public administration methods, procedures,
organizations, and functions. The City is seeking a
candidate who has a strong desire to be involved in
the community, has a strong finan-
cial background, and who listens
to others while working as a team
to break down silos. Knowledge
of principles and practices of
municipal budget and finance;
methods and techniques for goal
setting and program evaluation;
redevelopment laws and practices;
economic development practices,
guidelines and regulations; local
and state legislative processes;
and methods of techniques of su-
pervision, training and motivation are
all essential to success in this role.

The ideal candidate will be a
manager who is invested in the
Oakdale community. A City Man-
ager who calls Oakdale home
and is actively involved in the
community is highly desirable.

Someone who is outgoing and
understands local politics and
traditions of the City is essential.

The incumbent will identify and
respond to sensitive community and
organizational issues, concerns,
and needs. Customer service should
be a number one priority, as
will patience and sensitiv -
ity to the needs of the
community. Candidates
should possess a
strong financial back -
ground with budget
experience. In addition,
the City is seeking
candidates with expe-
rience in seeking out
grants and other additional
sources of funding. The new
City Manager will be expected to
cultivate and maintain excellent
working relationships with the
development community. As such,
the ideal candidate will possess
solid economic development and
redevelopment experience.

Page 37 of 744 ends

CITY GOVERNMENT
Oakdale is a full-service City, with 125 full-time and part-time employees, functioning under an operating budget of $41 million.

The ideal candidate will be a
manager who is invested in the
Oakdale community. A City Man-
ager who calls Oakdale home
and is actively involved in the
community is highly desirable.

Someone who is outgoing and
understands local politics and
traditions of the City is essential.

Page 38 of 744 ends

TO APPLY
If you are interested in this out-
standing opportunity, please apply
online at:
www.bobmurrayassoc.com
Filing Deadline:

Finalist interviews will be held with
the City of Oakdale. Candidates
will be advised of the status of the
recruitment following selection of
the City Manger.

If you have any questions, please
do not hesitate to call Ms. Valerie
Phillips at:
(916) 784-9080

Page 39 of 744 ends

and innovation, particularly in the use of technology to enhance service delivery and efficiency.

Leadership style is key—this individual must be both a
mentor and a team leader who inspires trust, listens well, and leads with empathy and accountability. They will hold staff to high standards while ensuring they have the tools and support needed to succeed. The ideal candidate will assess needs before implementing new initiatives and confidently make tough decisions. With a balance of decisiveness and
approachability, this leader will foster a cohesive, forward-thinking organization that is well-positioned to serve the City of Davis today and into the future.

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be: Education: Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in business administration, public administration, finance, or a related field. A master’s degree is preferred. Experience: Eight (8) years of increasingly responsible public agency management and/or administrative experience as a City Manager, Assistant City Manager, or in a similar senior management/executive level capacity.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The current City Manager’s annual salary is $280,051.20. The salary for the incoming City Manager is negotiable based on qualifications and ex- perience. The City also offers an attractive benefits package including:

CalPERS Retirement – 2.5 % @ 55 retirement formula for Classic Members and 2% at 62 for new (PEPRA) Members
Health Benefits – The City contributes a generous amount toward the employee’s cafeteria benefit plan for monthly health, dental, and vision premiums. For 2025, the current contribution is $2,514.91 Vacation Leave – Up to 20 days per year to start (increases with years of service) with cash-out options available
Holidays – 13 recognized holidays and 2 floating holidays Management Leave – 10 days of management leave
Sick Leave – 12 days per year
Life Insurance – Employer paid
$100,000 group term life policy
Medicare – Effective the date of
hire, all employees contribute 1.45%
of gross salary to Medicare per
federal regulation.

Other Benefits – City sponsored
Long Term Disability plan, Depen-
dent Care Assistance, Deferred
Compensation, Supplemental Life
Insurance, and more.

The City does not participate in
Social Security.

TO APPLY
If you are interested in this out -
standing opportunity, please apply
online at:
www.bobmurrayassoc.com
Filing Deadline:

June 8, 2025
Following the closing date, resumes
will be screened according to the
qualifications outlined above. The
most qualified candidates will be
invited to personal interviews with
Bob Murray & Associates. A select
group of candidates will be asked
to provide references once it is
anticipated that they may be rec -
ommended as finalists. References
will be contacted only following
candidate approval. Finalist interviews
will be held with the City of Davis.

Candidates will be advised of the
status of the recruitment following
selection of the City Manager.

If you have any questions, please do
not hesitate to call Mr. Gary Phillips
at:
(916) 784-9080
CITY

MANAGER

Page 40 of 744 ends

THE COMMUNITY
The City of Davis (population nearly
69,000) is a college town known for its
desirable quality of life, excellent K-12
schools, small-town atmosphere, and an
emphasis on outdoor recreation, parks, and
open spaces. Davis is conveniently located in
Yolo County, twenty minutes from the state capital,
and set between the coastal range to the west and the
towering Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east. The City is home to the University of California, Davis (UCD) - one of the country’s premier public research universities.

Regarded as an environmentally aware and socially innovative commu- nity, Davis enjoys 37 parks and over 460 acres of parks and greenbelts and 73 different playground areas with more than 100 miles of bicycle paths and lanes including more bicycles per capita than any other city in the nation. The City’s active citizenry participates in local, national, and international political, environmental, and social causes. Transparency in public service is highly regarded by the community and the City.

The City is home to a vibrant downtown, the popular year-round Davis Farmers Market, and a burgeoning community of businesses interested in locating in close proximity to UC Davis. Community celebrations include the City of Davis Fourth of July celebration in Community Park and Davis Neighbor’s Night Out—a block party to celebrate the community and give neighborhoods the opportunity to increase familiarity and commu- nication among neighbors.

Residents and visitors alike find no shortage of opportunities for year-round leisure and recreational activities in Davis. The City of Davis continues to hold its Platinum-Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation, making it easy to get around without a car. If you enjoy the convenience of a bike-friendly city with the excitement of a university-oriented community, the City of Davis is the place to be! Davis also offers a myriad of cultural and entertainment attractions including the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, UC Davis Arboretum, Mondavi Center, Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, more than two dozen private and public galleries, other displays of publicly owned art, live theater venues, movie theaters, and more!

THE ORGANIZATION
Incorporated in 1917, the City of Davis operates under the Council- Manager form of government with a five-member Council and district elections. As a “general-purpose” city, Davis provides essential frontline municipal services through the collective efforts of
380.25 full-time equivalent employees.

The City’s approved 2024-2025
All Funds budget is $251.5 million
with a General Fund operat -
ing budget of $84.3 million.

The City Manager serves
as the administrative
head of the city govern-
ment overseeing the City
Manager’s office and
the other city depart -
ments including Finance,
Human Resources, Information Sys-
tems, Public Works Engineering and
Transportation, Public Works Utilities
and Operations, Parks and Community
Services, Social Services and Housing,
Community Development, Police, and
Fire. As a municipal corporation,
Davis operates under the general
laws of the State of California and
endeavors to create a livable com-
munity with a high quality of life
through land-use policies and service
provisions that balance the need
for housing, jobs, businesses, open
spaces, and essential services.

Employees of the City of Davis are
dedicated public servants who take
pride in maintaining high standards
of service and responsiveness.

THE POSITION
The City Manager serves as the
Chief Executive Officer of the City of
Davis, playing a pivotal role in shaping
and realizing the City’s vision for the
future. Reporting to the City Council,
the City Manager ensures efficient
and effective delivery of public ser-
vices while upholding the principles
of accountability and transparency.

The City Manager fosters an envi-
ronment that embraces integrity,
service, inclusion, and collaboration
while building and maintaining
positive working relationships with
co-workers, other City employees
and the public. Essential duties
include but are not limited to the
following:
• Plans, organizes, and administers
operations of the City either directly
or through subordinate manage-
ment and supervisory staff; coor-
dinates and evaluates the work
of the City in accordance with
applicable laws, codes, and regu-
lations, and adopted policies and
objectives of the City Council.
• Directs and coordinates the de-
velopment and implementation
of goals, objectives, and pro-
grams for the City Council, de-
partment heads, and the City; de-
velops administrative policies,
procedures, and work standards
to ensure the goals and
objectives are met and pro-
grams provide mandated
services in an effective,
efficient, and economical
manner.
• Ensures the City Council
is kept informed of City
functions, activities, and
financial status, and of
legal, social, and econom-
ic issues affecting City
activities.
• Monitors changes in laws,
regulations, and technology that
may affect City operations; imple-
ments policy and procedural changes as
required.
• Advises the City Council on issues, programs, and financial status; prepares and recommends long- and short-term plans for City service provision, capital improvements, and funding; directs the development of specific proposals for action regarding current and future City needs; attends all meetings of the Council.
• Oversees the preparation of the annual budget for the City; authorizes directly or through staff, budget transfers, expenditures, and purchases; provides information regarding the financial condition and needs to the City Council.
• Oversees the administration, construction, use, and maintenance of all City facilities and equipment, including buildings, parks, facilities, and other public property.
• Represents the City and the Council in meetings with govern- mental agencies, community groups, and various business, professional, educational, regulatory, and legislative
organizations.
• Provides for the investigation and resolution of
complaints regarding the administration of services
provided by the City government.
• Provides for contract services and franchise
agreements; ensures proper performance of
obligations to the City; assumes responsibility for
enforcement of all City codes, ordinances, and
regulations.
• Oversees the selection, training, professional devel- opment, and work evaluation of City staff; oversees the implementation of effective employee relations programs; provides policy guidance and interpretation to staff.
• Directs the preparation of and prepares a variety of corre- spondence, reports, policies, procedures, and other written materials.
• Responds to the most complex, difficult, and sensitive public inquiries and complaints and assists with resolutions
and alternative recommendations.

THE IDEAL

CANDIDATE
The City of Davis seeks a dynamic
and forward-thinking City Manager
who embodies the principles of
equity, inclusion, and transparency.

The ideal candidate will be an
approachable team player who
values collaboration and consensus-
building as key elements of effective
leadership. They must also be highly
adaptable with the ability to facilitate
dynamic situations. With a proven
track record of establishing strong
working relationships and main-
taining open lines of communication
across all organizational levels, this
individual will work closely with the
City Council and Executive Team to
align city initiatives with community
values and goals.

A visible and engaged leader, the
successful candidate will understand
and appreciate the work of staff,
be present in the field, and serve as
a model for integrity, responsiveness,
and loyalty. A strong foundation in
municipal administration is essential,
including deep knowledge of public
financing, budgeting, and legislative
processes at both local and state
levels. One area of opportunity
will be to further leverage the
talent pool and intellectual
resources generated by
UC Davis to advance
the City’s economic
resiliency objectives.

The ideal candidate
will be a resourceful
and politically astute
professional who brings
experience working with
diverse communities and
navigating complex social,
economic, and political land-
scapes. This individual will possess
the ability to assess municipal
operations critically, think creatively
in problem-solving, and project the
impact of various decisions. They
will approach challenges with a
solution-oriented mindset, encourag-
ing interdepartmental collaboration

Page 41 of 744 ends

The City’s approved 2024-2025
All Funds budget is $251.5 million
with a General Fund operat -
ing budget of $84.3 million.

Employees of the City of Davis are
dedicated public servants who take
pride in maintaining high standards
of service and responsiveness.

THE IDEAL

CANDIDATE
The City of Davis seeks a dynamic
and forward-thinking City Manager
who embodies the principles of
equity, inclusion, and transparency.

Page 42 of 744 ends

and innovation, particularly in the use of technology to enhance service delivery and efficiency.

Other Benefits – City sponsored
Long Term Disability plan, Depen-
dent Care Assistance, Deferred
Compensation, Supplemental Life
Insurance, and more.

The City does not participate in
Social Security.

TO APPLY
If you are interested in this out -
standing opportunity, please apply
online at:
www.bobmurrayassoc.com
Filing Deadline:

Candidates will be advised of the
status of the recruitment following
selection of the City Manager.

If you have any questions, please do
not hesitate to call Mr. Gary Phillips
at:
(916) 784-9080
CITY

MANAGER

Page 43 of 744 ends

11.E.

AGENDA

STAFF REPORT

MEETING DATE: 7/1/2025 AGENDA SECTION: CONSENT CALENDAR

SUBJECT:

Approval of two blanket purchase orders over $50,000 for Fiscal Year 2025/2026 for Community Development Department, for the amount of $210,000.

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation: Staff recommends that the City Council, by motion, approve the Annual Blanket Purchase Orders, which collectively total $210,000 and are already allocated in the FY25/26 council- adopted budget.

Recommended Motion: I move that the City Council approve the Annual Blanket Purchase Orders for $210,000 allocated in the FY25/26 council-adopted budget.

BACKGROUND:

Per Hanford Municipal Code 2.48.060, the City Council has the sole authority to authorize purchases exceeding $50,000, regardless of whether the funding has already been appropriated in the adopted budget. Additionally, purchases of $2,500.00 or more must have either formal or informal bids or a sole-source justification provided.

Community Development Department is seeking approval on the following Blanket Purchase Orders.

VENDOR DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
BPR
Consulting
Group
Building Plan Review
Service
$110,000
Rod Carsey Building Plan Review
Service
$100,000
FISCAL IMPACT:

These expenses will be covered by previously approved budget appropriations for Building Safety Fund for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.

ATTACHMENTS:

None

Page 44 of 744 ends

11.F.

AGENDA

STAFF REPORT

MEETING DATE: 7/1/2025 AGENDA SECTION: CONSENT CALENDAR

SUBJECT:

Approval of appropriation, not to exceed $128,750 from the Refuse Operating Fund 0306 account 749500 Professional and Special Services; and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with R3 Consulting Group, Inc. of Roseville, CA, not to exceed $128,750 for a prop 218 rate study and an operations and efficiency study in the City of Hanford Refuse Division.

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation:

Appropriate a not to exceed amount of $128,750 from the Refuse Operating Fund 0306 account 749500 Professional and Special Services and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with R3 Consulting, Inc, to perform a proposition 218 Refuse Rate Study and operations and efficiency study.

Recommended Motion:

Appropriate a not to exceed amount of $128,750 from the Refuse Operating Fund 0306 account 749500 Professional and Special Services and authorization for the City Manager to enter into an agreement with R3 Consulting, Inc, to perform a proposition 218 Refuse Rate Study and operations and efficiency study.

BACKGROUND:

The City of Hanford last evaluated its refuse rates in 2022. Since that time, several key developments have significantly impacted the Refuse Division's budgetary needs. These include unforeseen increases in tipping fees and evolving regulatory mandates from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), particularly affecting the City’s fleet operations. These pressures jeopardize the City's ability to maintain sustainable refuse operations as Hanford continues to grow.

To ensure long-term financial sustainability and regulatory compliance, a new Proposition 218 rate study is essential. This study will comprehensively assess the costs associated with delivering each service function within the Refuse Division and ensure that customer rates are aligned with the true cost of providing those services.

City staff solicited proposals from qualified firms and received three comprehensive submissions from the following consultants:

Page 45 of 744 ends

• R3 Consulting
• MSW Consultants
• HF&H Consultants
After a detailed review and scoring process by four independent staff evaluators, R3 Consulting received the highest overall ranking and was selected to lead the rate study.

R3 Consulting brings specialized expertise in refuse rate studies and has recent, relevant experience working with nearby municipalities, including the Cities of Tulare and Porterville. In addition to the core rate study, R3 recommended the City conduct an Operations and Efficiency Study within both the Refuse and Fleet Services divisions. This supplemental study aims to enhance operational performance and improve customer service delivery.

City staff are confident that R3 Consulting’s proposal and strategic recommendations will equip the City with the necessary tools to address current fiscal challenges, meet regulatory mandates, and continue delivering reliable service to the Hanford community. Due to financial concerns in the Refuse Fund consideration of a rate adjustment (if needed) as of January 1, 2026 could be needed.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Refuse Operating Fund 0306 has an approved appropriation of $50,000 for FY26. The amount of $78,750 is an additional appropriation that is being requested to fund the total cost ($128,750) for the rate study and operations and efficiency study. The Refuse Operating Fund currently has a negative balance of $1.7 million.

ATTACHMENTS:

1. R3 Refuse Rate Study Proposal

2. Proposed Fee Structure and Schedules

3. Evaluation Summary

4. HF&H Refuse Rate Study Technical Proposal

5. MSW Consultants Proposal to Perform a Solid Rate Study

Page 46 of 744 ends

May 21, 2025
City of Hanford
Finance Department, Purchasing Division
900 South 10th Avenue, Hanford, CA 93230
submitted via the City’s online portal: www.bidnetdirect.com SUBJECT: Refuse Rate Study - R3 Proposal
To Whom It May Concern,
R3 Consulting Group, Inc., (R3) is eager to be of service to the City of Hanford (City) in providing a Refuse Rate Study (Study) that will enable the City to establish, notice, and adopt five years of refuse rates sufficient to fund the City’s refuse collection operation and appropriate reserves. As a mission driven organization whose core aim is to serve communities by providing unbiased, expert analysis that sustainability advances environmental policy, finance, and operations – we firmly believe that our firm will best serve the City in this critically important engagement.

R3 is aware that the City’s prior 2022 Refuse Enterprise Financial Analysis and Rate Study (not performed by R3) has resulted in insufficient refuse rate revenues to fund the City’s refuse collection operations (which we believe was due to poor estimates of additional revenues from uncertain sources that did not materialize).

As a result, reserves in the refuse fund have been depleted (instead of being replenished as projected in the 2022 study), requiring the refuse operation to seek temporary financial resources through loans from other City funds. This is a serious and concerning situation in that these conditions (rate revenues being less than sufficient to cover expenses, depletion of fund reserves, and a new debt obligation to other City funds) will require off-schedule, urgent – and higher than normal – increases in refuse rate revenues to keep the City’s refuse operations fiscally solvent.

Adjusting refuse rates under these conditions is no small effort and will require the City not only hire a consulting firm that is adept at navigating such circumstances, but will also require careful handling of economic and political perceptions. Not uncommonly, when jurisdictions face such circumstances, questions arise regarding whether operations are effective; often, questions of whether the refuse operation should be privatized also arise. R3 has, by virtue of prior experience in similar circumstances as well as our team’s experience working as local government solid waste and city managers, an expertly developed approach to addressing these concerns. Therefore, our proposal recommends a review of operational efficiency and performance as part of the Study, in order to document efficiency measures already implemented by the City, and to assist the City in pursuing and incorporating additional measures, if feasible.

Overall, our aim in serving the City will be to rapidly put forth rate adjustment recommendations that enable the City’s refuse operations to remain ongoing in the City, that will not be subject to a majority protest under Proposition 218, and that City Council can vote to authorize with confidence and surety. Based on the schedule we have established for this project, and assuming that the City can provide its financial records and other information quickly, we believe the City could establish new refuse rates as early as January 1, 2026. Given our understanding of the City’s refuse fund’s fiscal position, we believe that planning to adjust rates as soon as feasible is warranted and prudent, and we believe we are the best firm to rise to the challenge.

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1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661 | p 916.782.7821 | f 916.782.7824 | www.r3cgi.com When it comes to refuse rate studies, the adage “you get what you pay for” is apt and appropriate. While we know that the City is hoping to achieve this important undertaking at a minimum cost, we also know that it will take more time and effort to complete this Study than would be possible at the budget amount stated in Addendum #2 to the City’s request for proposals (RFP). In putting forth this proposal, R3 has carefully evaluated the City’s needs and what it will take for the Study to successfully enable the City to adjust refuse rates, while also taking into consideration the City’s challenging fiscal position. During these uncertain economic times, and given the stakes for the City’s refuse operations, we strongly recommend that the City select a consultancy to perform the Refuse Rate Study that is adequately resourced to meet the challenges that the City will likely face, and not select a consultant based on lowest price. We firmly believe that R3 will provide the best value and best outcomes to the City, and we estimate that all it will take is a small 0.26% one-time adjustment to refuse rates will be sufficient to fund the entirety of the Scope of Work included in our proposal, amounting to a $0.83 per resident per year.

