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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5 Auditor List Truckeenee Public UtilityDistrict Board of Directors Joseph R.Aguera J_Ronald Hemig Business Office (530) 587-3896 FAX (530) 587-5056 James A.Maass Patricia S.Sutton Nelson Van Gundy General Manager Peter L.Holzmeister August 27, 2002 Dear Directors: The District received nine responses to the Request for Statement of Interest and Qualifications sent out to accounting firms. Attached to this letter is a list of the nine firms and copies of their responses. In an effort to expedite this, I'd like to suggest that we narrow this group down to a smaller number to interview. I suggest that each Director review the group of nine responses and pick three to five firms that you think should be considered to provide audit services. We would then choose the three most commonly selected firms to interview. We would jointly select an interview date and time (a public noticed Brown Act meeting) and invite the three finalists to attend the interviews. We would ask the finalists to present their professional fee proposals at the interviews. We are interested in a proposal that covers three years. We need to have a decision made by early October so the chosen firm has time to put us into its audit schedule and we have the audit completed by approximately April 30 of 2003. Plead let me know if this process works for you or if you have any other suggestion. Nelson President, Board of Directors Post Office Box 309 11570 Donner Pass Road Truckee, California 96160 1 AUDITOR LIST Responses for Statement of Interest & Qualifications received from: Andrew J. Paulden, CPA Brown Armstrong 4200 Truxturi Avenue, Suite 300 Bakersfield, CA 93309 Phone (661) 324-4971 E-Mail,jpauldengbarrcpa corn Stephen L. Larson Caporicci & Larson 1300 Clay Street, Suite 600 Oakland, CA 94612 Phone (877) 862-2200 Ext 125 Fax (866) 436-0927 Ken Al-Imam Conrad and Associates, L.L.P 1100 Main Street, Suite C Irvine, CA 92614 Phone (949) 474-2020, Ext 217 Fax (949) 263-5520 Kara Griffin Grant Thornton LLP 100 W. Liberty Street P. O. Box 30 Reno,NV 89504 Phone (775) 786-1520 Fax (775) 786-7091 Timothy E. McCann KPMG LLP 400 Capital Mall Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone (916) 448-4700 Fax (916) 554-1199 E-Mail jcraycroft@kpmg.com Robert M. Moss, C.P.A. Moss, Levy & Hartzheim 4740 Northgate Blvd, Suite 160 Sacramento, CA 95834 Phone (916) 925-5141 Fax (916) 925-7632 t Ralph A. Marcello, CPA Nicholson & Olson, CPAs 729 Sunrise Avenue, Suite 303 Roseville, CA 95661 Phone (916) 786-7997 Fax (916) 786-6536 E-Mail Ralph@nicholsonolson.com Chris S. Millias Odenberg,Ullakko, Muranishi & Co LLP 351 California Street, Suite 1000 San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone (415) 434-3744 Fax (415) 788-2260 George W. Fankhanel, CPA Teaman, Ramirez & Smith, Inc. 4201 Brockton Avenue, Suite 100 Riverside, CA 92501 Phone (919) 274-9500 TRUCKEE DONNER PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR AUDIT SERVICES I. INTRODUCTION A. General Information The Truckee Donner Public Utility District is requesting proposals from qualified firms of certified public accountants to audit its financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, with the option of auditing its financial statements for each of the two (2) subsequent fiscal years. These audits are to be performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The District has gone through a prescreening process and is now inviting three (3)firms to submit proposals for audit services. There is no expressed or implied obligation of the Truckee Donner Public Utility District to reimburse responding firms for any expenses incurred in preparing proposals in response to this request. II. NATURE OF SERVICE REQUIRED The District desires the auditor to express an opinion on the fair presentation of its general purpose financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor should provide one combined financial statement including a Statement of Cash Flows and Notes to Financial Statement with supplemental exhibits defining the balance sheet and income statements for each department including disclosing any eliminating entries. Please refer to the District's 2000-2001 audit report for desired format. Included in the audit proposal, the auditors will be expected to provide periodic support to District staff during the year. This support will be in relationship to assisting staff with the recording of new types of transactions and providing advice on the impacts of new accounting regulations (e.g. GASB 33 and GASB 34). III. REPORTS TO BE ISSUED A. A report on the fair presentation of the financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The District requires 50 bound copies and one copy for photocopying. B. A Management Report including a review of the internal control structure based on the auditor's understanding of the control structure and assessment of control risk. Prior to issuing the final reports, the auditors will present drafts to the District for review. Upon review and acceptance of the draft reports by the Board of Directors, final reports will be issued. 1 S ' Irregularities and Illegal Acts: The Auditors shall be required to make an immediate, written report of all irregularities and illegal acts or indications of illegal acts of which they become aware during the audit process to the Board of Directors of the District. IV. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND INFORMATION To be considered, five (5) copies of a proposal must be received by September 25, 2002 at 5:00 p.m. Proposals should be sent by Fed Ex or equivalent carrier and addressed to: Board of Directors Truckee Donner Public Utility District 11570 Donner Pass Road Truckee, CA 96161 The District reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted and to waive any irregularity. Inquiries concerning the request for proposals should be addressed to: Mary Chapman, Administrative Services Manager Truckee Donner Public Utility District Phone: 530-582-3906 Fax: 530-587-5056 E-mail: MaryChap man�tdpud.orq During the evaluation process, the District reserves the right, where it may serve the District's best interest, to request additional information or clarifications from proposers, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. Proposers will be asked to make oral presentations of their proposals and respond to questions from the Board of Directors. It is anticipated the selection of a firm will be completed by October 2, 2002. V. RECAP OF PROPOSAL PROCESS AND CALENDAR September 5, 2002 Request for Proposals mailed &/or faxed September 25, 2002 Deadline for proposal submission 3 2 Scheduled Interviews with the Board of Directors October 2, 2002 Board selects audit firm October 3, 2002 Selection notification IV. PROPOSAL PRICE A. The proposal should contain all pricing information relative to performing the audit engagement as described in this request for proposals. The total all-inclusive maximum price to be bid is to contain all direct and indirect costs including all out-of- pocked expenses. B. Proposal should include the audit price for the first year's audit and each of two subsequent optional year audits. 