March 4, 2025
Finance Department
DATE: March 4, 2025
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Andrea Miller, Director of Finance
Mubeen Qader, Deputy Director of Finance
Jerry Gurule, Accounting Manager
Subject:
NHA Advisors, LLC Contract for Municipal Consulting
Services
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $81,743 expenditure is included within the approved fiscal year 2024-25 budget and will be
absorbed in the respective approved department budget
for subsequent fiscal years (Account String: 01175715-
400201 and 01151014-400206)
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
October 5, 2021
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
City staff is requesting that the City Council approve a two-year contract with NHA Advisors, LLC, to provide
municipal advisor and consulting services on an as-
needed basis.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a two-year contract with NHA Advisors, LLC
to provide municipal advisory and consulting services on an as-needed basis, in an amount not to exceed $81,743
with a two-year term beginning March 4, 2025, and
ending March 3, 2027 – Finance Department (Andrea
Miller 510-620-6740/ Mubeen Qader 510-412-2077/ Jerry
Gurule 510-620-6591)
AGENDA
REPORT
March 4, 2025
DISCUSSION:
Best practices set forth by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) suggest that an issuer without in-house expertise or access to current bond market information should hire a municipal advisor prior to the undertaking of debt financing, and issuers should select municipal advisors based on merit using a competitive process. NHA Advisors was obtained through a competitive bid process and approved by Council on October 5, 2021 (Resolution no. 120-21) as an on call municipal advisor.
NHA Advisors was awarded a three-year contract with an option to extend the contract for two years. Finance was unable to exercise the two-year option before the contract expired in October of 2024 (Attachment 1).
NHA Advisors, LLC is an Independent Registered Municipal Advisor (IRMA), registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are not associated with any other party, allowing them to provide unbiased advice, essentially acting as a safeguard against potential conflicts of interest.
NHA specializes in the negotiation of land-secured financing with developers on behalf of public agencies and their experience includes all forms of community facilities districts and special assessment districts. Their work has served the City in several ways including vital consultant analysis of Point Molate and Winehaven which included land financing and litigation, participation on the refinancing team for the City’s 2022 Pension Obligation Bond that refinanced the prior swap bond to a fixed rate bond, and most recently their presenting to City Council regarding CalPERS unfunded liability.
City staff would like to continue to utilize NHA’s advisory and consulting expertise.
Finance is requesting approval for a new contract with NHA for two years (Attachment 2).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution No. 120-21
Attachment 2 – NHA Advisor, LLC contract