Project Team
Garth Schultz, Principal, will serve as Project Manager and primary point of contact. Scott Hanin, Principal, William Schoen and Steve Harriman, Sr. Directors, Jim Howison, Sr. Managing Consultant, Peggy Paulsen and Katelyn Scholz, Managing Consultants, Jordan Muratsuchi, Sr. Consultant, and Angela Micheletti, Associate Consultant, will provide various support to Garth throughout the duration of the engagement. More information on our project team can be found on page 14. * * * * * Thank you for this opportunity to be of service to the City. If you have any questions regarding our proposal or need additional information, please contact me.

Sincerely,
Garth Schultz | Principal
R3 Consulting Group, Inc.
510.292.0853 | [email protected]

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1 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
A. GENERAL INFORMATION
About R3
» R3 Consulting Group, Inc. Account Representative
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220 Garth Schultz | Principal, Project Manager Roseville, CA 95661 [email protected]
p 916.782.7821 | f 916.782.7824 p 510.292.0853
» Type of Organization Federal Tax ID Number
S-Corporation; CA Small Business 33-1030017
Established in 2002
»
»
Over the past two decades, we have specialized in providing a diverse range of solid waste management consulting services to public agencies, including nexus fee studies, zero waste planning, rate and financial reviews, competitive procurement and/or extension negotiations of collection, processing and disposal services, development, implementation and monitoring of service contracts and franchise agreements, and legislative compliance. Our team has dedicated their careers to the field of solid waste management and sustainability and skillfully deliver expert industry analysis and recommendations to our clients.

We provide a range of services to our clients, including:
› Financial and technical analyses of programmatic and policy alternatives. › Rate reviews and cost-of-service studies.
› Legislative compliance and audits to ensure compliance is maintained. › Negotiation and competitive procurement assistance for collection, processing, and disposal services. › Zero waste planning, implementation, and 5- and 10-year updates to zero waste plans based on progress and necessary pivots.
› Development, implementation, and monitoring of service contracts and franchise agreements. › Operations and performance reviews.

Organizational Chart
R3 OWNERS/OFFICERS
Scott Hanin
Sr. Vice President
Janet Barile
Vice President
Garth Schultz
President
Carrie Baxter
Corporate Secretary
Nate Forst
Principal

KEY PROJECT PERSONNEL
Steve Harriman
Sr. Director
Jim Howison
Sr. Managing Consultant
William Schoen
Sr. Director
Angela Micheletti
Associate Consultant
Katelyn Scholz
Managing Consultant
Peggy Paulsen
Managing Consultant
Scott Hanin
Principal
Garth Schultz
Principal
Jordan Muratsuchi
Sr. Consultant
R3 assures continuity of our key project personnel, as shown above in the organizational chart. Garth Schultz will be the City’s primary point of contact and will be maintained throughout the term of the contract.

More information on our team’s experience and backgrounds can be found on page 14.

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

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2 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
Financial and Rate Services
R3 staff members have broad experience conducting solid waste rate reviews and performing financial and rate structure analyses for municipalities, public utilities, and regional authorities. R3’s understanding of the perennial challenge of local governments to balance complex services and programs with the realities of budget constraints allows us to provide effective and meaningful financial consulting services to our clients.

Our rate review projects provide comprehensive review and analysis of contractor rate applications, resulting in documented adjustments to projected revenues and expenses plus specific recommended rate adjustments. Our financial and rate analysis projects furnish the financial information and comparative analysis our clients require to make sound, informed decisions.

Our solid waste financial and rate analysis services include:
› Financial and operational strategic planning.
› Conducting detailed rate reviews and indexed rate adjustments. › Conducting cost of service and revenue requirement studies. › Assisting municipal agencies with budgeting and long-term financial planning. › Developing rate models and multi-year rate financial projections. › Evaluating alternative funding mechanisms and conducting Nexus Studies to support those mechanisms. › Revising rate structures to support management objectives to comply with Proposition 218. › Performing rate and service surveys.
› Customer rate setting and adjusting.
› Audits of solid waste billing systems and franchise fee payments. › Development of refuse vehicle impact fees and solid waste development fees.

Operations and Performance Reviews
R3 has extensive experience operating and evaluating solid waste management systems, having assisted 50+ clients with the review and analysis of both municipally operated and franchised solid waste operations, including collection, transfer, and landfill operations. Our vast understanding of the challenges associated with operating municipal systems and administering franchised solid waste services enables us to generate meaningful data-based recommendations that focus on opportunities to improve safety and customer service, increase productivity, and reduce costs.

Our operations and performance review services include the following:
› Review and analysis of management and administrative functions. › Review of collection-system productivity and the development of target-productivity standards and performance- enhancement strategies.
› Review of contract compliance by private operators.
› Time-and-motion analysis of collection and transfer operations. › Analysis of vehicle-routing systems.
› Review of customer service and billing functions.
› Development of performance benchmarking metrics to measure system performance and improvements.

Surety Information for all Sureties
See the following page.

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

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3 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
General and Automobile Liability, E/O and Worker’s Compensation 11/04/2024
Whitney Oaks Insurance Services Inc.
1221 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Ste. 180
Roseville, CA 95678
License #: 0F74432
Tim Barile
(916)415-1930 (916)415-1931
[email protected]
00009456-615567 51
R3 Consulting Group Inc
1512 Eureka Rd Ste 220
Roseville, CA 95661
Sentinel Insurance Company, LTD 30104
A 57SBABG2HHH 11/27/2024 11/27/2025X
X
X
2,000,000
1,000,000
10,000
2,000,000
4,000,000
4,000,000
Hartford Accident & Indemnity Insurane Co. 22357
B 57UECFM1071 11/27/2024 11/27/2025
X
X X
1,000,000
Sentinel Insurance Company, LTD 30104
A 57SBABG2HHH 11/27/2024 11/27/2025XX 2,000,000
2,000,000
Hartford Casualty Insurance Company 29424
C 57WBCAU7Z0F 11/27/2024 11/27/2025
Y
X
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company
D PHSD1832607 12/15/2024 12/15/2025Professional Lia. Occurance 2,000,000 Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company
D PHSD1832607 12/15/2024 12/15/2025Professional Lia. Aggregate 3,000,000 This certificate of insurance certifies that the coverages listed above have been issued to the named insured for the period indicated.

R3 Consulting Group Inc
1512 Eureka Rd Ste 220
Roseville, CA 95661
(TCB)
Printed by TCB on 11/04/2024 at 11:36AM

ANY PROPRIETOR/PARTNER/EXECUTIVE
OFFICER/MEMBER EXCLUDED?

INSR ADDL SUBR

LTR INSD WVD

DATE (MM/DD/YYYY)

PRODUCER CONTACT
NAME:

FAXPHONE
(A/C, No):(A/C, No, Ext):

E-MAIL
ADDRESS:

INSURER A :

INSURED INSURER B :

INSURER C :

INSURER D :

INSURER E :

INSURER F :

POLICY NUMBER

POLICY EFF POLICY EXPTYPE OF INSURANCE LIMITS(MM/DD/YYYY) (MM/DD/YYYY)

AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY

UMBRELLA LIAB

EXCESS LIAB

WORKERS COMPENSATION

AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY
DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS / LOCATIONS / VEHICLES (ACORD 101, Additional Remarks Schedule, may be attached if more space is required)

AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
EACH OCCURRENCE $

DAMAGE TO RENTED
CLAIMS-MADE OCCUR $PREMISES (Ea occurrence)
MED EXP (Any one person) $
PERSONAL & ADV INJURY $
GEN'L AGGREGATE LIMIT APPLIES PER: GENERAL AGGREGATE $
PRO-POLICY LOC PRODUCTS - COMP/OP AGG $JECT
OTHER: $
COMBINED SINGLE LIMIT $(Ea accident)
ANY AUTO BODILY INJURY (Per person) $
OWNED SCHEDULED BODILY INJURY (Per accident) $AUTOS ONLY AUTOS HIRED NON-OWNED PROPERTY DAMAGE $AUTOS ONLY AUTOS ONLY (Per accident) $
OCCUR EACH OCCURRENCE $
CLAIMS-MADE AGGREGATE $
DED RETENTION $ $

PER OTH-

STATUTE ER
E.L. EACH ACCIDENT $
E.L. DISEASE - EA EMPLOYEE $
If yes, describe under
E.L. DISEASE - POLICY LIMIT $DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS below INSURER(S) AFFORDING COVERAGE NAIC #

COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY
Y / N
N / A
(Mandatory in NH)

SHOULD ANY OF THE ABOVE DESCRIBED POLICIES BE CANCELLED BEFORE

THE EXPIRATION DATE THEREOF, NOTICE WILL BE DELIVERED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE POLICY PROVISIONS.

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE POLICIES OF INSURANCE LISTED BELOW HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO THE INSURED NAMED ABOVE FOR THE POLICY PERIOD INDICATED. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY REQUIREMENT, TERM OR CONDITION OF ANY CONTRACT OR OTHER DOCUMENT WITH RESPECT TO WHICH THIS

CERTIFICATE MAY BE ISSUED OR MAY PERTAIN, THE INSURANCE AFFORDED BY THE POLICIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IS SUBJECT TO ALL THE TERMS, EXCLUSIONS AND CONDITIONS OF SUCH POLICIES. LIMITS SHOWN MAY HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY PAID CLAIMS.

THIS CERTIFICATE IS ISSUED AS A MATTER OF INFORMATION ONLY AND CONFERS NO RIGHTS UPON THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER. THIS

CERTIFICATE DOES NOT AFFIRMATIVELY OR NEGATIVELY AMEND, EXTEND OR ALTER THE COVERAGE AFFORDED BY THE POLICIES BELOW. THIS CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE ISSUING INSURER(S), AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OR PRODUCER, AND THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER.

IMPORTANT: If the certificate holder is an ADDITIONAL INSURED, the policy(ies) must have ADDITIONAL INSURED provisions or be endorsed.

If SUBROGATION IS WAIVED, subject to the terms and conditions of the policy, certain policies may require an endorsement. A statement on this certificate does not confer rights to the certificate holder in lieu of such endorsement(s).

COVERAGES CERTIFICATE NUMBER: REVISION NUMBER:

CERTIFICATE HOLDER CANCELLATION
© 1988-2015 ACORD CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

The ACORD name and logo are registered marks of ACORDACORD 25 (2016/03)

CERTIFICATE OF LIABILITY INSURANCE
A. GENERAL INFORMATION

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4 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
Client References

1. City of Tulare
Contact Information
Ms. Trisha Whitfield, Public Works Director
3981 S. K Street, Tulare, CA 93274
559.684.4320 | [email protected]
Types of Work Completed
› Solid Waste Rate Study
› Solid Waste Operations and Rate Study
Corresponding Data
› 2017 Solid Waste Rate Study
› 2018 Rate Study and Financial Plan
› 2024 Rate Study and Financial Plan

2. City of Redlands
Contact Information
Mr. Chris Boatman, Assistant City Manager
P.O. Box 3005, Redlands, CA 92373
909.798.7510 | [email protected]
Types of Work Completed
› Solid Waste Rate Structure & Feasibility Study
› SB 1383 Gap Analysis
› Cost-of-Service and Rate Structure Study
› Proposition 218 Public Noticing
Corresponding Data
› Solid Waste Financial Plan & Rate Study
› Proposition 218 Public Noticing

3. City of Santa Monica
Contact Information
Ms. Yvonne Yeung, Principal Administrative
2500 Michigan Ave, Building 9, Santa Monica, CA 90404
310.458.8552 | [email protected]
Types of Work Completed
› 2024 Zero Waste Plan Update (active)
› Solid Waste Operational Analysis and Rate Study
› 2019 Zero Waste Plan Update
Corresponding Data
› 5-Year Rate Study

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

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5 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study

4. City of Porterville
Contact Information
Mr. Michael Knight, Assistant City Manager
555 N. Prospect Street Porterville, 93259
559.782.7514 | [email protected]
Types of Work Completed
› Solid Waste Rate Study
Corresponding Data
› Updated Financial Plan

5. City of Folsom
Contact Information
Ms. Marie McKeeth, Section Manager, Public Works Department 50 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630
916.351.3353 | [email protected]
Types of Work Completed
› Mandatory Organics & Recycling Programs
› Solid Waste Operation & 5-Year Rate Study
› Recyclables Processing Procurement Assistance
› Management and Productivity Review
Corresponding Data
› Senate Bill 1383 Rate Study
› Rate Study

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

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6 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
B. PROPOSED PROJECT APPROACH
Scope of Work
Our team has provided the following Scope of Work for the Refuse Rate Study (Study) which includes the specific tasks we envision to be completed.

Task 1 Investigation and Data Collection
Objectives
Initiate and gather information and data necessary for completion of the Study.

Description
R3 will schedule a kick-off meeting with City staff from the City’s Public Works Department and Refuse Division (Division). The objective of this meeting will be to review goals and objectives, scope, and schedule as well as to discuss and gather the information and data necessary for the project.

In support of our review and with authorization to proceed, we request the Division provide the following information:
› Current Division rate policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. › List of Division-provided refuse services and customer subscription service levels. › Current approved refuse rate schedules.
› Projected annual customer/account growth.
› The number of weekly routes by line of business.
› Average weekly length of day per route.
› Historical and current budgeted and actual revenues and expenses from past three fiscal years, include detail for each and every revenue and expense line for refuse services. Include any overhead or shared central services charges.
› Current available refuse fund and vehicle/equipment fund reserve accounts and balances. › Vehicle and equipment list and replacement schedule with the type of vehicle, customer class, and age indicated.
› Current and projected capital project expenses and schedules. › Identification of any additional long-term funding needs related to the solid waste enterprise, including those related to proposed legislation and recently adopted laws (such as SB 1383). › Other relevant data and information.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Information request (submitted in advance of kick-off meeting). › Kick-off meeting agenda (including discussion questions) and notes. › Facilitation of remote (Zoom or Teams) kick-off meeting with Division staff.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Kick-off meeting week of August 4, 2025.
› Completion of investigation and data collection week of September 1, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Participation in kick-off meeting.
› Timely responsiveness to information request and data collection needs via email, phone, and filesharing.

B. PROPOSED PROJECT

APPROACH

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7 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
› Participation in limited informational interviews via phone / remote meeting in August, 2025.

Task 2 Regional Rate Comparison
Objectives
Compare the City’s solid waste management services and costs to cities in the region to provide a comparative benchmark for existing rates and proposed rates.

Description
R3 will gather solid waste services and rates for up to 10 municipalities within the region, to be used as a comparative baseline for existing rates and proposed rates developed during the Study. We will work with City staff to identify the agencies to be included in the survey and to identify key issues for the survey to address. Results and findings will be summarized in an easy-to-understand format using Excel and PowerPoint (PPT). R3 already has refuse rate information for many jurisdictions in the Central Valley and all available information will be used to cost-effectively prepare this information.

Meetings and Deliverables
› No meetings.
› Summary of regional rate comparison results and findings in Excel and PPT format.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of regional rate comparison the week of August 4, 2025. › Completion of regional rate comparison the week of September 1, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Identification of agencies and key issues to be included in the regional rate comparison.

Task 3 Rate Structure Review and Alternatives
Objectives
Review the City’s existing solid waste and recycling rate structure and discuss advantages and disadvantages compared to other approaches. Summarize and discuss findings with the City’s project team.

Description
Our team will analyze the City’s current residential and commercial solid waste, recycling, and organics rate structure.

This will involve a review of the existing rates, assessing their operational efficiency, financial sustainability, and effectiveness in achieving the City’s goals. We will compare the City’s structure with those of similar municipalities to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Ultimately, this task will identify alternative rate structures or modifications to the City’s existing solid waste and recycling rates that could improve equity and/or better achieve City objectives.

The City’s RFP indicates that the City desires for its selected consultant to develop and analyze up to four alternatives that includes variable garbage rate, variable organics rate, variable recyclables rates, special rate, variable street sweeping rates, and to estimate the City’s cost to provide the billing service for each rate structure. We should note that, most commonly, the simplest and most straight forward rate and billing service is the most practical, and that we believe that significant variance from the City’s current rate structure and billing approach will not likely be practical in this case. Our approach will include exploring and assessing various alternative rate structures. This task involves assessing the impacts on different customer classification.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Memorandum discussing rate structure review and alternatives, including R3’s recommendations and discussing the pros and cons of different rate structure and billing options and their general impacts on different types of customers.
› Virtual meeting with City staff to discuss memorandum and affirm direction regarding rate structure to be applied in this Study.

B. PROPOSED PROJECT

APPROACH

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8 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of rate structure review and alternatives the week of August 4, 2025. › Completion of rate structure review and alternatives (including a virtual meeting with City staff) the week of September 1, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Feedback regarding rate structure review and alternatives and R3’s recommendations.

Task 4 Financial Analysis and Projections
Objectives
Develop 10 years of financial projections for operating expenses and revenues necessary to fund operating expenses and appropriate fund reserves. Allocate costs of service to the various customer classes and rate categories to support the recommended rate structure and demonstrate that proposed rates reasonably reflect the cost of providing service and are fair and equitable to all customer classes.

Description
Using line-item budget information, operating reserve balances, and other information provided by the City, R3 will construct an Excel-based financial model that will project revenues and expenses over a 10-year planning period and provide for the evaluation of rate adjustments, including cost-of-service rate adjustments for various City refuse and street sweeping operations and services.

This task involves documenting current financial baselines, including applicable revenue and expense line items, fund reserves, capital cost estimates, and other relevant data. It is anticipated that this information will, with appropriate adjustments, form the “basis for projections” over the planning period.

R3 will prepare expense projections of the City’s expenditures over the planning period. This task will build on the “basis for projections” established per the above. In developing these projections, R3 will coordinate with appropriate City staff, as necessary, to review the historical expenditures and discuss the assumptions, conditions, and trends affecting the projections. The format for these projections will correspond with the City’s existing accounting records.

R3 will assume that a “cash-basis” accounting system is used, whereby expenditures will be included in the fiscal year in which they occur.

R3 will also develop a plan for capital equipment purchases and operational changes, which is anticipated to include:
capital replacement of trucks, carts, and bins; purchase of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) to meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which requires government agencies in the State to replace vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) in certain quantities over a certain time period. R3 has assisted several other local government solid waste operations with estimated and projected costs of transitioning to ZEVs and will develop a funding model for the City as part of the financial analysis.

Revenue projections will be prepared for the planning period. These projections will account for rate-related and non- rate-related revenue (interest income, bond proceeds, grants, sale of assets, development fees, recycling revenues, etc.) as identified by the City. Rate revenue projections will be based on current rates, which will then be adjusted as part of the rate modeling and analysis performed.

R3 will review the City’s reserve accounts to determine whether each reserve’s balance is appropriate regarding the reserve’s purpose. We will review proposed equipment purchases and the impacts of different funding mechanisms.

The rate model will be constructed so that rates are sufficient to generate the necessary reserve funds over the planning period and account for the utilization of those reserves as necessary to fund the associated expenses as they are expected to incur.

R3 will include in the rate study a review of funding options for SB 1383 implementation. This will include developing a revenue plan to help ensure that the City meets the State’s recycling mandates, primarily the requirement of SB 1383. R3 has helped dozens of agencies establish funding plans to meet SB 1383 requirements and will be able to bring best practices, proportionate estimates, and other approaches to bear in completing this portion of the financial analysis cost-effectively for the City.