2 C. Proposal should include the proposers price for providing additional accounting services over and above those included in section "ll" above. Stated prices should list the charge for various staff members who would provide those services. D. The District is not liable for any cost incurred by a proposer responding to this request for proposal. VII. EVALUATION PROCESS The proposals will be evaluated by the Board of Directors. Proposers will be asked to make oral presentations to review their proposal and to answer supplemental questions. These presentations would be held subsequent to the receipt of the proposals and will be part of the process for determining the qualifications of the auditors. The District will schedule a time for each oral presentation that it requests. Oral presentations will be held at the District offices at 11570 Donner Pass Road in Truckee, California. Should a proposer refuse to honor the request for an oral presentation or interview, it may result in the rejection of the proposal by the District. Vill. AUDIT TIMELINE Interim audit work may be scheduled with District staff beginning in November or December. The actual on-site audit work should be scheduled beginning March 31, 2003, if possible. Since the firm hired will be new to the District, additional interim work may be required. IX. WORKING PAPER RETENTION AND ACCESS TO WORKING PAPERS Upon appointment of a new auditor, the District will immediately contact Arthur Andersen to obtain access to and/or copies of the District's previous work papers. All working papers and reports must be retained at the auditor's expense, for a minimum of three (3) years, unless the firm is notified in writing by the District that there is a need to extend the retention period. The auditor will be required to make working papers available, upon request, to parties designated by the District. In addition, the firm shall respond to the reasonable inquiries of successor auditors and allow successor auditors to review working papers relating to matters of continuing accounting significance. X. ASSISTANCE TO BE PROVIDED TO THE AUDITOR AND REPORT PREPARATION District staff including management personnel will be available during the audit to assist the firm by providing information, documentation and explanations. The preparation of confirmations will be the responsibility of the District. The District will provide the auditor with reasonable work space, work surfaces and chairs. The auditor will also be provided with access to a telephone, photocopying and a FAX - machine, etc. 3 Types of questions I would like to see answered by the firms that are interviewed: 1. if the District goes out to do a borrowing (e.g. Certificates of Participation), the audited financial statements are included in the official statement. Does the District need to obtain your firms permission to include the audit report in the official statement? If yes, is there a charge? How much? Have your audits been included in bond issue official statements? 2. What familiarity does your firm have with the electric industry? This would be a question for all but KPMG. 3. What specific electric audit experience do you have? This would be a question of all but KPMG. 4. What familiarity does your firm have with the water industry? This would be a question for KPMG. 5. What specific water utility audit experience do you have? This would be a question for KPMG. 6. For those firms that have done mostly audits for cities, counties, redevelopment agencies— What experience have you had in auditing and advising utilities that do enterprise accounting? (Most government agencies do Fund Accounting: the District's financial system is based on enterprise accounting). 7. Are you and your staff familiar with the FERC or RUS chart of accounts? 8. What experience have you had with assisting your clients to implement of GASB 33? What type of accounting did these clients do? Was it Fund Accounting or Enterprise Accounting? 9. What experience have you had with assisting your clients to implement GAS1334? What type of accounting did these clients do? Was it Fund Accounting or Enterprise Accounting? If you have had a chance to review the District's most recent audit report, what kinds of changes could we expect to see in 2003? 10. Describe your experience in recording transactions with utility acquisitions? How have you assisted your clients in recording such transactions? 11. Does your firm have any experience in auditing a utility providing fiber optic telecom services to the public? Was it an investor owned utility or a publicly owned utility? 12 When was you last peer review report? Who performed it? What were the conclusions? Can you provide us a copy? 13. Given what has happened in the Enron debacle. where does your company draw the line on providing accounting or advisory services to your clients to avoid a conflict of interest? 14. What kind of advisory services do you provide to your clients about what is taking place in the electric and water industries? Do any of your partners/managers/senior staff attend electric industry meetings? Water industry meetings? 15. The District is asking for a Management Letter. How would you describe the contents of a Management Letter? 16. What kinds of services do you provide your clients at no additional cost? 17. What is a"comfort letter"? -7-?EM � Truckee Donner Public Utility District Board of Directors Joseph R.Aguera J.Ronald Hemig Business Office (530) 587-3696 FAX (530) 587-5056 James A.Maass Patricia S.Sutton Nelson Van Gandy General Manager Peter L.Holzmeister August 27, 2002 Dear Directors: The District received nine responses to the Request for Statement of Interest and Qualifications sent out to accounting firms. Attached to this letter is a list of the nine firms and copies of their responses. In an effort to expedite this, I'd like to suggest that we narrow this group down to a smaller number to interview. 1 suggest that each Director review the group of nine responses and pick three to five firms that you think should be considered to provide audit services. We would then choose the three most commonly selected firms to interview. We would jointly select an interview date and time (a public noticed Brown Act meeting) and invite the three finalists to attend the interviews. We would ask the finalists to present their professional fee proposals at the interviews. We are interested in a proposal that covers three years. We need to have a decision made by early October so the chosen firm has time to put us into its audit schedule and we have the audit completed by approximately April 30 of 2003. Plea let me know if this process works for you or if you have any other suggestion. Nelson President, Board of Directors Post Office Box 309 s 11570 Donner Pass Road Truckee, California 96160