The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued a request for proposals for its planned independent, third-party review and audit of the regional district’s financial records.
The RFP was published on BC Bid on Friday (March 19) and will close on April 12 at 4 p.m.
The 33-page document notes the regional district is seeking details and suggestions from the proponents on work and deliverables as part of a proposal. The proponent will carry out a special financial review and provide forensic auditing services for the “purpose of identifying any areas of concern with respect to past expenditures and assessing the TNRD’s past financial administration and approval and control processes.”
The review comes as a result of a KTW investigation into spending at the TNRD from 2015 to January 2020 via the regional district-issued credit card of then-CAO Sukh Gill. Receipts from that time period show numerous charges for parties and to coffee shops, high-end restaurants, wineries, luxury hotels and liquor stores.
Gill left the regional district suddenly in February 2020 with a $500,000-plus payout and a legal agreement mandating his exit be called a “retirement.”
The RFP notes that the scope will include a review of all management and board of director expenses and expense reporting over five years, between 2015 and 2020. In addition, the regional district is seeking examination of past accounting and financial controls and approval systems, a review of contracting and purchasing practices and other financial activities and a review of current policies and processes with the goal of identifying any areas for improvement.
“During the course of the review and forensic audit services, the scope of the work may be further expanded or altered at the recommendation of the successful proponent with written approval by the TNRD,” the RFP states.
The RFP also notes proponents may be disqualified due to conflicts of interest, such as a proponent’s current or past corporate or other interest that could give an actual or potential conflict.
“This includes, but is not limited to, involvement by a Proponent in the preparation of the RFP or a relationship with any employee, contractor or representative of the TNRD involved in preparation of the RFP, participating on the evaluation committee or in the administration of the Contract,” the RFP states.
“If a Proponent is in doubt as to whether there might be a conflict of interest, the Proponent should consult with the TNRD Contact prior to submitting a proposal. By submitting a proposal, the Proponent represents that it is not aware of any circumstances that would give rise to a conflict of interest that is actual or potential, in respect of the RFP.”
In addition, proponents may be required to enter into a confidentiality agreement with the TNRD to obtain access to confidential materials relevant to preparing a proposal, according to the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated on a 100-point scale, based on the following scoring criteria: Quality of proposal (maximum 10 points), qualifications and relevant experience (30), methodology and approach (30), project understanding (10) and price (20).
Furthermore, an evaluation matrix provides more details on how those categories will be scored.
• Quality of proposal: quality of the proposal in terms of methodology and approach; proposal is clear, concise and professional; completeness of the response and proposal demonstrates an understanding of the RFP requirements.
• Qualifications and relevant experience: suitability of experience with similar work and projects; feedback from client references if the regional district chooses to contact references; qualifications of the personnel and how they relate to the work they are responsible for as described in the proponents proposal; local government or public body auditing experience; technical capability, capacity, skills and qualifications of the proponent and personnel.
• Methodology and approach: quality and suitability of the method, work and deliverables proposed; demonstration the proponent understands the work required and factors to be considered during the services; suitability of the work plan and schedule proposed; tasks are based on the work plan; timeline items are adequately broken down; start and end date for tasks are realistic with reasonable lead times.
• Project understanding: demonstration of regional district structure and governance, knowledge of systems used by regional district or local governments; proposal demonstrations understanding of the services required.
The RFP can be downloaded for reading online here: https://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/showDisplayDocument?sessionID=1623759950&language=En&disID =47587783&docType=Tender&doc_search_by=Tend&fromEmail=yes.
When the TNRD board agreed on March 11 to move ahead with a review, it was noted the review is expected to take about three months to complete and cost between $50,000 and $75,000.