B. PROPOSED PROJECT

APPROACH

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9 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
Meetings and Deliverables
› Periodic virtual meetings with City staff to seek responses to clarifying questions, to share initial results, and to solicit feedback regarding the 10-year financial plan and forecast details. › Detailed 10-year financial plan and projections in Excel format for the City’s review and future use.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of financial analysis and projections the week of August 4, 2025. › Completion of financial analysis and projections the week of September 29, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Participation in periodic (i.e., bi-weekly) remote meetings to respond to clarifying questions and provide feedback on initial results.

Task 5 Rate Calculations and Recommendations
Objectives
Develop five years of recommended rate calculations to cover operating expenses and appropriate fund reserves.

Rate calculations will demonstrate that proposed rates reasonably reflect the cost of providing service and are fair and equitable to all customer classes. The rate model will be prepared and provided to the City in Excel spreadsheet format. The model’s construction will be documented in a manner that allows the City to understand the formulas which are used, and how variables affect rate calculations. The City will be able to use the model in the future to evaluate actual performance against projections and to make adjustments as necessary. The model will be the property of the City and may be used by the City for any purpose. Recommended rates will be in conformance with applicable laws, including the provisions of Proposition (Prop.) 218. R3 will take direction as appropriate from the City’s legal counsel regarding the applicability of court cases interpreting these provisions, and court cases concerning the effects of Proposition on tiered rate structures.

Description
The various revenue and expense projections developed in the prior task will be used to construct the rate model and other agreed-upon capabilities and components (e.g., revenue and expense allocations, rates and service levels, vehicle replacement schedules, cost-of-service comparisons, etc.). The rate model will be developed using Excel and will provide a means to evaluate various rate adjustment scenarios, including the required cost-of-service rate adjustments. The rate model is also intended to serve as a tool for the City as part of its ongoing review and analysis of rates. To that end, the rate model will provide the ability to update financial projections and other underlying assumptions annually. The rate model will summarize the City’s current rate structure, operating expenses, capital costs, revenue streams, reserve funds, and projected financial performance over the 10-year planning period.

R3 will analyze various rate adjustment scenarios. As directed by the City, those scenarios can account for the cost of revenue-neutral service adjustments, combined with overall rate adjustments sufficient to fund the City’s annual operating costs and capital and landfill operating reserves.

Rate adjustment scenarios may include:
› A single rate adjustment that will restructure rates and satisfy the revenue requirement over a set planning period without a need additional adjustment (i.e., no additional annual indexed adjustments). › A single rate adjustment that will restructure rates and satisfy the revenue requirement over the set planning period, with additional planned annual CPI indexed adjustments. › Consistent annual rate adjustments over a set amount of time to gradually introduce the rate structure changes. › Periodic rate adjustments (e.g., every two or three years). › Others to be discussed with the City.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Periodic virtual meetings with City staff to seek responses to clarifying questions, to share initial results, and to solicit feedback regarding the 5-year rate calculations and alternatives › Five-year rate calculations and alternatives in Excel format for the City’s review and future use.

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Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of rate calculations and projections the week of August 4, 2025. › Completion of rate calculations and projections the week of September 29, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Participation in periodic (i.e., bi-weekly) remote meetings to respond to clarifying questions and provide feedback on initial results.

Task 6 Operations Efficiency and Performance Review (Optional and Recommended)
Objectives
Review the City’s refuse operations to establish findings and recommendations regarding potential efficiency and operational improvements and/or to document existing efficiencies and performance trends already established by the City.

Description
R3 understands that the City’s refuse operations are at a significant deficit of revenues to expenses, and that as a result, the City will likely need to consider higher-than-normal rate increases, earlier than expected. Given these circumstances, and based on R3’s experience helping other municipal refuse operations navigate similar circumstances in the past, we believe it will become necessary to document and demonstrate how the City’s refuse operations are performing effectively and efficiently.

Via this optional (but highly recommended) task, R3 will conduct a review of the City’s refuse operations to establish findings and recommendations regarding how the City’s refuse operations can improve efficiency and performance to the benefit of rate payers. Ideally, this exercise will identify the ways in which the City’s refuse operations have already implemented high-efficiency and high-performance measures, in which case this task will benefit the project by documenting these existing measures. If the review does identify potential areas for performance and/or efficiency improvements, our intention is to disclose those to the City early in this process, so that the financial projections and rate calculations from other tasks will benefit from their implementation.

This task may include, but is not necessarily limited to, a review of the following items:
› Efficiency of collection operations, including an analysis of routes, and schedules, and alternatives that may increase efficiency and/or cost-effectiveness.
› Field observations/route audits of the City’s residential and commercial collection services, including driver start and end times, off route times, and visual inspections of residential and commercial routes before and after collection to evaluate cart and bin placement, cleanliness of streets. › Missed pickup records.
› Worker training program(s) and safety metrics.
› Supervisor roles and responsibilities.
› Route to supervisor ratio.
› Other categories that may be identified by discussion between R3 and the City.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Up to three (3) virtual meetings with City staff to conduct interviews and gather and discuss information necessary to complete the operations efficiency and performance review. › One (1) on-site meeting with Division managers, staff, and drivers to conduct interviews and gather and discuss the information necessary to complete the operations efficiency and performance review. › Memorandum describing the results of the operations efficiency and performance review, including pertinent findings and recommendations that may be considered by the City in conjunction with financial projections and rate calculations.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of operations efficiency and performance review the week of August 4, 2025. › Completion the week of September 29, 2025.

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City Staff Involvement
› In conducting this task, we will meet with management and supervisors of the City and review the structure and staffing of their management and administrative systems and operations. We may also interview various front-line staff through a combination of in-person or virtual meetings depending on schedule and availability.

Task 7 Public Workshops
Objectives
Attend up to four meetings (afternoon and evening) with the Hanford City Council at work sessions to present the interim status of the study, preliminary and final report and obtain their input. Develop a PPT presentation summarizing key findings, alternatives, and draft rate recommendations. Conduct a workshop to present the findings and input from the Hanford City Council and the public. Input received from the Hanford City Council, staff, the public, and others should be incorporated in final recommendations.

Description
R3 will attend up to four public workshops with members of the City Council, City staff, and members of the public to present interim, preliminary, and final Study results. Two R3 staff members will be present at each meeting, with a senior member of the R3 team (likely Garth Schultz) making the public presentation and the second member of the team being present to take notes on feedback and comments from the City Council, staff, and public attendees.

Following the public workshops, R3 will discuss with staff how to address feedback and comments received and will make revisions to financial projections and rate calculations as appropriate to address them.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Attendance at up to four in-person workshop meetings including members of the City Council, City staff, and members of the public regarding interim, preliminary, and final Study results. › One (1) PPT presentation for each meeting summarizing interim, preliminary, and final Study results.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of City Council public workshops the week of September 1, 2025. › R3 anticipates approximately one (1) public workshop per week in September – if public workshops are able to be paired (i.e., to be on the same day, or successive days) the fees for this task will be reduced. › Completion the week of September 29, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› City staff would be responsible for scheduling the public workshops, securing the venue, announcing and noticing the workshops to the Council and the public, providing information technology support for presenting PPT slides, any necessary security, and all other associated “host” functions.

Task 8 Reports
Objectives
Prepare draft and final reports describing the Study purpose, approach, methodology, analysis, findings, and recommendations in compliance with Prop. 218. The report will be sufficient to demonstrate and document how resultant recommendations fulfill the cost-of-service and proportionality requirements of Prop. 218.

Description
R3 will first prepare a draft report describing the Study purpose, approach, methodology, analysis, findings, and recommendations, which will be shared with City staff for review and comment. The report will be revised, as appropriate, in response to written comments provided by City staff, as well as comments received during the aforementioned public workshops. After revision, R3 will prepare a final report which the City should make available for public review, in association with Prop. 218 noticing. The report will be sufficient to demonstrate and document how resultant recommendations fulfill the cost-of-service and proportionality requirements of Prop. 218. R3’s approach to such reports is to strike a balance between the public’s ability to read and understand the reasons that recommended rates are necessary to fund the City’s refuse operation, with the detail necessary to document the validity for those reasons and comply with the requirements of Prop. 218. Put simply, R3’s reports aim to be understandable by members of the public, while still presenting the necessary details that elected leaders will need to rely on in making sound policy decisions.

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Meetings and Deliverables
› Draft and Final Rate Study Report in electronic Word and PDF formats. › Final 10-year financial projections and final recommended 5-year refuse rate calculations, both in Excel format.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of report development the week of September 1, 2025. › Final report completed the week of October 6, 2025.

City Staff Involvement
› Review of draft report and preparation of consolidated written comments.

Task 9 Proposition 218 Notice Design
Objectives
R3 will provide guidance and advice to City staff to ensure compliance with the Prop. 218 process as it applies to solid waste services. R3 will include the design of the Prop. 218 public notice as a service to the City.

Description
Prop. 218 is an amendment to California’s Constitution requiring government agencies and utilities to notify property owners of proposed changes to service rates. A written notice must be sent to property owners 45 days prior to a scheduled public hearing regarding proposed changes. R3 is well-practiced in supporting our clients in a simple, straightforward noticing process. It will provide guidance, support, and recommendations for best practices to the City as it proceeds with a Prop. 218 Noticing process for its solid waste rates. R3 will be responsible for the complete design and language content (in English) for the notice; the City will be responsible for the translation of the language content from English to Spanish, as well as for the addressing, printing, and mailing of the notices. R3 is available to assist the City in securing the translation, printing and mailing services, but we do not provide those services directly.

R3 recommends one notice incorporation both English and Spanish languages, such that only one notice will need to be printed and mailed.

Specifically, the customized notice will include:
› A clear statement about the solid waste rates and reasoning for adjustments. › A brief description of the rate adjustment process and the basis for cost-of-service findings. › A table illustrating the proposed rates - either the most common service or a fully detailed rates table(s), as directed by the City.

R3 Example Prop. 218 Noticing
› Merced County
› City of Redlands
› City of Pomona
Meetings and Deliverables
› Periodic virtual meetings with City staff as necessary to complete notice design. › Up to two (2) rounds of draft notice design development. › One (1) final notice, provided in PDF format, inclusive of English and Spanish languages, with Spanish language translation provided by the City.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› Initiation of Prop. 218 design development the week of September 1, 2025. › Final Prop. 218 notice completed the week of October 6, 2025. › Issuance of final Prop. 218 notice to City’s print, addressing, and mail service provider October 7, 2025. › Target date for mailing of Prop. 218 notices on October 13, 2025.

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City Staff Involvement
› City staff will be responsible for securing and paying for translation of Prop. 218 notice language into Spanish, securing the addresses to which the notices will be mailed, and securing and paying for notice printing mailing services.

Task 10 City Council Public Hearing
Objectives
Attend the Prop. 218 Public Hearing on the rate study and proposed rate adjustments. Remain available to give a summary presentation highlighting key findings and recommendations. Remain available to answer questions at the Hanford City Council’s direction. It is the intent of the City to adopt the rate study and proposed solid waste rates at the conclusion of the Prop. 218 Public Hearing.

Description
R3 is well versed in City Council Prop. 218 Public Hearing processes and has presented outcomes to dozens of such meetings. In preparation for attending the Public Hearing, R3 will provide a PPT presentation for review by City staff and will also assist City staff in preparing the agenda report for the Public Hearing. R3 will be available in advance of the meeting to assist City staff in responding to questions from the City Council and the public.

Meetings and Deliverables
› Attendance at one (1) City Council meeting for the Prop. 218 Public Hearing on recommended five-year refuse rates.
› Draft and Final PPT presentation for the City Council meeting.

Tentative Timeline and Completion Date
› City Council meeting with Prop. 218 Notice Public Hearing on December 2, 2025. Backup date of December 16, 2025 if new recommended refuse rates are to be effective January 1, 2026. › Overall dates and timeline of project can shift if necessary, though our understanding is that new refuse rates to adequately fund City’s refuse operations are critically necessary and therefore should be implemented for effectiveness as soon as possible.

City Staff Involvement
› City staff will be responsible for gathering, reviewing, and counting number of valid protests and preparing staff report and resolution/ordinance.

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C. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

KEY TEAM

MEMBERS

PROPOSED

ROLE BRIEF BIO
Garth
Schultz
Principal
Project
Manager
Garth brings 20+ years of solid waste management experience in both the private and public sectors. He will provide team oversight, rate analysis, and leadership to this project.

Garth will be the person of primary responsibility for all aspects of the project, including quality control, communications, presentations, engagement with City legal counsel (if necessary), and messaging of rate study outcomes.

Scott
Hanin
Principal
Project
Advisor
Scott has assisted dozens of jurisdictions in the procurement, development, and/or negotiations of their solid waste agreements, as well as financial analyses and rate setting.

As the former Executive Director of RecycleMore and City Manager of the City of El Cerrito, he understands the financial and cost issues at hand and is particularly adept at negotiating solutions that work for all parties.

William
Schoen
Sr. Director
Operations
Analyst
William is an engineer with 30+ years of experience in solid waste operations, rate reviews, financial analyses, and legislative compliance. His expertise lies primarily in strategic planning, service procurement, contract negotiations, operational and performance reviews, conducting rate reviews and setting rates, and long-term financial planning.

Steve
Harriman
Sr. Director
Rate Study &
Operation Review
Analyst
Steve brings a wealth of knowledge, with nearly 35 years of experience in the solid waste industry. Most recently, he served as the Integrated Waste Manager for the City of Rancho Cordova for the past 18 years, which included management of the residential and commercial waste collection franchises including rate setting, administration of various grants, and oversight of the Matthew Kilgore Cemetery.

Jim
Howison
Sr. Managing
Consultant
Financial
Specialist
Jim brings comprehensive experience in rate setting and managing all solid waste financial aspects and services, complex projects, and operations. He provides advice and guidance on future financial plans, as well as reviews of financial reports, monitor accounts, and preparing financial forecasts.

Peggy
Paulsen
Managing
Consultant
Communications
Specialist
With Peggy’s expertise in fine-tuned information design, she regularly develops custom, visually appealing, and easy-to-understand public notices, brochures, graphics, and other various mailers to engage and educate our clients and their communities about new and current solid waste legislation. She is a very energetic and creative person with a keen eye for detail and organization, and leads all marketing and communications efforts for R3.

Katelyn
Scholz
Managing
Consultant
Rate Study &
Operation Review
Analyst
Katelyn has experience in private hauler operations, involving both the deployment of new collection and processing programs, as well as ongoing implementation of contractual obligations. She has helped launch a fully-automated collection fleet, supported the integration of CNG and electric vehicles, and developed cross-departmental processes.

Jordan
Muratsuchi
Sr. Consultant
Rate Study &
Operation Review
Analyst
Jordan is well-versed in working with governmental, business, and community stakeholders. He regularly conducts solid waste rate studies, cost-of-service and other financial analyses, and assists clients in understanding the benefits and drawbacks of their current solid waste collections agreements, specifically with regards to legislation such as AB 341, AB 939, AB 1826, and SB 1383.

Angela
Micheletti
Associate
Consultant
Rate Comparison
Surveying Analyst
Angela provides support on a variety of projects, including financial and rate reviews, policy planning and implementation, and negotiations and procurement assistance. She will leverage her experience in conducting surveys, performing online and in-the-field data research, and compiling and critically analyzing the resulting data and findings for the City.

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Relevant Experience
Garth Schultz
Principal, Project Manager
About
Garth Schultz is the President of R3 and has 20+ years of solid waste management experience in both the public and private sectors. He leads our fee study practice area and is known throughout the state in this area of expertise. Garth is an expert in solid waste and recycling public administration including operations, finances, policy, community outreach, sustainable materials management programs, achievement of local, regional and statewide objectives, and engagement with elected officials. His values are strongly rooted in the ethics of public service, and he is deeply committed to advancing community, environment, and climate change mitigation and adaptation interests.

Garth is skilled in identifying and communicating simple solutions to complex problems and shepherding adoption of public policy outcomes that benefit the community and the environment. As managing partner of R3, he oversees R3’s engagement with 120+ active R3 clients. This provides a clear view of the wide range of approaches that government agencies employ to further their solid waste and recycling goals and objectives. All of this experience and commitment will be leveraged in this engagement with the City.

Education & Certifications
» Master of Public Administration and Public Policy Development, Cal State East Bay » Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, Minor in Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley » Solid Waste Financial Plan and Rate Study | City of Redlands Garth served as the project manager for R3’s engagement with the City of Redlands for completion of a 10-year financial forecast and 4-year rate study for the City’s municipal solid waste collection operations. The engagement started in 2023 and concluded in 2024 with unanimous adoption of recommended solid waste rates billed by the City to residents and businesses for (FY) 2024-25 through FY 2027-28. Prior to completion of the rate study, the City’s rates had not been adjusted in several years such that solid waste rate revenues were not sufficient to cover the costs of providing solid waste services and therefore fund balance was being depleted in order to maintain operations. That set of conditions, combined with the need to fund new organics waste collection programs required by SB 1383, required larger-than-normal rate adjustments amounting to 9% per year for three years. Under Garth’s careful management and direction, R3 and the City presented a thorough and well received financial plan and rate recommendations to the City’s Municipal Utilities/Public Works Commission (over a two meetings that included commissioner feedback and adjustment) and then to the City Council that were then noticed to the community via 45-day Proposition 218 written notice followed by a public hearing and successful adoption of the recommended rates. Garth was the lead presenter to the City Council over the course of two meetings, addressed and answered questions raised by the Council and public, and received praise from City staff for his handling of the overall project. » 5-Year Rate Study | City of Santa Monica
Served as project manager and primary analyst for completing a 10-year financial forecast and 5-year rate study for the City’s Resource Recovery and Recycling Division, a municipal solid waste collection operation. The original engagement started in 2019 and was nearly completed in March of 2020 just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the economic uncertainty associated with the pandemic, the City opted to hold off on completing the rate study, which also meant no adjustments to customer rates for three years, from 2020 through 2022. Consequently, the City’s Resource Recovery and Recycling (RRR) Fund incurred a structural budget deficit of over $10 million per year, which was offset using emergency reserves in the Fund. Additionally, the City’s rate structure included charges that were out of the norm for industry standards, the resolution of which required substantial revisions to the City’s rate structure for commercial and multi-family solid waste customers. Through completion of the 10-year financial forecast and 5-year rate study - which included detailed modeling of the RRR Funds projected revenues, expenses, and rebuilding of emergency reserves - R3 found that rates needed to be immediately increased to keep the RRR Fund from becoming insolvent. R3’s work also identified the key benefits in the form of new and enhanced programs and services that were desired by the community. After many years of work and positive collaboration with City staff, the 5-year rates were unanimously approved the City Council in June of 2023, ensuring the ongoing viability of the City’s municipally operated and much-valued resource recovery and recycling operations. » Solid Waste Rate Studies and Financial Plans | Cities of Folsom, Merced, Roseville, Santa Barbara Served as principal oversight, project director, and strategic advisor to develop multi-year financial forecasts and projections as well as multi-year solid waste rate recommendations. Garth’s role in all such engagements has been to focus on the endgame, namely those activities that need to be accomplished such that the results can be successfully acted on by city management, policy makers, and elected leaders. Such projects always include detailed and thorough reviews of financial information provided, development of multi-year financial projections, and calculation of rate revenue adjustments necessary to sustainably fund the costs of solid waste operations compliant with Proposition 218.

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Relevant Experience
Scott Hanin
Principal, Project Advisor
About
Scott Hanin has more than 35 years of solid waste experience, including serving as the Executive Director of the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority (RecycleMore). Scott was also City Manager for the City of El Cerrito for 17 years, a member agency of RecycleMore. Scott oversaw all aspects of city government including budget development, strategic planning, community engagement, organizational development and restructuring, capital projects, legislative compliance, and oversight of all department heads.

Throughout his career Scott has worked in many related capacities including a recycling outreach coordinator, project manager of buy-back and drop of centers and environmental analyst for the City of New York. In his work as a consultant, Scott has assisted agencies throughout California with all aspects of their solid waste and diversion programs including contract development and management, program design, financial analysis and rate setting. He is currently assisting a number of jurisdictions in developing and evaluating SB 1383 programs and administering the related contract documents.

