April 7, 2026
Finance Department
DATE: April 7, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Emily Combs, Director of Finance
Mubeen Qader, Deputy Director of Finance
Antonio Banuelos, Accounting Manager
Subject:
Contract with Willdan Financial Services for the Traffic Impact Fee Study and Comprehensive User Fee Study
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $59,230 expenditure is included within the approved fiscal year 2025-2026 General Fund Non-
Departmental budget (Account String: 01917090-
400201).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City’s current fee structures require updating to
better reflect the actual cost of providing services and the impacts of new development. Regular updates and
comprehensive fee studies are necessary to ensure fees
remain accurate, transparent, and legally defensible,
while reducing reliance on the General Fund. To address these needs, the City must retain a qualified consultant to prepare updated Traffic Impact Fee and Comprehensive
User Fee studies that will support revisions to the City’s Master Fee Schedule.
AGENDA
REPORT
April 7, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a contract with Wildan Financial Services for
preparation of the Traffic Impact Fee Study and
Comprehensive User Fee Study, in an amount not to
exceed $59,230, for the period of April 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028 – Finance Department (Emily
Combs/Mubeen Qader/Antonio Banuelos 510-620-6741).
DISCUSSION:
A Traffic Impact Fee Study establishes fees charged to new development to help fund transportation improvements needed to address increased traffic, such as roadway upgrades, intersections, and related infrastructure. These fees must be supported by a clear connection between the impacts of new development and the cost of improvements, in accordance with State law. A Comprehensive User Fee Study evaluates the cost of providing City services—such as permitting, inspections, and administrative processing—and recommends fee levels that more accurately reflect those costs. Together, these studies help ensure that new development contributes toward infrastructure needs and that users pay fees proportionate to the cost of services, rather than relying on limited General Fund resources.
While these studies are technical in nature, their findings form the basis for fees adopted by the City Council through resolutions and, where applicable, incorporated into the Municipal Code. Because costs, service levels, regulatory requirements, and development patterns change over time, these studies must be periodically updated to remain accurate, legally defensible, and aligned with current conditions.
For these reasons, the City requires the services of a qualified consulting firm with expertise in fee analysis, cost allocation, and nexus studies to conduct updated Traffic Impact Fee and Comprehensive User Fee Studies. The Finance Department issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for these services, which was posted on the City’s Bids Online system (Attachment 1). A total of 1,260 vendors were notified, and 16 vendors downloaded the RFP (Attachment 2).
Three proposals were received prior to the submission deadline and all were determined to be responsive and compliant. The proposals were submitted by DTA Public Finance, Inc., Matrix Consulting Group, and Wildan Financial Services. An evaluation panel reviewed and scored the proposals based on the selection criteria outlined in the RFP. While the top two firms received closely ranked scores, there was a notable gap between those firms and the third-ranked proposer.
1 - 40% 30 38 35 103 30 20 30 80 35 40 35 110 2 - 25% 15 25 22 62 15 25 23 63 25 25 23 73 3 - 10% 10 10 10 30 10 10 10 30 10 10 10 30 4 - 25% 10 10 18 38 10 10 15 35 25 25 25 75 100% 65 83 85 233 65 65 78 208 95 100 93 288 DTA Matrix Willdan
April 7, 2026
1 - Qualifications and Proposed Work Plan - 40%
2 - Experience and Past Performance - 25%
3 - References - 10%
4 - Fee Schedule - 25%
Cost Proposal
Comprehensive User Fee Study $33,910
Traffic Impact Fee Study $25,320
Total Cost $59,230
The scope of services will include preparation of technical reports and supporting analysis used to update the City’s Master Fee Schedule. These updates will help ensure that fees more accurately reflect the cost of providing City services and that new development appropriately contributes to infrastructure needs (Attachment 3).
Based on this evaluation, City staff recommend awarding a contract to Wildan Financial Services to conduct the City of Richmond’s Traffic Impact Fee Study and Comprehensive User Fee Study (Attachment 4).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 - Request For Proposals
Attachment 2 – Bid Summary Report
Attachment 3 - Wildan Financial Services Proposal
Attachment 4 - Contract Agreement