Education & Certifications
» Master of Public Administration, New York University
» Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, University of Delaware » Franchise Fee Revenue Justification | Various Jurisdictions Scott is providing overall direction and quality assurance for our team’s efforts related to providing fee studies for 20+ public sector clients. He is responsible for conducting cost-recovery analyses, vehicle impact analyses, and property value analyses.

His primary focus is reviewing the current local fees included on solid waste franchises to determine their relationship to actual expenses associated with related activities, vehicle impacts, sanitation fees or value associated with the franchise to help ensure Proposition 218 compliance.
» Assistance with Agreement Assignment | Cities of Cerritos, Downey and San Luis Obispo County Worked with jurisdictions to conduct a review of the financial and operational strength of Athens and Waste Management, including the impact of the assignment on company finances, and to review operations and organizational structure, in order to determine its ability to take over all the responsibilities described in the Franchise Agreements. » Solid Waste Agreement Negotiations and Development | Cities of Clayton, Martinez, Pinole, Suisun City, and Union City Assisting in the review of their current exclusive franchise agreement and developing a new, SB 1383 compliant agreement with the necessary services and requirements.
» Cost-Based Review, Performance Review, and Negotiations | Cities of San Bruno and Union City Assisted the City with their process of negotiating a new solid waste franchise agreement which includes both operational and financial reviews and development of new SB 1383 programs and their evaluation. » Procurement Services | City of Norco, Rancho Cordova, Rosemead and Sebastopol Assisted with the development of an RFP, and a new, SB 1383 compliant agreement. This includes developing schedules, deal points, drafts and presentations for stakeholders as well as City fee development and Proposition 218 compliance. » Assistance with Disposal Agreement Negotiations | City of Los Altos Served as negotiator for the City to assist in securing a new disposal agreement with Republic Services in an effort to ensure disposal capacity, increased diversion and rate stability. » Program Oversight, Development, Negotiation, and Compliance | RecycleMore* In his former role as Executive Director, Scott was primarily responsible for developing programs and public education, negotiating agreements, setting rates, and ensuring regulatory compliance for six jurisdictions. Scott was also responsible for rate setting and negotiating with franchised haulers for new organics program and area wide public information program. *denotes completion with prior organization
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Relevant Experience
William Schoen
Sr. Director, Operations Analyst
About
William Schoen is an engineer with 30+ years of solid waste operational and consulting experience. His expertise lies primarily in conducting rate studies, rate reviews and setting rates, operational and performance reviews, strategic planning, service procurement, contract negotiations, and long-term financial planning. He has also managed recycling and landfill operations and reviewed the finances and operations of numerous municipal and private sector solid waste management operations.

William’s focus is developing recommendations that save money, improve program and operational effectiveness, and improve our clients’ ability to manage their contractors efficiently and effectively. His operational and financial understanding is fundamental to his ability to successfully negotiate new or extended solid waste service contracts and establish fair and reasonable rates for those services.

Education & Certifications
» Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania » Municipal Refuse Rate Studies and Rate Models | Butte County, Folsom, Kings Waste and Recycling Authority, Merced, Pomona, Porterville, Redlands, Sacramento, Tulare, Wasco, and Visalia Managed Refuse Rate Studies, including cost of service rate analysis for multiple cities and regional agencies that operate municipal collection, transfer and/or landfill systems. Projects involved the development of detailed 10-year financial Rate Models in support of the development of 5-Year Rate adjustment Plans. In many cases those models involved cost of service rate analysis, evaluation of rate structure alternatives, public workshops, and Proposition 218 assistance. Many of the Rate Models incorporated operating, capital projects, and vehicle replacement reserve funding at levels designed to meet the jurisdictions associated objectives and requirements.
» Municipal Operational Reviews | Cities of Folsom, Manteca, Merced, Pomona, Porterville, Redlands, Sacramento, Tulare, Wasco, and Visalia
Conducted operations and performance reviews of these cities municipal solid waste collection operations with a goal of improving safety and customer service, and operational and financial performance. Many of those projects included the development of Financial Models and accompanying 5-Year Rate Adjustment Plans in support of those cities short-, medium- and longer-term enterprise fund financial goals.
» Municipal System Safety Program | City of Manteca
Building upon the findings or our Operational Review, the City, engaged R3 to assist it with the enhancement of its Solid Waste Division’s Safety Program. The project included conducting a risk assessment and benchmarking the Division’s safety record against industry standards, drafting a Safety Policy with employee responsibilities, management roles and compliance requirements, developed standard operating procedures, designed a 12-month training program, and established the framework for continuous improvement.
» Franchise Agreement Assistance | Amador, Butte, Plumas, Siskiyou and Sonoma Counties, and dozens of CA cities Over the past 17 years at R3, William has assisted numerous California cities and counties with the management of their franchise agreements and their franchised haulers. Services have included drafting and negotiating new franchise agreements, evaluating contract extension requests, calculating annual rate adjustments, reviewing proposals for new or expanded services, and assessing exclusive and non-exclusive franchise systems. » SB 1383 Edible Food Recovery Capacity Planning and Implementation | Sacramento County (8 incorporated jurisdictions) and Butte County (4 incorporated jurisdictions) Previously managed the preparation of SB 1383 edible food recovery Capacity Plans for Sacramento County and Butte County. Currently assisting both counties and their incorporated jurisdictions with the preparation of required Implementation Schedules, the drafting of an MOU for the management of a coordinated county-wide SB 1383 edible food recovery program (Program), and the development of a year one Program Budget and Work Plan.

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Relevant Experience
Steve Harriman
Sr. Director, Rate Study & Operation Review Analyst
About
Steve Harriman brings 35+ years of experience in the fields of solid waste management and public works infrastructure finance, operations, and maintenance. Steve was a founding member of R3 in 2002, and his career includes significant public and private sector experience.

He served as the Public Works Operations and Maintenance Division Manager for the City of Rancho Cordova for the past 10 years and also served as Integrated Waste General Manager for the City of Sacramento, serving over 125,000 residential solid waste customers. He spent four years in Puerto Rico on a consulting engagement with the Infrastructure Finance Authority, where he worked on the privatization of the island-wide water and sewer utility. Steve started his career as an Associate Solid Waste Planner with the Sacramento County Department of Waste Management and Recycling, where he managed the implementation of the 3-cart residential program for over 165,000 customers.

In 2025, Steve re-joined R3 as a Sr. Director and is focused on assisting agencies with competitive procurement of solid waste services, contract negotiations, program implementation and monitoring, and long-range strategic planning to ensure regulatory compliance and delivery of cost-effective solid waste and street sweeping services.

Education & Certifications
» Master of City Regional Planning, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo » Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Studies and Geography, U.C. Santa Barbara » On-Call Consulting Services | City of Citrus Heights
R3 has supported the City with comprehensive solid was consulting services since 2003, including assistance with management and administration of residential and commercial franchise agreements, implementation of Citywide organics programs to comply with SB 1383, preparation and submittal of electronic annual reports to CalRecycle and long-range strategic planning to comply with future State laws and requirements. Steve is currently assisting with a competitive procurement process for the residential collection franchise, including a comparative analysis of a 2-stream wet/dry collection system versus a traditional 3-stream system. Steve is preparing the RFP and will assist City staff and elected officials with proposal evaluation, negotiation and execution of the franchise agreement, and a potential transition of service providers. » Solid Waste Coordination Services | City of Nevada City The R3 team assists with the management of the City’s solid waste programs, including the design and implementation of the inspection and enforcement of the commercial recycling and organics program, CalRecycle reporting and data verification, and grant implementation and support. R3 is also representing the City in contract negotiations with the exclusive residential and commercial waste hauler. This includes working with City staff and community stakeholders to identify programs and services necessary to comply with State Law and meet the needs of the residents and businesses. Steve is assisting in the negotiations, including reviewing and analyzing rate proposals, drafting contract language to reflect negotiated requirements and programs, and preparation of the City Council staff report and presentation for execution of the new franchise agreement. » Solid Waste Consulting Services | Various Jurisdictions Steve was the project manager and/or lead analyst for various solid waste consulting engagements for over twenty- five California local agencies. The engagements included competitive procurement of solid waste services, design and implementation of recovery programs and facilities, detailed analysis and comparison of program alternatives, rate setting and evaluation, grant administration, and community outreach and engagement. Steve has delivered multiple presentations to elected officials and facilitated numerous public meetings, surveys and community stakeholder engagements. Steve has also managed Prop 218 notification and public hearing processes and led performance audits and compliance reviews of various solid waste collection and processing operations. His role in these consulting engagements included providing guidance and support to public agency staff in implementing policy objectives, securing additional resources to fulfill solid waste and recycling program mandates, and improving organizational functionality to increase efficiency and effectiveness. » Integrated Waste Manager | City of Rancho Cordova*
In his former role, Steve was responsible for all aspects of the City’s residential and commercial solid waste programs, including planning and implementation of programs to achieve compliance with State laws. He negotiated and managed solid waste collection franchise agreements, including rate setting and compliance tracking for diversion and reporting requirements.

He recently managed the competitive procurement process for the City’s residential solid waste collection and street sweeping franchise, resulting in a transition of service providers with competitive rates and improved programs and services. In his role with the City, Steve regularly collaborated with various internal and external stakeholders, including public officials, regulatory agencies, private waste contractors and community members. *denotes completion with prior organization
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Relevant Experience
Jim Howison
Sr. Managing Consultant, Financial Specialist
About
Jim Howison brings comprehensive experience in planning and managing all financial aspects and services, complex projects, and operations for solid waste companies. He is well-versed in devising and executing strategies, overseeing accounting operations, producing reports, increasing efficiency, assessing financial performance and risk, managing audits and internal control processes. Jim provides advice and guidance to management on future financial plans, as well as reviews of financial reports, monitor accounts, and prepare financial forecasts.

Jim demonstrated his abilities at Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery to such an extent that R3 ultimately brought him on board. Jim is recognized for leading and monitoring multi-functional teams and multitasks to achieve desired goals. Skilled at fostering and maintaining professional relationships with clients and enhancing process, performance, productivity, efficiency, and organizational growth. He is an out-of-the-box thinker and creative problem-solver with exceptional interpersonal, leadership, communication, and analytical skills.

Education & Certifications
» Master of in Business Administration in Finance, Saint Mary’s College » Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Loyola Marymount University » Cost-Base Rate Study| Union City
Led negotiations during a Cost-Base Rate Study involving a multi-billion hauling entity. The negotiations centered on the quality of the hauling company’s financial controls and a lack of attention to detail causing concerns as to the integrity of the application itself. The review also included the analysis of fixed asset purchases, material processing fees, inter-company accounting practices, and the justification and allowance of legal expenses related to multiple class-action litigations. The result was a material reduction in the rate increase and a savings to the City and its residents in excess of $2.2 million annually. Total savings to the City and its residents over ten-years is over $26 million. » Negotiation Assistance | City of Clayton
Managed the financial review of the City of Clayton’s rate negotiations. With extensive experience in accounting and finance saved the residents and business of Clayton in excess of $1 million over the term of the contract. This was achieved through recognition of accounting/finance practices not in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and industry standards. The City Manager personally thanked Jim for his contribution to the process. » RFP Process | City of Pomona
Presented in sub-committees and at the City Council meeting to list the pros and cons of Pomona outsourcing its solid waste management program. The discussions entailed logistical issues of future requirements concerning alternative fueled garbage trucks, implementation issues, and operational limitations specific to municipality ran operations. » 2024-2025 Detailed Rate Reviews | City of Mill Valley (on behalf of MVRS Franchisors) Jim is building on past successes by taking the lead on the Mill Valley 2023 Detailed Rate Review. The review requires the appropriate estimation of revenue and cost projections, which are then used to calculate rate increase for ten different jurisdictions. The review also includes changes in routes related to MSW, Organics, and Recycling materials. The purchase of fixed assets and the appropriate useful life to ensure fair cost recovery for the hauler, while still protecting rate payers from excessive rate increases. Jim also represents R3 at City Council meetings, and any meetings require agency staff. » Financial Analysis on Hauling Companies Audited Financial Statements | City of Santa Barbara Analyzed and performed an extensive financial analysis on the hauling company’s audited financial statements. The objectives included: (1) Determining financial soundness of the company; (2) Noting any unusual activity; (3) Determining the liquidity or cash-flow health of the organization; and, (4) drawing a conclusion, based on a financial, economic, and accounting interpretation as to changes in the year-over-year audited financial statement. » Performance Review and Special Rate Review | City of Santa Rosa Led the financial analysis of a detailed rate review including an in-depth examination of compensation and fixed asset accounting. The result was a decrease in the proposed rate increase of 58.04%, resulting in a multi-million dollar savings for ratepayers. The rate adjustment was reduced from 7.45% to 3.44%. » Financial Analysis | City of Lakeport
Led the financial review of a small family ran garbage company and issues brought forth due to internal and external factors impacting the rate study. Became part of the Team that led discussions with City Official on alternative rate increasing mechanism resulting in a mutual agreed upon rate setting methodology between City Staff and the hauling company.

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Relevant Experience
Peggy Paulsen
Managing Consultant, Communications Specialist
About
Peggy Paulsen is an experienced and certified Marketing & Communications Director, bringing twelve years of experience in organizing data, brand management, social media engagement, designing and maintaining company websites, and producing professional services proposals.

She is a very energetic and creative person with a keen eye for detail and organization, and leads all marketing and communications efforts for R3 and contributes to the growth, leadership, and overall strategic direction of the organization.

With her expertise in fine-tuned information design, Peggy regularly collaborates to develop visually appealing, easy-to-understand graphics and outreach materials to help engage and educate communities about new legislation such as AB 1826 and SB 1383.

She designs customizable forms, brochures, newsletters, and presentations, as well as personalized maps, infographics and logos, and event posters and flyers. Additional areas of expertise includes report and presentation organization, creation, preparation, and execution, quality assurance, and social media marketing.

Education & Certifications
» Bachelor of Business Administration, Emphasis on Communications, National University » Certified Professional Services Marketer, Society for Marketing Professional Services » Proposition 218 Public Noticing | Cities of Hercules, Lakeport, Monterey Park, Pomona, Redlands, Rosemead, Sonoma, and Vallejo; Counties of Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Merced; Town of Loomis Peggy has provided guidance, support, and recommendations for best practices for various jurisdictions with their required Proposition 218 public noticing process for its solid waste rate increases - regarding SB 1383 requirements and associated rate adjustments. Peggy has drafted a wide variety of custom notices, depending on community demographics and needs, ranging from simplified postcards to fully-detailed 8-page booklets with four languages. » SB 1383 Implementation and On-Call Assistance | City of Citrus Heights Collaborated on the development of SB 1383 outreach and educational material. She also recently designed and created the public Proposition 218 notice. This resulted in a full bleed, full color postcard, and was delivered to 25,000 residential accounts. The public hearing for the solid waste rate increase was held in January 2022, and was approved with less than 50 protests. In addition, she updated the City’s website, to educate and engage customers to sign up for organic collection. » Solid Waste Coordination Services | Town of Loomis
For the past two years, our team has supported the Town with various solid waste coordination services, including a review of compliance, reporting, and administration of the Town’s solid waste programs. As a part of this engagement, Peggy provided outreach support to the Town for their mandatory Proposition 218 Noticing process, and currently, she is developing a customized Food Waste Prevention At Home flyer for display in Town Hall and for distribution to the community. » Various On-Call Consulting Services | City of Rancho Cordova Recently supported the implementation of outreach and education efforts for ABs 341, 1826, and SB 1383 to all covered generators and residents. She designed the Alternative Service Compliance and Exemption Waiver, crafted new SB 1383-compliant website language, and reviewed the City’s Annual Outreach Plan for clarity and conciseness. » SB 1383 Program Development and Public Outreach | Nevada County & City of Grass Valley Assisted in distinguishing the similarities and differences between the responsibilities of County and City, and combining into an easy-to-read, comprehensive report, as they relate to an SB 1383 program and implementation plan that will fulfill legislative compliance. She also updated website language and aimed to educate and engage the County’s and City’s target audience to be following Article 4 of SB 1383 requirements. For the City of Grass Valley, she designed and provided content for an entirely new solid waste page on the City’s website. » 2024 Zero Waste Plan Update (ZWPU) | City of Santa Monica Building on the ZWPU provided by R3 in 2019, our team was re-engaged for the next update. Our team is currently devising new initiatives and strategies for consideration by the City and their Sustainability Commission. Peggy is building the public- facing document from scratch, creating all design elements by hand and incorporating City branding and imagery. She is reviewing all content for clear themes and concise storytelling and is responsible for the overall aesthetic and messaging. » SB 1383 Compliance and On-Call Assistance | San Benito County Our team is currently assisting with comprehensive support in all aspects of their waste management program. Peggy provided support in the form of collateral creation for county-wide distribution. She designed an organics facility map, illustrating locations and providing contact information for county-approved facilities; a “Donating Extra Food” sticker, with information on how businesses can be a part of ongoing edible food recovery efforts; and also provided content for social media posts.

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Relevant Experience
Katelyn Scholz
Managing Consultant, Analytical Support
About
Katelyn Scholz has worked in the solid waste industry for 13+ years, with a background in deploying innovative recycling, composting and waste reduction programs. She has experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors, forging meaningful partnerships to advance sustainability goals. In her previous role at Mill Industries, she led the start up’s municipal partnerships where she assessed opportunities for the new technology in community settings, project managed pilot programs, and served as the company’s solid waste subject matter expert.

Prior to Mill Industries, Katelyn worked for the GreenWaste Recovery family of companies.

She began working with GreenWaste of Palo Alto where she oversaw and coordinated the implementation of public education and outreach programs, conversion to fully-automated collection routes, and extension of collection agreements. As she moved to the corporate office, she became responsible for companywide sustainability practices and impactful community engagement. She also led business development, including responses to public procurements, and oversaw contract management for multiple municipal agreements.

As Managing Consultant for R3, Katelyn provides important support on a variety of solid waste management projects, including contract negotiations, drafting of agreements, analysis of collection fleets, grants management, and SB 1383 implementation.

Education & Certifications
» Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo » Operational Review and Fee Study | City of Glendale
As an element of the study, Katelyn analyzed the City’s refuse fleet to understand challenges and impacts associated with converting to a fully electric collection fleet. This work included cost projections, evaluation of comparable vehicles, and considering space required for a charging depot and route operations impacts. She researched Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) implications on the City’s fleet, including potential waiver eligibility and available compliance pathways. » Rate Study | City of Palo Alto
Katelyn has been assisting with an evaluation of the City’s existing refuse rate model, current refuse rates, revenue and expense projections, and cost distributions across sectors. Currently, she is helping develop rate adjustment scenarios that are sufficient to fund the City’s annual operating costs, which include funding for the City’s collection and processing contracts. » Negotiation Support | City of Woodland
Recently completed contract negotiations for the City Woodland, a scope that included writing a new Agreement that prioritized measurable performance standards for the contractor covering customer service, operations, and public education. Notable deal points within the negotiation included the rollout of new technology to enforce overages and contamination, incorporating street sweeping services as a contractor-provided service, a new curbside HHW service, and rate adjustments to account for these new programs.
» Various On-Call Consulting Services | City of Rancho Cordova Currently supporting the City with residential and commercial agreement administration, which includes conferring with the hauler and regularly meeting with City staff. Katelyn conducts planning, tracking and implementation on behalf of the City for SB 1383 Implementation Grants, City County Payment Program, and other applicable CalRecycle Grant Programs. She is coordinating with staff to develop new processes for better tracking of program compliance and successful waste diversion. » Solid Waste Coordination Services | Town of Loomis
Katelyn has been supporting the Town’s Construction & Demolition Debris Recycling program and managing the Town’s procurement agreement with Desert View Power for procurement compliance attributes. She is also coordinating with the Town’s hauler to update reporting templates and protocols, and analyze disposal and diversion tonnage. Katelyn is currently negotiating a solid waste collection contract extension to provide for ongoing compliance with SB 1383, memorialize services provided in the field, and improve efficiency and diversion of services provided. She is also conducting planning, tracking, and implementation for SB 1383 Implementation Grants and the City County Payment Program.

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Relevant Experience
Jordan Muratsuchi
Sr. Consultant, Rate Study & Operation Review Analyst
About
Jordan Muratsuchi has 10 years of solid waste, recycling, and community engagement experience. Prior to joining R3, he was the Executive Director of an environmental 501c(3) nonprofit focused on waste management and community engagement. He combines his fiscal awareness with a diverse comprehension of environmental management.

As Sr. Consultant for R3, Jordan combines his strong analytical skills with regulatory knowledge to develop cost-effective programs for clients. He is solution-focused and well-versed in working with governmental, business, and community stakeholders and clients. He regularly conducts rate studies, cost-of-service and other financial analyses, and assists clients in understanding the benefits and drawbacks of their current solid waste collections agreements, specifically with regards to legislation such as AB 341, AB 939, AB 1826, and SB 1383. Jordan is solution-minded and strives to tailor results to the unique conditions of individual communities.

Education & Certifications
» Master of Science, Natural Resources & Environmental Management, University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa » Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering (Environmental Concentration), University of Michigan » Certified Manager of Zero Waste, Solid Waste Association of North America » Solid Waste Rate Study | City of Tulare
Currently conducting a solid waste rate study as a follow up to R3’s previous rate study with the City that resulted in cost- effective rates and supplied the City with sufficient resources for the past seven (7) years, beyond the proposed 5-year rate schedule. This engagement will produce a 10-year financial rate model for City use, including an updated 5-year schedule of rates that will provide the best value to ratepayers while continuing to ensure financial sustainability for the solid waste enterprise fund.
» Solid Waste Rate Study | City of Porterville
Assisted the City by conducting a rate study for the City, involving the creation of a 10-year financial model for the City’s solid waste enterprise fund. Analyzing various rate adjustment scenarios that will allow the City to generate enough revenue for financial sustainability of its enterprise fund and ensuring a sufficient amount of reserve funds while being mindful of potential impacts to rate payers.
» Solid Waste Rate Study | City of Merced
Currently developing a 10-year financial rate model for the City’s solid waste enterprise fund, including a 5-year rate plan that will ensure financial sustainability and the best value for rate payers. This engagement has involved working with staff to identify and incorporate costs into the rate model, while maintaining sufficient resources for unexpected fund incurrences. » Solid Waste Rate Study | City of Wasco
Developed a 10-year financial rate model for the City’s solid waste enterprise fund, including a 5-year rate plan that will ensure financial sustainability and the best value for rate payers. Additionally, he assisted with SB 1383 compliance and budgeting for the additional costs incurred by unfunded state mandates. » Solid Waste Regional Rate Setting | 10 Agencies within San Luis Obispo County Currently developing a regional-scale rate application methodology for 10 agencies within the County and their franchised hauler. This engagement will produce a single rate setting methodology combining all 10 agencies, replacing the current rate setting manual developed in 1994 which has been independently applied to each agency. The new regional rate setting will be simpler, incorporate new industry standards, stabilize rate adjustments, and overall lead to a more transparent process. » Solid Waste Rate Study | City of San Luis Obispo
Conducted a full solid waste rate study for the City, including a detailed (base year) rate review, cost-of-service analysis, and analysis of legal liability. Additionally, he redeveloped the City’s Solid Waste Rate Setting Manual, originally created in 1994, to modernize and streamline it with the anticipated product ensuring a straight-forward rate setting process. » 2025 Base Year Rate Review | City of Union City
In the process of completing a review of the base year rate applications from the City’s two haulers to ensure logical consistency, mathematical accuracy, and conformance with the rate setting methodology and franchise agreements. Provided recommendations which resulted in an adjusted rate increase which was less than initially requested.

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Relevant Experience
Angela Micheletti
Associate Consultant, Rate Comparison Surveying Analyst About
Angela Micheletti combines her background in geology with her passion for research and data analysis to work with local governments in reducing and better managing their waste streams.

She has a strong background in assessing environmental impacts, engaging others in action - without hindering performance - to obtain measurable results. She is research-oriented and focused on providing client-centered service, accurate collection of data, and high-quality report writing.

As Associate Consultant for R3, Angela provides important support on a variety of solid waste management projects, including policy planning and implementation, grant reporting, negotiations and procurement, financial and rate reviews, as well as assisting jurisdictions with incorporating state regulations into their solid waste contracts. Additionally, she has conducted surveys, performed online and in-the-field data research, and has compiled and critically analyzed the resulting data and findings for our clients and their communities.

Education & Certifications
» Bachelor of Science in Geology, University of California, Davis » Rate Study | Cities of Clayton, Rialto, Rosemead, Santa Clara and Santa Barbara Angela conducted a solid waste rate study for various cities across California. The rate study includes an analysis of the surrounding jurisdictions’ rates for comparison and rate adjustment scenarios. After comparing rates of nearby jurisdictions, she provided the cities with a financial model to present to City Council(s). » Negotiation Support and Options | County of Santa Clara Assisted the County with an extensive review of the proposals submitted for the County’s facilities and was involved with the interview process. As a part of the RFP process, she read through proposals to help provide key-determining factors of each hauler and if they would cover all the aspects the County required in the RFP. She also conducted a rate survey by researching surrounding jurisdictions garbage collection rates and helped determine recommendations for the next steps While negotiations for the new hauler were underway, she begun work on an Outreach project that educated the facilities’ staff on the three-container system and the importance of recycling. » Franchise Fee Revenue Justification | Various Jurisdictions In R3’s franchise fee justification studies, Angela’s primary focus is on the development of the property value analyses.

She has assisted with the cost-recovery analyses, vehicle impact analyses, and research of the jurisdiction’s solid waste program management. In her analysis, she has focused on the franchise fee values in comparison to administration costs.

Based on her analysis, she was able to provide a detailed assessment to the client for defensible justification as well as recommendations for how the client should proceed.
» On-Call Solid Waste Consulting Services| City of Rancho Cordova Supporting the City with CalRecycle grant reporting, edible food recovery support, electronic annual report assistance, recordkeeping of the implementation record, and commercial agreement administration. She regularly communicates with the City in monitoring grant expenditures and follows up with grant projects to ensure progress is being made. She has completed the 2022 and 2023 EAR for the City which includes gathering data from all exclusive and non-exclusive garbage haulers and consolidating various program descriptions.
» Solid Waste Coordination Services | Town of Loomis
Over the past two years, our team has supported the Town with solid waste coordination services, including review of compliance, reporting, and administration of their solid waste programs. As a part of this engagement, Angela assisted with CalRecycle grant reporting and administration of grant funding. She has completed the electronic annual report for the Town and attends regular solid waste group meetings representing Loomis. As part of the meetings, she collaborates with other Placer County jurisdictions’ to develop outreach methods and materials to the County. » 2023 Rate Setting | City of San Rafael (on behalf of Marin Franchisors Group) Angela conducted a solid waste rate study for the City on behalf of the Marin Franchisors Group. This study included an analysis of the surrounding jurisdictions’ rates for comparison. The comparison consisted of financial models of the residential and commercial rates from each jurisdiction. She ensured the material was presented with accuracy and consistency with industry standards.

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D. RELATED EXPERIENCE

1. City of Tulare
R3’s Specific Involvement: Full Service Solid Waste Operations and Financial Consultant

Project Dates Proposed Cost Final Cost
December 2016 - February 2018 $139,480 $136,580
April 2024 - May 2025 $ 80,000 $ 80,000
Project Description
Rate Model and Financial Planning
R3 developed a rate model for the City that is user-friendly, Excel-based, and made to be used as a tool to project the City’s costs over an extended planning period (e.g., 1-5 and 6-10 years) and account for, among other things, timely vehicle replacement and other future capital costs. This information was used to help set rates that are sufficient to support an “industry standard” solid waste collection operation for the City. The rate model was also used to project the cost of service of the City’s residential, commercial, roll-off and street sweeping operations, and set cost of service rates. R3 established cost-of-service rates that comply with Proposition 218 and supported the City’s compliance with Proposition 218 public noticing and hearing requirements.

Collection Operations Review
For this task, R3 evaluated how the City currently provides solid waste services, and including assessing collection productivity, management and administration, and data tracking and reporting. R3 provided recommendations covering a wide range of issues including vehicle routing, staffing, safety, vehicle maintenance, and customer service in support of improving the overall performance of the City’s municipal solid waste management system.

Solid Waste Rate Study
R3 was engaged by the City to perform a solid waste rate study (Study). The purpose of the Study was to develop a recommended five-year rate adjustment schedule for the City’s Solid Waste Division (Division) that generates adequate revenue to fund the Division’s operations over the next five years.

R3 completed a similar study for the City in 2017 that provided recommended rate adjustments through fiscal year 2022/23, which the City implemented. As part of this Study, a “cost of service” analysis was conducted to assess the extent to which the rates for each of the following Division lines of business cover the associated expense: Residential, Commercial, and Roll-Off.

2. City of Redlands
Mr. Chris Boatman, Assistant City Manager
P.O. Box 3005, Redlands, CA 92373
909.798.7510 | [email protected]
R3’s Specific Involvement: Full Service Solid Waste Operations and Financial Consultant

Project Dates Proposed Cost Final Cost
May 2023 - December 2024 $106,875 $106,875
Ms. Trisha Whitfield, Public Works Director
3981 S. K Street, Tulare, CA 93274
559.684.4320 | [email protected]
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Project Description
Solid Waste Financial Plan and Rate Study
R3 prepared a financial plan and rate study for the Solid Waste Service Enterprise Fund, analyzing and forecasting necessary expenses and revenues. The study revealed that solid waste service rates had not been adjusted since October 2021, leading to the depletion of reserve balances to maintain current service levels.

Without rate adjustments, reserves would be exhausted by the end of FY 2025-26, jeopardizing service levels starting FY 2026-27. R3 recommended annual rate adjustments of 9% for the next three years (2025, 2026, 2027) and a 4% adjustment in 2028 to ensure financial stability and compliance with state regulations, including SB 1383, which mandates programs to reduce organic waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

The methodology included detailed reviews of current and projected revenues and expenses, with projections accounting for inflationary increases in costs such as labor, fuel, recycling, composting, and disposal. The study also emphasized the need for new expenses to comply with SB 1383, including funding for additional programs to achieve full compliance. The proposed rate adjustments aimed to proportionately allocate costs among different customer types and service levels, ensuring that the Solid Waste Fund remains financially stable while maintaining service levels and compliance with state regulations.

3. City of Santa Monica
Ms. Yvonne Yeung, Resource Recovery and Recycling Manager 2500 Michigan Ave, Building 9, Santa Monica, CA 90404
310.458.8552 | [email protected]
R3’s Specific Involvement: Project Manager, Primary Consultant Project Dates Project Cost Final Cost
December 2018 - December 2023 $364,575 $362,663
Project Description
R3 was previously engaged by the City to conduct an Operational Analysis, Rate Study and Zero Waste Plan Update for the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division (RRR Division)’s municipally operated solid waste collection and recycling operations. The primary objective of this project is to determine how to continue achieving the City’s long-term sustainability goals and initiatives while preserving the health of the RRR Enterprise Fund.

R3 was the lead of a multi-consultant team (Sloan Vazquez McAfee, HDR, and Abbe & Associates) who conducted the following six primary tasks for this engagement:
› Staffing, Routing and Vehicle Efficiency Analysis
› Billing Audit
› Technology & Systems Review
› Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan Review & Update
› Rate Study & Financial Analysis
› Community Engagement Plan Development
By working closely with the City and engaging its ratepayers through a robust community outreach process, the R3 team provided recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its solid waste operations.

R3 completed a rate study to ensure ongoing funding of City’s entire solid waste program, including Zero Waste programming and State compliance. This engagement included the following components:

Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan Review and Update
The R3 Team assisted the City in updating its 2014 Zero Waste Plan and recommending additional strategies to further the City’s progress towards its goal of achieving 95% diversion by 2030 in the event that current strategies are not sufficient, or if the Zero Waste goal is determined to no longer be realistic for the City.

For this task, R3 took a data-driven approach to assessing the City’s progress toward achieving its Zero Waste goals by using multiple measurable metrics including, but not limited to: tonnage of waste disposed and diverted; the diversion rate; total pounds per person per day (PPD) and CalRecycle diversion rate equivalent; estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions; customer participation; and AB 341 and 1826 commercial recycling D. RELATED EXPERIENCE

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compliance. Based on these metrics, the R3 Team projected Citywide disposal through 2030 to determine if the City is on track to meet its 95% diversion goal and recommend strategies to enhance the effectiveness of current programs or implement new programs that will cost-effectively increase diversion. For each zero waste strategy recommendation, the R3 Team provided the City with an analysis of estimated additional diversion and implementation costs.

Rate Study and Rate Model
The R3 Team determined the sustainability of the City’s current rate structure to continue supporting solid waste operations without depleting the City’s RRR Enterprise Fund, which receives 90% of its revenue from solid waste operations. The R3 Team conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Fund’s financial forecast, revenues, and expenditures for solid waste and recycling operations over a 10-year planning period and assisting the City in transitioning from line-item to program-based budgeting.

For this task, the R3 Team developed an Excel-based Rate Model for use by the City to project revenues and expenses, and evaluated the current and future rate adjustment options, including cost-of-service rate options, over an extended planning period. R3 also conducted a Benchmarking Survey of solid waste rates and service of (a minimum of 5) comparable communities, including analysis of how other municipalities have managed the financial impact of Proposition 218.

4. City of Porterville
Mr. Michael Knight, Assistant City Manager
291 N Main Street, Porterville, 93259
559.782.7514 | [email protected]
R3’s Specific Involvement: Full Service Solid Waste Operations and Financial Consultant

Project Dates Proposed Cost Final Cost
July 2020 - October 2023 $208,880 $208,523
Project Description
Solid Waste Rate Study
R3 assisted the City in reviewing their current solid waste operations and associated costs of service, to provide recommendations for improvement on identified areas of opportunity. The City currently conducts solid waste operations in-house, providing residential, commercial, industrial/roll-off, and street sweeping services.

To ensure the financial sustainability and continuation of operations, R3 analyzed the City’s solid waste funds and how operational practices inform the development of a 5-year rate plan that allows the City to generate the revenue required to operate at industry standard levels. Included with this rate plan is a 10-year fully functional excel-based rate model, which will allow the City to project different scenarios and determine the associated rate increases that will be necessary. Additionally, R3 ensured the legality of implementing the new rates by managing the procedural requirements under Proposition 218.

Solid Waste Operational Review
In 2022, R3 was engaged to evaluating how the City currently provides solid waste services, and make recommendations for improving the overall performance of the City’s municipal solid waste management system. The primary objective of this engagement was to review the City’s operations to identify opportunities for improved efficiency and provide recommendations for specific changes to support operations and services on par with generally practiced industry standards. As part of our review, R3 conducted a wide range of tasks, including observing various functions within the operations of the City, including fleet maintenance; observing morning routines and day-to-day operational activities; interviewing personnel in each area of the City (management, supervisor/driver(s), dispatch/customer service); reviewing existing policies and procedures; evaluating existing routes and workloads; and reviewing a wide range of information and data (to the degree available). In considering our findings and recommendations, we encouraged the City to take a measured, organized, and methodical approach to implementing any changes. This includes developing appropriate supporting policies and procedures, providing associated staff training and oversight, and holding staff accountable for performance so that desired changes become standard operating procedures and are sustained.

D. RELATED EXPERIENCE

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5. City of Folsom
Ms. Marie McKeeth, Section Manager, Public Works Department 50 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630
916.351.3353 | [email protected]
R3’s Specific Involvement: Project Manager
Project Dates Proposed Cost Final Cost
June 2017 - October 2019 $98,710 $98,685
Project Description
Solid Waste Operation & 5-Year Rate Study
R3 was recently engaged by the City to conduct a Performance Review of the City’s solid waste operations and conduct a Rate Study. R3’s goals were to identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the City’s solid waste operation, and determine if a rate change was needed to support ongoing services. R3 reviewed all aspects of the City, including the operational practices from pre to post trips, the organizational and management structure of its staff, and City’s existing fleet management and maintenance. Based on the review, specific recommendations were provided to the City regarding areas that needed improvement to achieve higher efficiency and route optimization. Following the review, R3 also assisted the City in the implementation of a number of corrective actions to address deficiencies regarding safety, staffing, policies and procedures, productivity, and accountability. R3 analyzed the City’s solid waste rates and fees to determine if revenues for each program were consistent with the cost of service, and provided the City with five rate structuring scenarios to consider for the implementation of a rate adjustment necessary to meet the City’s revenue goals.

For the Performance Review, R3 conducted a wide range of tasks, including:
› Observed various functions within the operations of the City, including fleet maintenance, morning routines, and day-to-day operational activities.
› Interviewed personnel in each area of the Division (management, driver(s), and dispatch/customer service). › Conducted in-cab ride-along trips with residential and commercial drivers. › Reviewed existing policies and procedures and evaluated existing routes and workloads.

R3 assisted the City with implementing a number of corrective actions to address deficiencies that were identified during the course of the performance review, including the following main issues:
› Safety issues related to pre-trip consistency, overweight vehicles, safety data tracking, driver training, and the development of a solid waste specific safety training program. › Staffing issues including management, analytical support, vehicle mechanic, and route driver positions. › Policy and procedural issues including the development of an operational standards document that concretizes policies and procedures, and a “Safe Driver Observation” Program. › Accountability issues including discipline authority, enforcement of policies and procedures, and morning launch organization for drivers.
› Productivity issues including the fleet replacement schedule, reevaluation of weekend commercial services, time clock and route monitoring tools, routing of residential and commercial collection systems, missed pick- up reporting procedures, performance benchmarking management system, and work schedules. › Fleet management issues, including replacement, expansion, and maintenance of vehicles.

For the Rate Study, R3 developed an Excel-based Rate Model that provided the following key elements:
› Projection of the Division’s revenues and expenses over a 10-year time period, enabling the City to evaluate its annual revenue requirements to meet current expenses and future additional programs or expenses. › Calculation and projection of the rate adjustments needed to meet the City’s target revenues. › Incorporation of a Cost-of-Service Module to track City costs for the residential, commercial and roll-off services, which enabled the City to establish cost-of-service rates for each of its major lines of business.

Additionally, R3 recommended development of an Annual Business Plan that includes setting specific annual goals and objectives for the coming year for the overall Division, and for each of its major lines of business. In support of the development of a Division Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 Business Plan, R3 also provided a list of suggested Division priorities for the next 12 months, listed by priority and ease of implementation.

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Financial /
Rate Studies
Operations /
Performance
Reviews
Legislative
Compliance
Prop 218
Noticing
Various
Consulting
Services
City of Beaumont X X X
City of Burbank X X X
City of Citrus Heights X X X X
City of Concord X X X X
City of Elk Grove X X X X
City of Fairfield X X X
City of Folsom X X X
City of Glendale X X X X
City of Lakeport X X X
City of Los Altos X X X X
City of Menlo Park X X X
City of Merced X X X
City of Pomona X X X X X
City of Porterville X X X X X
City of Redlands X X X X
City of Sacramento X X X X
City of Salinas X X X X
City of San Bruno X X X
City of Santa Clarita X X
City of Santa Monica X X X
City of Stockton X X
City of Tulare X X X X
City of Turlock X X X
City of West Sacramento X X X X
City of Vallejo X X X X X
City of Visalia X X
City of Yuba City X X X
County of Merced X X X X
Sacramento County X X X X
Sonoma County X X X X
Town of Loomis X X X X
Yuba Sutter RWMA X X X
CLIENT

SERVICES
Additional Relevant Project Experience
Since 2002, R3’s project team has developed a unique level of relevant experience and knowledge of solid waste solutions that can help you deliver the programs and policies that your community needs. Our team is proud to have served 120+ clients over the past three years, and below, we have compiled a sample list.

D. RELATED EXPERIENCE

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29 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
E. PROJECT TIMELINE

TASK TENTATIVE

START DATE

TENTATIVE

COMPLETION
DATE

MILESTONE DELIVERABLE CITY-PROVIDED

RESOURCES

1. Investigation and
Data Collection
August 4, 2025 September 1, 2025 Project Initiation N/A N/A

2. Regional Rate
Comparison
August 4, 2025 September 1, 2025
Comparative
Analysis
Excel Workbook
and a Power
Point Presentation
Summary
N/A

3. Rate Structure
Review and
Alternatives
August 4, 2025 September 1, 2025
Select Rate
Structure Approach
Summary Memo N/A

4. Financial Analysis
and Projections
August 4, 2025
September 29,
2025
10-Year Financial
Forecast
Excel Workbook N/A

5. Rate
Calculations and
Recommendations
August 4, 2025
September 29,
2025
5-Year Adjustments
to Rates
Excel Workbook N/A
E. PROJECT TIMELINE

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30 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study

6. Operations
Efficiency and
Performance
Review
August 4, 2025
September 29,
2025
Verification of
Operational
Viability
Summary Memo Interviews with staff

7. Public Workshops September 1, 2025
September 29,
2025
Community
Engagement
and Feedback
Power Point
Presentations
City to conduct
public outreach,
provide venue, IT,
and all associated
needs.

8. Reports September 1, 2025 October 6, 2025 Rate Study Report Draft and Final
Report and a
Power Point
Presentation
N/A

9. Prop. 218 Notice
Design
October 13, 2025 November 27, 2025
Start of 45-day
Notice Timeframe
Draft and Final
Prop. 218 Notice
City to conducting
addressing, printing
and mailing of
notices.

10. City Council
Public Hearing
December 2, 2025
City Council Prop.
218 Hearing
N/A
City to gather,
review, and count
number of valid
protests and
prepare staff report
and resolution/
ordinance.

New Solid Waste Rates
Take Effect
January 1, 2026
Effective Date
for Year 1 of new
Rates

N/A N/A

TASK TENTATIVE

START DATE

TENTATIVE

COMPLETION
DATE

MILESTONE DELIVERABLE CITY-PROVIDED

RESOURCES
E. PROJECT TIMELINE

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31 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULES
R3 has provided the Proposed Fee Structure and Schedule in a separate document, as requested in the City’s RFP.

F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE
& SCHEDULES

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32 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
G. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
R3 has no potential conflicts of interest that may arise during the contracted work. R3 assures there are no conflicts that would compromise the integrity of the evaluation and procurement process. Our team has dedicated their careers to the field of solid waste management and sustainability, and skillfully deliver expert industry analysis and recommendations to our clients, who consist primarily of municipalities, public agencies, and joint power authorities - but never the solid waste companies we may be reviewing someday.

G. CONFLICT OF INTEREST

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33 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL FORMS
› Addendum 1 Form page 34
› Addendum 2 Form page 35
› Non-Collusion Affidavit page 36
› Workers’ Compensation Insurance Certificate page 38 › Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Certificate (Executive Order 11246) page 39 › Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance Certificate page 40 › City of Hanford, CA Ownership Disclosure for Contractors and Consultants page 41 › State of California Drug-Free Workplace Certification STD.21 (REV.12-93) page 42 › Iran Contracting Act Certification page 43
› California Levine Act Statement page 44
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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34 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
Addendum No. 1
City of Hanford, CA
315 N. Douty Street
Hanford, CA 93230
[email protected]
(559) 585-2152

ADDENDUM NO. 1

Issued: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Project: Refuse Rate Study
Project No.: RFP 2025-14
Bids Due: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 @ 2:00 p.m.

Addendum No. 1 is being issued to provide answers to questions received via Bidnet and the propos er conference. This addendum becomes part of the bid documents for this project and must be signed and submitted with the Proposal.

Questions/Responses

Q1: Will the City provide a copy of the previous Rate Study? R1: Please see attached document.

PROPOSER ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ADDENDUM NO. 1

Proposer to sign and submit with Proposal.

Firm: _______________________________________ Date: ________________________________

By: _______________________________________
Signature
R3 Consulting Group, Inc. May 21, 2025
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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35 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
Questions & Answers - 2
Solicitation RFP 2025-14 - Refuse Rate Study
Buying Organization City of Hanford
No Question/Answer Question Date
Q4 Question: City Budget
What is the Cityʼs intended budget for this project?
Answer: The City's intended budget for this project is approximately $50,000. 05/14/2025
Q5 Question: Target Effective Date
What is the Cityʼs target date for rates to become effective? July 1, 2026? Answer: The City does not have a set implementation date. Once the bids are in and a vendor selected, we will work with them to set an effective date. 05/14/2025
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
Addendum No. 1
City of Hanford, CA
315 N. Douty Street
Hanford, CA 93230
[email protected]
(559) 585-2152

ADDENDUM NO. 1

Issued: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Project: Refuse Rate Study
Project No.: RFP 2025-14
Bids Due: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 @ 2:00 p.m.

Questions/Responses

Q1: Will the City provide a copy of the previous Rate Study? R1: Please see attached document.

PROPOSER ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ADDENDUM NO. 1

Proposer to sign and submit with Proposal.

Firm: _______________________________________ Date: ________________________________

By: _______________________________________
Signature
R3 Consulting Group, Inc. May 21, 2025
2 2
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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36 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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37 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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38 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
24 WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE CERTIFICATE
(Submit with Proposal)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss

CITY OF HANFORD )

I am aware of the provisions of Section 3700 of the Labor Code which requires every employer to be insured against liability for workers’ compensation or to undertake self-insurance in accordance with the provisions of that code, and I will comply with such provisions before commencing the performance of the work under this contract.

Company: ____________________________________________________________________________

Business Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________________________________________________

Name of Signing Official: _______________________________________________________________

Title of Signing Official: ________________________________________________________________

Date: ____________________________________________________

Company Seal:

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz
President
N/A
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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39 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
25 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE
(EXECUTIVE ORDER 11246)
(Submit with Proposal)

Equal Opportunity Clause
Unless exempted by rules, regulations or orders of the Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to Executive Orders 10925, 11114 or Section 204 of Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, during the performance of each contract with the City of Hanford, the Proposer agrees as follows:

1. The proposer will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, or political affiliation. The proposer will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, gender, national origin, or political affiliation. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, the following: employment upgrading, demotion or transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training, including apprenticeship. The proposer agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the contracting officer setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

2. The proposer will, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees, placed by or on behalf of the proposer, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin or political affiliation.

3. The proposer will send to each labor union or representative of workers with which he has a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding, a notice to be provided by the agency contracting officer, advising the labor union or the workers’ representative of the proposer commitments under Section 202 of Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, and shall post copies of the notice on conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment.

4. The proposer will comply with all provisions of Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, and the rules, regulations and relevancy orders of the Secretary of Labor.

5. The proposer will furnish all information and reports required by Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, and by the rules, regulations and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor, or pursuant thereto, and will permit access to his books, records and accounts by the contracting agency and the Secretary of Labor for purposes of investigation to ascertain compliance with such rules, regulations and orders.

6. In the event of the proposer’s non-compliance with the non-discrimination clauses of this subcontract or with any of such rules, regulations or orders, this subcontract may be canceled, terminated or suspended, in whole, or in part and the proposer may be declared ineligible for further government contracts in accordance with the procedures authorized in accordance with Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, and such other sanctions may be imposed and remedies invoked as provided in Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, or by rule, regulation or order of the Secretary of Labor, or otherwise provided by law.

7. The proposer will include the provisions of Paragraphs (1) through (7) in every subcontract or purchase order unless exempted by rules, regulations or orders of the Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to Section 204 of Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, so that such provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor. The proposer will take such action with respect to any subcontract or purchase order as the contracting agency may direct as a means of enforcing such provisions including sanctions for non-compliance. Provided, however, that in the event the proposer becomes involved in, or is threatened with litigation with a subcontractor or vendor as a result of such direction by the contracting agency, the proposer may request the United States to enter into such litigation to protect the interest of the United States.

Company Name: _________________________________________________________ Business Address: ________________________________________________________ Signature: _______________________________________________________________ Name of Signing Official (type): _____________________________________________ Title of Signing Official (type): ______________________________________________ Date: ___________________________________________________________________ (Seal)

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz
President
N/A
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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40 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
26 AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATE (Submit with Proposal)

By submission of a bid, the BIDDER certifies it will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C., 12101 et. seq., and will maintain compliance throughout the life of this Contract. By commencing performance of the Contract work, the selected BIDDER certifies to the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

Company: ____________________________________________________________________________

Business Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________________________________________________

Name of Signing Official: _______________________________________________________________

Title of Signing Official: ________________________________________________________________

Date: ____________________________________________________

Company Seal:

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz
President
N/A
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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41 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
27 CITY OF HANFORD, CA OWNERSHIP DISCLOSURE FOR

CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS
(Submit with Proposal)

NAMES OF PRINCIPALS, PARTNERS, AND/OR TRUSTEES:

Firm Name: _______________________________________________________________________

Firm Address: _____________________________________________________________________

List the names of all principals, partners, and/or trustees. For corporations provide names of officers, directors and all stockholders owning more than 10% equity interest in corporation:

Click or tap here to enter text.

Submitted by: Name ___________________________________________________________________

Date ________________________________

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz, President
Garth Schultz
Scott Hanin, Sr. Vice President
Janet Barile, Vice President
Carrie Baxter, Corporate Secretary
Nate Forst, Principal
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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42 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
28 STATE OF CALIFORNIA DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE CERTIFICATION STD.21 (REV.12-93)
(Submit with Proposal)

I, the official named below, hereby swear that I am duly authorized legally to bind the contractor or grant recipient to the certification described below. I am fully aware that this certification, executed on the date below, is made under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California.

Contractor Proposer Firm Name: ________________________________________________________ Federal ID Number: __________________________________________________________________ BY (Authorized Signature): ____________________________________________________________ Date Executed: ______________________________________________________________________ Printed Name of Person Signing: ________________________________________________________ Telephone Number (Including Area Code): ________________________________________________ Title: ______________________________________________________________________________ Contractor/Proposer Firm’s Mailing Address: ______________________________________________

The contractor or grant recipient named above hereby certifies compliance with Government Code Section 8355 in matters relating to providing a drug-free workplace. The above-named contractor or grant recipient will:

1. Publish a statement notifying employees that unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of a controlled substance is prohibited and specifying actions to be taken against employees for violations, as required by Government Code Section 8355(a).

2. Establish a Drug-Free Awareness Program as required by Government Code Section 8355(b), to inform employees about all of the following:

(a) The dangers of drug abuse in the workplace,
(b) The person’s or organization’s policy of maintaining a drug-free workplace, (c) Any available counseling, rehabilitation, and employee assistance programs, and (d) Penalties that may be imposed upon employees for drug abuse violations.

3. Provide as required by Government Code Section 8355(c), that every employee who works on the proposed contract or grant:
(a) Will receive a copy of the company’s drug-free workplace policy statement, and (b) Will agree to abide by the terms of the company’s statement as a condition of employment on the contract or grant.

4. At the election of the contractor or grantee, from and after the “Date Executed” and until ____________ (NOT TO EXCEED 36 MONTHS), the state will regard this certificate as valid for all contracts or grants entered into between the contractor or grantee and this state agency without requiring the contractor or grantee to provide a new and individual certificate for each contract or grant. If the contractor or grantee elects to fill in the blank date, than the terms and conditions of this certificate shall have the same force, meaning effect and enforceability as if a certificate were separately, specifically, and individually provided for each contract or grant between the contractor or grantee and this state agency.

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz
33-1030017
510.292.0853
President
May 21, 2028
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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43 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
29 IRAN CONTRACTING ACT CERTIFICATION
(Public Contract Code Section 2200 et seq.)
(Submit with Proposal)

As required by California Public Contract Code Section 2204, the Contractor certifies subject to penalty for perjury that the option checked below relating to the Contractor’s status in regard to the Iran Contracting Act of 2010 (Public Contract Code Section 2200 et seq.) is true and correct:

Please check the appropriate option:

 The Contractor is not:
(1) Identified on the current list of persons and entities engaged in investment activities in Iran prepared by the California Department of General Services in accordance with subdivision (b) of Public Contract Code Section 2203; or

(2) A financial institution that extends, for 45 days or more, credit in the amount of $20,000,000 or more to any other person or entity identified on the current list of persons and entities engaging in investment activities in Iran prepared by the California Department of General Services in accordance with subdivision (b) of Public Contract Code Section 2203, if that person or entity uses or will use the credit to provide goods or services in the energy sector in Iran.

 The City has exempted the Contractor from the requirements of the Iran Contracting Act of 2010 after making a public finding that, absent the exemption, the City will be unable to obtain the goods and/or services to be provided pursuant to the Contract.

 The amount of the Contract payable to the Contractor for the Project does not exceed $1,000,000 over the life of the contract (up to 5 years).

Signature:__________________________________ Printed Name:_____________________

Title:______________________________________ Agency Name:____________________

Date:____________________

Note: In accordance with Public Contract Code Section 2205, false certification of this form shall be reported to the California Attorney General and may result in civil penalties equal to the greater of $250,000 or twice the Contract amount, termination of the Contract and/or eligibility to bid on contracts for three years.

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
1504 Eureka Road, Suite 220, Roseville CA 95661
Garth Schultz
President
X
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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44 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
30 CALIFORNIA LEVINE ACT STATEMENT
(Submit With Proposal Attachment 8)

California Government Code Section 84308, also known as the “Levine Act,” can prohibit members of the Hanford City Council from participating in any action related to a “license, permit, or entitlement for use” if he or she receives any political contributions, which total more than $500 during the twelve (12) months prior to and for twelve (12) months following the date of a final decision on such “license, permit, or entitlement for use,” from the person or company submitting a proposal or application to the City or any person who is not directly a party to the proposal or application but who actively supports or opposes a particular decision involving a “license, permit, or other entitlement” and who has a financial interest in the decision (“Participant”).

Government Code Section 84308 defines “license, permit, or entitlement for use” as “all business, professional and land use licenses and permits and all other entitlements for use, including all entitlements for land use, all contracts (other than competitively bid, labor, or personal employment contracts), and all franchises.”

The following website contains a list of current Hanford City Council Members, https://cityofhanfordca.com/1269/City-Council. You are responsible for reviewing the names of Hanford City Council Members prior to making the following disclosure:

1. Have you, your company, any agent on behalf of you or your company, or, to the best of your actual knowledge, a Participant made any political contributions of more than $500 to a Hanford City Council Member or a candidate running for Hanford City Council during the twelve (12) months preceding the date of the submission of your proposal or application or the anticipated date of any City Council action related to this proposal or application?

YES:_____ NO:_____

If YES, please identify the City Council Member(s) and/or candidates for Hanford City Council and date(s) of contribution in the space below:

Council Member(s) or Candidate(s) Name Date of Contribution(s):
______________________________ ________________________ ______________________________ ________________________

I declare under the penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Answering YES to the question above does not preclude the City of Hanford from approving a “license, permit, or entitlement for use” for you or your firm or from taking any subsequent action. It does, however, preclude the identified Hanford City Council Member(s) from participating in any actions related to the approval process.

No party, or agent to a party, to a pending proceeding involving a “license, permit, or other entitlement for use” or Participant, or agent to a Participant, shall make a contribution of more than $500 to any City Council Member(s) or City Council candidate during the proceeding and for twelve (12) months following the date of a final decision is rendered by the City in the proceeding.

X
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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45 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
RFP 2025-14
Refuse Rate Study
31 NOTICE: The disclosure duty under state law continues for twelve (12) months after the final decision on a “license, permit, or other entitlement for use.” If the above information regarding contributions changes during such twelve (12) month period, then the undersigned is required to update this disclosure form.

_______________________________________ ____________________ Signature of Authorized Individual Date

_______________________________________
Printed or Typed Name of Authorized Individual

_______________________________________
Print or Type Name of Company

R3 Consulting Group, Inc.

May 21, 2025
Garth Schultz
H. REQUIRED PROPOSAL
FORMS

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1 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
R3 proposes to complete the project for a total fee of $128,750. Table 1, below, shows the fee breakdown by task. Within this proposed fee structure, we have included alternative fee proposal options, as shown on Table 2, on the following page. For the reasons stated in our cover letter, we recommend City acceptance of our complete Scope of Work and Fee Proposal as the City’s best means to achieve fiscal sustainability for the City’s refuse operations. For context, taken over 5-years, the City would only need a small one-time

0.25% adjustment to refuse rates in order to fund the Study.

Additional consulting services beyond those proposed will be charged at the standard rates shown in Table 3, on page 3. Fees for work completed will be billed monthly at the first of each month, for the preceding month, and are due within 30 days of the invoice date. Our team’s proposed fee structure and schedules are guaranteed for 60 days, commencing upon submittal of this proposal.

F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE
& SCHEDULES
F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULES
Table 1: Fee Breakdown by Task
G. Schultz /
S. Hanin
W. Schoen /
S. Harriman J. Howison P. Paulsen /
K. Scholz J. Muratsuchi A. Micheletti
$340 $340 $265 $240 $220 $185
1 Investigation and
Data Collection 5 5 - 5 5 - 20 5,700$
2 Regional Rate
Comparison 5 - - - 5 15 25 5,575$
3 Rate Structure Review
and Alternatives 5 - - 10 10 - 25 6,300$
4 Financial Analysis and
Projections 15 10 10 10 50 - 95 24,550$
5 Rate Calculations and
Recommendations 15 - - 10 30 15 70 16,875$
6 Operations Efficiency
and Performance
Review
5 20 - - 30 - 55 15,100$
7 Public Workshops 50 - 10 10 10 10 90 26,100$
8 Reports 15 5 5 5 15 5 50 13,550$
9 Prop. 218 Notice
Design 5 - - 25 - - 30 7,700$
10 City Council Public
Hearing 15 - - - 10 - 25 7,300$
135 40 25 75 165 45 485 128,750$

FEEHOURS
TOTALS
TASK

KEY PROJECT PERSONNEL

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2 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE
& SCHEDULES
Alternative Fee Proposal Options
To demonstrate creativity and flexibility, our proposal includes alternative fee proposal options, as shown in Table 2, below. Please note, R3 recommends the full and complete Scope of Work as shown in our proposal, at the total proposed fee shown on the prior page and the leftmost column, below. Alternative fee proposal options are shown for comparative purposes, and are not necessarily recommended in that they would provide lesser value to the City and also, potentially, put the success of the Study at risk. We have also included, in the rightmost column, a demonstration of what it would take to meet the budget amount, as stated in Addendum #2 to the City’s RFP – R3 is not offering this alternative as it would limit the Scope of Work to such a degree that we believe the Study would not be successful.

Finally, at the bottom of Table 2 we have included approximate one-time rate revenue adjustments necessary to fund the Study, as well as the approximate annual amount per residential rate payer that would be necessary to fund the Study. We share these to demonstrate that, compared to the budget amount stated by the City in Addendum #2, funding the full Scope of Work, as proposed by R3, is a difference of a 0.16% adjustment to refuse rates or $0.51 per year per residential ratepayer.

TOTAL

PROPOSED
FEE
ALTERNATIVE 1 -
REMOTE

WORKSHOPS
ALTERNATIVE 2 -

IN-PERSON

WORKSHOPS &

NO EFFICIENCY
REVIEW
ALTERNATIVE 3 -
REMOTE

WORKSHOPS &

NO EFFICIENCY
REVIEW
ALTERNATIVE 4 -

NO WORKSHOPS

OR EFFICIENCY
REVIEW
ALTERNATIVE 5 -

NO WORKSHOPS

OR EFFICIENCY

REVIEW OR
PROP. 218
NOTICE

FOR EXAMPLE

PURPOSES ONLY
- NOT OFFERED
1 Investigation and
Data Collection 5,700$ 5,700$ 5,700$ 5,700$ 5,700$ 5,700$ 2,850$ 2 Regional Rate
Comparison 5,575$ 5,575$ 5,575$ 5,575$ 5,575$ 5,575$ - 3 Rate Structure Review
and Alternatives 6,300$ 6,300$ 6,300$ 6,300$ 6,300$ 6,300$ 4 Financial Analysis and
Projections 24,550$ 24,550$ 24,550$ 24,550$ 24,550$ 24,550$ 21,700$ 5 Rate Calculations and
Recommendations 16,875$ 16,875$ 16,875$ 16,875$ 16,875$ 16,875$ 14,025$ 6 Operations Efficiency
and Performance
Review
15,100$ 15,100$ - - - - - 7 Public Workshops 26,100$ 14,965$ 26,100$ 14,965$ - - - 8 Reports 13,675$ 13,675$ 13,675$ 13,675$ 13,675$ 13,675$ 11,425$ 9 Prop. 218 Notice
Design 8,325$ 8,325$ 8,325$ 8,325$ 8,325$ - - 10 City Council Public
Hearing 7,300$ 7,300$ 7,300$ 7,300$ 7,300$ 7,300$ - 129,500$ 118,365$ 114,400$ 103,265$ 88,300$ 79,975$ 50,000$

0.26% 0.24% 0.23% 0.21% 0.18% 0.16% 0.10%
$0.83 $0.76 $0.73 $0.66 $0.56 $0.51 $0.32
Approximate One-time
Adjustment to Refuse Rates to
Fund Study
Approximate Annual Residential
Revenue Per Resident to Fund
Study
TASK
TOTALS
Table 2: Alternative Fee Proposal Options

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3 City of Hanford | Refuse Rate Study
F. PROPOSED FEE STRUCTURE
& SCHEDULES

CLASSIFICATION RATES
Principal / Sr. Director $ 340 per hour
Director $ 305 per hour
Sr. Managing Consultant $ 265 per hour
Managing Consultant $ 240 per hour
Sr. Consultant $ 220 per hour
Consultant $ 200 per hour
Associate Consultant $ 185 per hour
Expert Witness 1.5x Rates Listed Above

REIMBURSABLE COSTS
Consultants/Subcontractors Cost plus 10%
Lodging and Meals Direct cost
Travel — Private or company car At Current Federal Rate Travel — Other Direct cost
Delivery and other expenses Direct cost
Table 3: Standard Rates FY 2025-26

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RFP 2025-14 Refuse Rate Study
TM NM RS CT Average
R3 Consulting Group 94 94 93 93 94
MSW Consulting Group 91 91 91 95 92
H F & H 79 86 88 87 85

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Rank
1 2
3

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CITY OF HANFORD
Refuse Rate Study Technical Proposal
May 21, 2025

Page 99 of 744 ends

HF&H Consultants
590 Ygnacio Valley Rd. Suite 105
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Phone: (925) 977-6950
Web: hfh-consultants.com

May 21, 2025
Lisa Valencia
Purchasing Agent
City of Hanford
315-321 North Douty Street
Hanford, CA 93230
Subject: Technical Proposal for Refuse Rate Study – RFP No. 2025-14 Dear Lisa Valencia,
HF&H Consultants, LLC (HF&H) is pleased to submit this proposal to the City of Hanford (City) to perform a refuse rate study. We have prepared and organized our proposal based on the instructions contained in your request for proposal and trust we are fully responsive to your direction.

Growth
The City is one of California’s fastest growing cities, with a recent growth rate of approximately 2% per year. Growth places demands on the City to provide continued exceptional refuse services to the City’s residents and businesses. How can this be done? Careful and thorough planning will be a critical component. HF&H will provide the City with a menu of potential rate structures that will allow the City to plan out its future rate impacts in a thoughtful manner, using “what if” scenarios to consider and minimize unintended consequences.

Compliance
The City needs assurance that its rates are in compliance with Proposition 218. HF&H has incomparable experience in structuring solid waste and other utility rates for Proposition 218 compliance. Our water, wastewater, and refuse rates practice focuses on Proposition 218 in every study they conduct. As a benefit to the City, we have included an owner/partner, which leads our rates practice, to lead this project for the City to ensure we can properly support any fees or reimbursements included in the rate model.

Diversion
Beyond complying with Proposition 218, the passage of AB 341, SB 1826, and now AB 1383, the State has placed strict mandates on not only generators, but also collectors and the agencies themselves. Over the next several years, the City will face the dual challenge of bringing the existing ratepayers to compliance, while also providing new residents and businesses with the programs and services needed to comply. The City, being the collector of solid waste, recyclables, and organics for its residents and bus inesses, has a significant role to play over the next few years in becoming compliant with the regulations. In short, the City may need to select new programs to develop or recently employed new programs since the last rate study was conducted in 2022, and such selection should be supported by a detailed cost/benefit analysis. HF&H will work with the City reviewing its diversion plans, timing, and

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Lisa Valencia
May 21, 2025

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costs of new programs to ensure rates are set proportionally to the cost of service, as required by Proposition 218. These costs and timing will be an integral part of the rate model we create for the City.

Financial Stability and Rate Impacts
The City provides municipally operated refuse and recycling collections to its residents (approximately 53,000 customers) and businesses (approximately 1,400 customers). The City is concerned that the current rate structure may not provide sufficient revenues to fund operations and maintenance costs, meet its capital needs, and maintain operating reserves. The added complexities of future growth and the on -going State mandated programs require a rate model that will be flexible to allow the City to meet its financial goals.

Getting Public Support
Public support is the key to a smooth and efficient rate adjustment process. Effective public outreach is crucial. Typically, the public is not necessarily interested in how the rates are calculated but what is covered by the rates. Our presentations provide an overview of the “how” and the “what” and our reports provide greater detail for those who wish to dig deeper.

The Experience You Need
Our project director, Rick Simonson (with over 24 years of utility rate consulting experience) and project manager Gabe Sasser (with 6 years of utility rate consulting experience) , have conducted over 150 Proposition 218 cost-of-service rate studies for municipal-provided water, sewer, and solid waste clients. Additionally, HF&H has a very collaborative approach to its engagements. We have a “bench” that includes diversion planning, cost of service modeling, and solid waste financial planning specialists, all of whom will be on -call to assist and advise Rick and Gabe throughout this engagement.

We are pleased to receive this opportunity to submit our proposal to assist the City.

Sincerely,

Rick Simonson
Senior Vice President

Our public meetings are
geared towards helping
the City Council and the
public understand, and
ultimately support, the
rate changes.

If necessary, we shall work
with City staff to develop a
transitional rate adjustment
strategy to reduce rate shock
or hardships for any class.

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Table of Contents, Figures, and Attachments

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page i

CONTENTS
SECTION A. GENERAL INFORMATION ............................... 1

1. Firm Contact Information ................................................. 1

2. Account Representative .................................................... 1

3. Organization Type ............................................................ 1

4. Tax Identification Number and Business License .................. 1

5. Firm Owners ................................................................... 1

6. Your HF&H Team ............................................................. 1

7. Insurance ....................................................................... 2

8. References and Referrals .................................................. 2 SECTION B. PROPOSED PROJECT APPROACH ................... 3 Project Understanding and Approach ..................................... 3 Phases and Objectives ......................................................... 3 Tasks, Deliverables, and Meetings ......................................... 4 Timeline ............................................................................ 9 SECTION C. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE ..... 10
SECTION D. RELATED EXPERIENCE ................................ 12 SECTION E. PROJECT TIMELINE ..................................... 16 SECTION F. CONFLICT OF INTEREST .............................. 17

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Table of Contents, Figures, and Attachments

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FIGURES
Figure 1. Client References ...................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Timeline of Project .................................................................. 16

ATTACHMENTS

1. Staff Resumes

2. Required Forms

3. Signed Addenda

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Section A. General Information

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Section A. General Information

1. FIRM CONTACT INFORMATION
HF&H Consultants, LLC consists of 39 employees across two offices located at the following addresses:

Walnut Creek Office Irvine Office
590 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 105 2081 Business Center Drive, Suite 265 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Irvine, CA 92612
Main Line: (925) 977-6950
Fax: (925) 977-6955
Email: [email protected]

2. ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE
Rick Simonson, located at the Walnut Creek Office, will serve as the Account Representative and primary contact for this engagement and can be contacted via the following methods:

Phone: (925) 977-6957
Email: [email protected]

3. ORGANIZATION TYPE
HF&H is a limited liability company and State of California Certified Small Business

4. TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AND BUSINESS LICENSE
Federal Tax ID#: 94-3097242
City of Hanford Business License: HF&H does not currently have a City of Hanford business license. Upon selection for this project, we will apply for and ascertain a valid business license prior to project commencement.

5. FIRM OWNERS
Rob Hilton – President
Laith Ezzet – Senior Vice President
Rick Simonson – Senior Vice President

6. YOUR HF&H TEAM
Our proposed consulting team and their experience is provided in detail in Section C – Staff Qualifications and Experience, as requested in the RFP.

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7. INSURANCE
We maintain the following policies of insurance with carriers doing business in California:
• Commercial General Liability Insurance ($2,000,000 Occurrence/$4,000,000 Aggregate)
• Workers’ Compensation ($1,000,000)
• Professional Liability Insurance ($2,000,000 Occurrence/$2,000,000 Aggregate) • Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability
1 ($2,000,000)
• Umbrella Liability ($3,000,000 Occurrence/$3,000,000 Aggregate) • Cyber Liability ($1,000,000 Each Claim)
All costs incurred in complying with additional coverages or limits (excluding additional insured and waiver of subrogation endorsements) become the responsibility of the client and are not included in the fees for services or direct charges but are billed in addition to the contract at cost, plus any professional or administrative fees.

8. REFERENCES AND REFERRALS
Detailed descriptions of our project experience are included in Section D. Related Experience.

Figure 1. Client References
Client Name
& Title Jurisdiction Email Address Phone Number
Brock Buche
Public Utilities Director City of Fresno [email protected] (559) 621-8610 Michael Sigsbee
Utilities Assistant
General Manager
City of Ontario [email protected] (909) 395-2653 Benjamin Blanchard
Administrative
Services Officer
City of
Long Beach [email protected] (562) 570-4696

1 HF&H Consultants does not own any company automobiles.

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Section B. Proposed Project Approach

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Section B. Proposed Project Approach

PROJECT UNDERSTANDING AND APPROACH
HF&H believes every client is unique! The City is experiencing unique growth and the rate structure has not been reviewed since 2022 , prior to the full implementation of State regulations (e.g., SB 1383) which has changed the level of service provided to customers .

Our scope of work will be tailored specifically for you to help you meet these challenges.

Our general approach to this engagement is for
City staff and HF&H staff to work together as a
collaborative team, conferring directly with
Finance and Solid Waste department staff to
ensure all parties clearly understand the
objective of the model, the underlying
assumptions and inputs, prepare rate structure
and rate increase alternatives, and concur with
the findings and recommendations. HF&H will
prepare a report documenting the analysis,
findings and recommendations and present
these to the staff for comment. Thereafter,
HF&H will revise the report to produce the final
version and prepare presentation materials
based on the final report. Throughout the
engagement, HF&H staff will manage its
progress against a schedule, created at the kick-
off meeting with City staff, which will be
organized by day and describe who is
responsible for performing each task and
delivering each work product. Also, throughout
the engagement, Rick and Gabe will supervise staff in performing certain tasks and Rick will be responsible for performing quality assurance reviews of interim and final work products.

PHASES AND OBJECTIVES
Phase 1: Determine Revenue Requirement. Within this Phase HF&H will facilitate a kick- off meeting with the City to confirm key deadlines and overall goals of the project. If necessary, it is at this point where we will revise our scope to better meet the City’s needs.

Then, HF&H will review current and projected operational and financial data provided by the City to determine the annual revenue requirements that will drive future revenue increases.

Phase 1 Objective: Understand the policies, procedures, and assumptions for the City’s refuse collection, processing, and disposal services in order to develop achievable short - and long- range financial projections based on a good understanding of the current and anticipated operations.

Phase 2: Calculate Rates. Within this Phase, HF&H will develop a rate model to be used to determine Proposition 218 compliant rates which will allocate costs based on a detailed- level City Selects Rate Structure
Prepare Rate Structure Scenarios
Develop User-Friendly Rate Model
Evaluate Alternative Funding Options
Evaluate Impact of Current and Projected
Operations
Evaluate Impact of Growth
Review Current Rate Structure
Success Plan

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Section B. Proposed Project Approach

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page 4 of 17
cost of service structure. Based on the results of the model, HF&H will work with the City on developing a rate design that will meet all of the City’s rate-making objectives.

Phase 2 Objective: Develop a detailed-level cost of service refuse rate model to calculate rates by customer class, material stream, and container size that meet’s the City’s rate design goals.

Phase 3: Outreach and Communication. Within this Phase HF&H will provide the City with a report of the cost-of-service analysis and recommendations resulting from the rate model, support in creation and implementation of the Proposition 218 notice, and present interim and final results to City Council and the public.

Phase 3 Objective: Provide the City with a report of the results and recommendations from the rate model , provide support in creation , and translation, of the Proposition 218 notice, and present findings to stakeholders.

TASKS, DELIVERABLES, AND MEETINGS
The following tasks will provide the City with a five-year rate model for its solid waste program, which will be used for adopting a five -year rate schedule that is compliant with Proposition 218.

The following tasks will be performed as part of proposed project approach. Please note all project meetings with City staff are captured under Task 7. All presentations to City Council and public workshops are included in Tasks 5 or 6.

Task 1. Project Initiation
We will facilitate a virtual kick-off meeting with key City staff. The meeting will introduce the participants (City and HF&H) and identify their project roles and expectations. Meeting topics will include: 1) discussing project scope, timing, and deliverables; 2) discussion of prior cost- of-service study, 3) key model components and assumptions; 4) model format and expected scenarios; and 5) requesting and compiling all relevant and required data. HF&H will provide a data request list ahead of this meeting for discussion during the kick-off meeting.

City staff should budget two hours for this virtual meeting. The discussion will be summarized in meeting notes that will also list the data requirements and the City staff responsible for providing the data. HF&H staff will also be available to meet with individual City staff following the kick-off meeting to review various issues in more detail, as needed.

Deliverables:
• Data request for City staff
Meetings:
• Kick-off call with City staff (Virtual)

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Task 2. Revenue Requirements
HF&H will review, identify, and summarize the City’s solid waste system’s financial and operational data. Projections will be made for future year’s revenue requirements based on available data and inflationary factors. The revenue requirement projections will be used in Task 3 to determine the future revenue increases that will be needed to fund the annual revenue requirements
We will approach each of the following elements of determining the revenue requirement as follows:

Expenses. Expenses are comprised of the City’s budgeted or actual expenditures. HF&H will use the City’s most recent actuals or budgeted expenditures to project the future revenue requirements. In preparation for Task 3, HF&H will gather or calculate the followin g supplemental information to support in integration into the rate model:
• Allocation of refuse collection activities between customer classes and material streams
• Allocation of overhead costs between customer classes and material streams • Allocation of disposal and processing costs from the City’s post-collection operations • Current and anticipated capital costs or funding
• Current billing program costs
• Reserve fund policies and requirements
Revenues. We calculate and project rate revenue based on the current rate structure, by customer class and material type collected. This is more accurate than simply extrapolating total revenues (which is a common, albeit less accurate, practice) and provides a good crosscheck on the City’s projections.

We also monitor and extrapolate revenues received for the current rate year to update projections. This is an important consideration for future revenue projections, as well as the revenue reconciliation of the present year.

Future Considerations . The City must consider State -mandated diversion requirements and programs. This concern requires careful planning to maintain financial stability for the City, as the complexities of these requirements affect multiple facets. HF&H will review with the City its productivity and cost assumptions associated with expanded diversion programs for incorporation into the rate schedule and planning model. This will in clude analysis of expected changes in:
• The impact of projected growth and inflation on operational and financial assumptions • The impact of new diversion programs, if applicable, on operational and financial assumptions
• The impact of changes in equipment purchase scheduling

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• The impact of changes in capital project scheduling
• The impact of variations in debt financing decisions
• Analysis of disposal and processing rates for City operations Deliverables:
• Five-year projected revenue requirements
Meetings:
• Monthly project status check-ins (Virtual), or more frequently as needed Task 3. Cost-of-Service Rate Model
Incorporating the results of Tasks 1 and 2, HF&H will prepare a five-year, user friendly planning model for the City’s use in determining future rates. The first year of the rate model will be used for the cost -of-service analysis, in which the overall revenue requirements are distributed among the levels of service and material collection types. The cost-of-service rate model will be tailor-made to conform to the rate structures that are identified. We will use a “detailed level” approach for the model, wh ich most solid waste rate setting consultants will not provide. In this case, we will analyze the City’s costs and determine the fixed and variable components along with the allocation of the City ’s costs to better calculate a more accurate cost-of-service proportionate to the level of service received.

Rate adjustments for the second- through fifth-year of the five-year planning period will flow through the model as across -the-board, equal percentage rate increases on the “year one” rate structure.

The residential solid waste container costs, and ultimately the bundled rates (including recycling and organics service), would be based on the size of the solid waste container. For commercial rates, each material stream’s rates will be calculated independently. In developing these costs, we use a “capacity -based” allocation methodology to determine the variance between the solid waste component of the rates for each container size, which will encourage diversion.

Miscellaneous and street sweeping rates will be determined through either actual costs, calculated time to provide the service, or an allocation based on lane miles swept.

We will be careful to show how the results of the cost -of-service analysis compare with the revenue that is generated by current rates. This is an important step in explaining how the rates are changing. By the end of the rate calculations, we will clearly indicate 1) how much the overall revenue requirement changes; 2) how much the cost-of-service changes for each service level; 3) how much the rates change for each customer class; and , 4) how much customer bills change for representative customers. Our explanation will greatly aid City staff and customers in understanding why individual customers ’ bills increase more or less than the overall increase in revenue requirements.

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Section B. Proposed Project Approach

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Throughout the model creation, we will work closely with City staff on reviewing interim work products to ensure that we incorporate all City -specific nuances and discuss preliminary results or roadblocks. Our models are provided as work products in an edi table Excel-based format without additional licensing costs or other proprietary restrictions for the City to use in future rate years to track projections to actuals or to make adjustments as necessary.

Deliverables:
• Cost-of-service analysis integrated into a five-year rate model • Customer impact analysis integrated into the five-year rate model Meetings:
• Monthly project status check-ins (Virtual)
Task 4. Rate Design & Comparison
To meet Proposition 218 requirements, the proposed rates must reasonably reflect the cost of providing service and must be fair and equitable to all. The process of designing rates is one in which the City ’s current rates are compared with the rates that are calculated during the cost-of-service analysis. HF&H will meet with the City to discuss the preliminary results of the analysis compared to the current rate structure, and discuss if any additional rates should be created to reflect current or expected service offerings.

As requested in the RFP, the City would like the option to analyze up to four alternative rate structures to improve equity or better achieve the City’s objectives. The alternatives may include rate phasing options to lessen the immediate impact to rate payers if the cost -of-service analysis yields significant increases are necessary for one customer class or the other.

HF&H and the City will meet to discuss which alternative structures will be modeled and prepare a revised analysis to calculate these alte rnative structures. While the specific scenarios are not determined at this time, HF&H has included within the timeline and budget up to four alternative rate structure revisions.

Additionally, our rate designs are presented within the model so that the bill impacts are easily understood by staff, elected officials, and, most importantly, rate payers. We will compare the cist-of-service rate structure with the current rate structure and with comparable agencies’ rate structures. In this case, comparable agencies will include entities that provide solid waste services in Kings County, Fresno County, and Tulare County. We use tabular and graphical techniques to clearly communicate the differences.

Deliverables:
• Five-year rate projections integrated into the five-year financial planning rate model • Four alternative rate structure scenarios
• Neighboring jurisdiction’s customer bill comparison integrated into the five -year rate model
If necessary, we shall work
with City staff to develop a
transitional rate adjustment
strategy to reduce rate shock
or hardships for any class.

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Meetings:
• Two meetings with City staff to discuss results of study and rate alternatives (Virtual) Task 5. Communicate Results
The analysis will be presented to City stakeholders and documented in a concise report that will include attachments of the final rate model with the selected rate structure. The document will explain how the methodology complies with the substantive provisions of Proposition 218 and relevant court decisions. The draft report will be reviewed with City staff to confirm recommendations and address questions prior to public workshops and Council study sessions. The City may elect to, and we would recommend to, have legal counsel review the report and provide comments.

HF&H will prepare a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the cost-of-service study’s findings, alternatives, and draft rate recommendations to be presented to City Council and the public.

HF&H will also be available to attend up to four meetings with the Ci ty Council for work sessions to present the interim, preliminary, and final results of the study. Feedback received from City Council and as directed by City staff will be incorporated into the draft report and final recommendation. We will present a final draft report of our findings to City Council ahead of their vote to authorize mailing of the Proposition 218 notices to all ratepayers.

Draft and final deliverables will be provided in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PDF formats.

Deliverables in Word and Excel formats will be editable by City staff.

Deliverables:
• One draft report
• One final report
Meetings:
• Up to four work sessions with City Council for review of study progress and findings (Virtual)
• One presentation to City Council and public on the final study results (Virtual) Task 6. Implementation
We will assist in preparing the notice to rate payers required under Proposition 218. The notice will be provided in both English and translated into Spanish by an HF&H staff member who is certified as a translator. The City may elect to, and we would recommend, have legal counsel review the Proposition 218 notice and provide comments. It is our assumption the City would print and distribute the Proposition 218 notice to rate payers.

We will attend the protest hearing, which shall be no sooner than 45 days after the mailing of the Proposition 218 notices, to present our findings and recommendations and to answer questions.

Deliverables:
• One draft Proposition 218 notice in both English and Spanish

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Meetings:
• One meeting with City staff and legal counsel to review the draft Proposition 218 notice (Virtual)
• One Proposition 218 protest hearing (Virtual)
Task 7. Progress Meetings
During the conduct of the study, HF&H will provide status updates to City staff to communicate progress on tasks and to ensure alignment with staff direction and timing. These will occur throughout Tasks 2 through 5. These meetings are intended to obtain staff input and develop solutions that will be accepted by City Council and the ratepayers. The City will benefit from HF&H working closely with City staff and legal counsel through virtual meetings to address questions and model impromptu alternatives.

Additional meetings required for implementation of rates beyond those assumed in Task 6 can be attended under the scope of Task 7, if project budget is available.

Meetings:
• Six one-hour meetings with City staff for project progress meetings (Virtual) Task 8. Project Management
An allowance is required for monitoring schedules and budgets, periodic status calls with City staff regarding the progress of the project and other issues, and quality control checks to peer review our analysis and work products. This task includes creation of project progress reports and control reports for invoicing.

Deliverables:
• Invoices

TIMELINE
HF&H anticipates beginning this project in July 2025 and holding a kickoff within the first month to confirm the project goals and timeline. HF&H will creat e the cost-of-service model from August 2025 through November 2025 and will connect with the City in December 2025 and January 2026 to discuss the results and rate alternatives. We anticipate Council work sessions to occur between December 2025 through March 2026, with the Proposition 218 notices to customers in early April and the protest hearing in late May. HF&H anticipates that the rates shall be completed, approved, and effective July 1, 2026.

If the City wishes to e nact rates sooner or later, this can be discussed during the kick -off meeting and the schedule will be adjusted accordingly.

The proposed project timeline is expanded in greater detail in Section E. Project Timeline.

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Section C. Staff Qualifications & Experience
One of our strengths is our depth of staff, which allows us to provide our clients with timely and professional work product (s), while balancing commitments to multiple clients at any given time. Generally, our senior staff manage three to five projects at time and our analysts are engaged with five to eight projects at a time. Our project team is comprised of an HF&H partner, a project manager, two analysts, and “bench” to provide redundancy. As deliverables for other projects arise from time to time, our redundancy of staff can ensure the City’s project maintains forward progress and we can quickly and knowledgably respond to City staff inquires and questions on a daily basis. This team of consultants is located in our Walnut Creek office and has worked together on numerous other similar projects.

Our collaborative approach between the City and our diverse team of consultants will provide the City with the confidence to face its future financial obligations, diversion goals , and regulatory compliance. Staff resumes are included in Attachment 1 - Staff Resumes.

Rick Simonson, Senior Vice President – Project Director Over his 24 years at HF&H, Rick has managed numerous solid waste rate study projects. He brings a depth of knowledge and expertise in Propositions 218 and 26 compliance, rate structure design, and a strong financial modeling background. In addition, Rick’s experience prior to joining HF&H includes five years of conducting audits for the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office.

As Project Director, Rick will serve as the firm executive overseeing the project. He will be responsible for the following functions:
• Monitor the project team’s interaction with the City to ensure that all work is completed properly
• Perform QA/QC on all deliverables
• Attend the public presentations
• Attend check-in meetings with City staff, as needed
• Advise the Project Manager on project-related activities Gabe Sasser, PE, Project Manager – Project Manager
Since joining HF&H in 2019, Gabe has served our clients as an analyst and project manager over the course of more than 60 engagements. Clients benefit from his technical experience as a registered civil engineer. With eight years of project management, he is a proven communicator, conscientious of client budget and schedule. Agencies can depend on the Proposition 218 compliant solutions Gabe provides due to his technical background and rate modeling proficiency. Gabe seeks to help clients balance their soli d waste, water, and sewer ratemaking needs while ensuring fiscal stability.

As Project Manager, Gabe will oversee the day -to-day operations of the proposed project team. He will have primary responsibility for contact and communications with the

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development and adoption of municipal utility rates. He will be responsible for the following functions:
• Coordinate the project team’s interaction with the City to ensure that all work is completed properly
• Manage the project team’s progress against the schedule and budget • Lead all project meetings and public presentations
• Assist in development of the sewer model and rate recommendations • Prepare the reports and presentations to the City’s stakeholders • Perform QA/QC on all deliverables
Danielle Derby, Senior Associate – Lead Project Analyst Danielle will work closely with HF&H supporting staff to conduct the analysis. She has served as the lead project analyst on numerous cost-of-service rate models, has extensive knowledge of our internal model, and can speak to both the methodology and allocation factors behind the model’s calculations The redundancy of staff will ensure the analysis proceeds on the City’s timeline. Her assistance in developing the solid waste rate model will also allow for on- the-spot scenarios and sensitivity analysis when meeting with City and legal staff.

As the lead project analyst, her responsibilities will include the following assignments:
• Update and develop the rate model and analysis
• Assist in preparing the project report
• Attend meetings and assist with presentations, as necessary • Oversee the bill impacts and neighboring agency survey La Velda Peterson, Assistant Analyst – Support Analyst
La Velda is the newest member of our team. Prior to joining HF&H, La Velda worked in treasury and risk management at Sacramento Municipal Utility District. and she worked at the California Department of Justice in the fiscal services section , all while earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance) from California State University Sacramento.

La Velda’s professional and educational background has equipped her with the means necessary to support her clients in the water and wastewater industry.

As a project analyst, her responsibilities will include the following assignments:
• Generate the data request
• Support Gabe and Danielle to update/develop the rates model and rate recommendations
• Conduct bill impact analysis and the neighboring agency rate survey • Assist with preparing the report and public presentations

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Section D. Related Experience

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Section D. Related Experience
Founded in 1989, HF&H Consultants, LLC (HF&H) is a consulting firm that specializes in providing tailored solutions to local governments in two key practice areas: recycling and solid waste services and water, wastewater, and stormwater services. Our consultancy focuses on offering environmentally responsible economic, financial, strategic planning, and management services. Throughout our 35 -year history, HF&H has remained steadfast in its commitment to serving clients exceptionally and with unwavering inte grity. HF&H is led by three partners: Rob Hilton, Laith Ezzet, and Rick Simonson.

HF&H has provided leadership, expertise, independence, and support to hundreds of municipal agencies through over 2,500 engagements. Our reputation for excellent client service is well- established, as approximately 70% of our work comes from repeat clients, some of whom we have partnered with for over three decades. Our track record, measured by the number and types of engagements and the number of repeat clients, demonstrates our ability to consistently deliver a high level of client satisfaction.

We have assembled one of the most accomplished teams of consultants in the industry. Our partners and senior managers possess 15 to 35 years of direct experience in the consulting industry, serve on professional association boards, have presented numerous papers, and, in two cases, co-authored a widely used industry manual on zero waste planning, funding, and programming. Currently, three of our employees serve as faculty for the CRRA and SWANA “Zero Waste Principles and Practices Training,” which is a nationally recognized professional certification program. Our team leverages proven management and analytical tools to develop creative solutions that support our clients in achieving their objectives.

In recent years, our HF&H solid waste team has supported numerous California agencies who provide municipal- operated refuse services , including the cities of Fresno, Long Beach, Ontario, and San Diego, among others . Brief descriptions of recent ly completed projects similar to those requested in the City’s RFP are provided below.

City of Fresno – Residential Solid Waste Cost-of-Service Study HF&H was retained by the City to independently assess and evaluate an existing residential solid waste rate model (Rate Model or Model) and propose residential rates for the next five- year rate cycle, consisting of Fiscal Year End (FYE) 2025 through FY E 2029 (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2029) to provide the necessary revenue to adequately fund the Solid Waste Management Fund’s operations, capital, and reserves during that period. The evaluation focused on the Rate Model utilized by the City to record and project revenues and expenses and the inclusion and allocation of costs within that Model.

Results
Our findings and recommendations consisted of: 1) Rate Model improvements to make the Rate Model user-friendly (to empower staff to update it on an annual basis to reflect actual results); and, 2) recommended cost -of-service based rates for the five -year period ending June 30, 2029. Solid Waste Management Fund was facing a 40% revenue shortfall for FYE 2025 due to lack of rate increases since September 2009 . The analysis included alternative

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funding strategies recommended by HF&H to reduce the impact to ratepayers through capital deferrals, vehicle financing plans (instead of cash financing), and inter fund loans , resulting in lower rate increases phased-in over time.

Project Details
Duration - June 2022 to July 2024
Budget - $134,670; Project Spend: $58,682
Reference
Brock Buche , Public Utilities Director , [email protected], (559) 621-8610, 1626 E Street, Fresno, CA 93706
City of Ontario – Cost of Service Rate Study (2019-2020; 2022-2023, 2024- Present)
The City of Ontario, a governmental agency, oversees solid waste service to the City’s residents and businesses. The City provides all residential and commercial refuse, recycling, and organics collection and related transportation, materials processing, a nd disposal services, and provides automated refuse services to its residential and commercial customers.

The City desired a cost of service study to determine the revenue necessary to meet the City’s revenue requirements, determine the cost of service att ributable to each customer, and ensure the proposed rate structure is compatible with Proposition 218 mandates. In 2022, the City requested HF&H to update the cost of service study with revised revenue requirements to reflect regulatory and operational cha nges and update the projected multi - year phase in of rates.

With data provided by City staff, we updated the rate model to reflect the projected revenue requirement for the coming five fiscal years and allocated costs based on the level of service provided to each customer class (cart, bin, and roll -off customers) by size of container and material stream.

Results
In 2020, HF&H created the initial cost of service model and determined the projected revenue needed for fiscal years 2021- 2026. The study resulted in a phase -in of rates over the upcoming years to achieve full cost of service with the fiscal year 2024- 2025 proposed rate adjustment. In 2023, HF&H assisted the City with the follow-up study to project rates through fiscal years 2027-2028 and revised the rate phasing plan to achieve cost of service in fiscal year 2025-2026. HF&H is currently working with the Ci ty to update and project the cost of service model an additional three years.

The solid waste rate study and rate phasing model that HF&H performed for the City included:
• Developing a cost of service methodology that meets Proposition 218 requirements yet still incentivizes customers to generate less solid waste

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Section D. Related Experience

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page 14 of 17
• Developing a rate phasing model that phases rate increases and generates funds to meet the reserve fund balance minimums
• Presenting the cost of service methodology and results of the study in a report that met the City’s inside and outside counsel’s requirements • Assisting in the preparation of the Proposition 218 notice Project Details – Current COS Model Project (2024)
Duration - August 2024 to June 2025. HF&H analysis is complete and rates are scheduled to be adopted in June 2025.

Budget - $99,340; Project Spend: $91,213 through April 2025 Reference
Michael Sigsbee, Utilities Assistant General Manager, [email protected], (909) 395- 2653, 1425 S. Bon View Ave., Ontario, CA 91761
City of Long Beach – Cost of Service Study (2018-Present) The City of Long Beach, a governmental agency, needed to conduct a thorough, forward looking cost of service rate study for its services provided to the City’s residents and businesses. The City had a model that determined the costs by the residential and commercial service sector. The existing model determined the rate adjustment required for solid waste and recycling collection as a whole. The City felt in order to be in compliance with Proposition 218, the rate adjustment needed to be according to the level of service provided.

In order to complete the City’s objectives, HF&H is performing the following work for the City:
• Evaluating the City’s current rate model and rate schedules, including considering its conformance with Proposition 218
• Evaluating the billing data provided by the City in order to establish service subscription levels
• Forecasting and re-allocating the revenue requirement to customer classes by service levels to better reflect the true cost to provide services to the individual customer classes
• Designing multiple rate scenarios with varying adjustments based on the level of service provided for the City’s consideration
Results
Since this type of study had not been performed in the past, the results had significant impacts to various rates. Additionally, the City realized it needed to analyze its billing data against the actual service provided. Therefore, we provided a two- year rate adjustment plan. The City adopted rates for 2019 and 2020, with anticipation of performing another study once the billing analysis has been completed.

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Section D. Related Experience

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page 15 of 17
The solid waste rate study that HF&H performed for the City included:
• Developing a cost of service methodology that meets Proposition 218 requirements yet still incentivizes customers to generate less solid waste • Presenting the cost of service methodology and results of the study in a report that met the City’s inside and outside counsel’s requirements • Providing a template and assisting in the preparation of the Proposition 218 notice • Attending the public hearing where there were minimal comments from the public Project Details – Current COS Model Project (2024)
Duration – January 2024 to March 2025.

Budget - $100,363; Project Spend: $100,452
Reference
Benjamin Blanchard, Administrative Services Officer, [email protected], (562) 570-4696, 411 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802

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Section E. Project Timeline

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page 16 of 17
Section E. Project Timeline
HF&H is prepared to commence this engagement promptly and pursue the completion of the engagement diligently. Nevertheless, we are dependent on the performance of certain activities by persons outside our control. Should the engagement become delayed for a ny reason, HF&H will immediately notify the City.

The proposed project timeline is shown in Figure 2 below. We have assumed receiving a notice-to-proceed by July 1, 2025 and an estimated completion date of July 1, 2026. This assumed start date provides adequate time for conducting the analyses, reviewing preliminary results with staff, presenting preliminary results in City Council session, and conducting the Proposition 218 process, well in advance of the July 1, 2026 effective date for solid waste rates.

The proposed schedule will be reviewed during the initial kick-off meeting to confirm or modify the schedule based on updated information or the desired implementation date of the revised rates. As previously stated, all meetings are assumed to be virtual unless discussed with City staff.

Figure 2. Timeline of Project

2025 2026
Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Project Initiation
Review Background Data Prior to Kickoff
Attend Initial Kickoff +
Revenue Requirements
Prepare RFI
Review of Current Data
Projection of Revenue Requirement
Cost-of-Service Rate Model
Prepare User-Friendly Detailed COS Model
Rate Design & Comparison
Evaluate Results of COS Model with City
Rate Scenarios and Alternatives + +
Solid Waste Rate Survey
Communicate Results
Prepare Draft Report & Finalize Report
City Council Work Sessions + + + +
Discuss Draft Report with City and Legal
Public & Council Presentation +
Implementation
Prop 218 Notice
Translate Prop 218 Notice
Meeting with City and Legal +
Attend Protest Hearing +
Progress Meetings + + + + + +
Project Management
Legend:
+ = Teleconference with staff/Remote Presentation
Δ = In-person meeting/presentation

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Section F. Conflict of Interest

City of Hanford | May 21, 2025 | Page 17 of 17
Section F. Conflict of Interest
HF&H does not have any financial, business, or other relationships with the City or any member of the City staff that may have an impact on the outcome of this project. We are not aware of any current clients who may have a financial interest in the outcome of this project.

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ATTACHMENT 1
Staff Resumes

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Rick Simonson
Senior Vice President

RANGE OF EXPERIENCE
Over 24 years of utility rate setting experience with HF&H and has performed over 100 financial planning/rate studies for water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste clients. He brings a depth of knowledge and expertise in Propositions 218 and 26 compliance, rate structure design, and a strong financial modeling background.

EXPERTISE
• General Fund Reimbursements – Public safety, governmental facilities, right-of-way maintenance
• Rates and Charges – Multi-year financial modeling, cost -of- service analysis, rate structure designs
• Development Impact Fees – Water and wastewater
capacity/connection fee charges
• Proposition 218 Compliance – Develop cost -of-service compliant rates and facilitate Prop. 218 process and procedures

RECENT PROJECTS AS PROJECT DIRECTOR/MANAGER
• City of Livermore – Litigation support, 2024 Utility General Fund Reimbursement Analysis
• City of San Jose – 2024 rate adjustment calculation and revenue audit
• City of Berkeley – 2024 cost -of-service Proposition 218 - compliant solid waste rate setting
• City of San Mateo – Developed five -year financial planning model and cost of service solid waste rates in 2022 -2024, including Proposition 26 and Proposition 218-compliant City fees.

Currently updating for 2025
• Castro Valley Sanitary District – 2020-2024 solid waste rate Proposition 218-compliant rate setting
• City of Oakland – 2021-2024 solid waste rate setting, employing the Refuse Rate Index methodology

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• SWANA – Western Regional Symposium – Apr. 2019 – “A Holistic Approach to Stormwater Funding: Understanding the Nexus Between Solid Waste and Stormwater”

• Moderator and Presenter, HF&H/CalRecycle High Diversion Rates & Compensation Workshops, Oct. 2013 (Oakland), Nov. 2013 (Lakewood), and Dec. 2013 (Sacramento)
• SWANA – Western Regional Symposium – May 2005 – “Accurate Solid Waste Rate Comparisons”
• SWANA – Western Regional Symposium – May 2004 – “Annual Solid Waste Rate Adjustments – Index Method or Cost-of-Service Method?”

Education and
Certifications
• B.S., Business
Administration,
Accountancy, California
State University -
Sacramento
• B.A., Communication
Studies, Media
Production, California
State University -
Sacramento
Professional History
• HF&H Consultants, LLC:
2000 to present
• Contra Costa County
Assessor’s Office:

Auditor/Appraiser, 1996
to 2000
• Laidlaw Transit: Staff
Accountant, 1995-1997
Professional
Memberships
• Institute of Management
Consultants
• American Water Works
Association
• Water Environment
Federation

Contact Information
(925) 977-6957
[email protected]

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Hanford City CouncilJuly 1, 2025

Hanford City Council
July 1, 2025