Award of Banking Services

Issue Statement: The City of Oakland Park entered into a Treasury Management/Banking Services contract with Suntrust Bank (now Truist Financial) in July 2011.  The contract expires on August 1, 2021. The City released a Request-for-Proposal (RFP) in anticipation of the contract's expiration.  The City has reviewed the proposals submitted in response to the solicitation has negotiated a contract for banking services with the highest-ranked proposer, Wells Fargo.

Recommended Action: Adopt a resolution finding Wells Fargo the most responsive and responsible proposer, authorizing the appropriate City officials to execute the proposed banking services contract for an initial term of five-years, and granting authority to the City Manager and Director of Financial Services to approve amendments to the contract as appropriate to meet future treasury operations needs of the City. 

In September 2020, the City Commission awarded a contract to PFM Asset Management LLC to provide assistance in the preparation of a banking services RFPs and their reviews require significant time and expertise to prepare and similar levels of time and expertise are needed to properly evaluate banking services proposals.

PFM Asset Management LLC worked with City staff to prepare Request-for-Proposal 022321-0-2021 for Banking Services, which was released on January 19, 2021.  Based on questions from potential respondents, an addendum was issued on February 8, 2021 that provided additional information on City operations and transaction volume.  Responses were due on February 23, 2021 and the City received responses from the following institutions:

• Synovus
• JP Morgan Chase
• Wells Fargo

A fourth response was received from Suntrust Bank after the opening of proposals and could not be considered.

The City evaluation committee, assisted with PFM Asset Management as technical advisors, reviewed the proposals provided and performed an initial evaluation.  All three proposers were then invited to present to the evaluation committee, provide a demonstration of their online banking services platforms, and answer questions from committee members.  As shown in the attached memorandum, Wells Fargo was the consensus recommendation from the committee.  

After notification of the recommendation was provided to Wells Fargo, contract negotiations to finalize the terms of the contract began.  The proposed contract for consideration is for an initial term of five (5) years, with five (5) additional one (1) year extensions.  Pricing is shown in Exhibit A of the Contract.  Contract Exhibit B, Wells Fargo's response to the RFP, and Exhibit C, the City RFP document, are too large to include with this item, but are on file with the City Clerk's Office and are available to review upon request.

Modification of some terms and services are expected to occur from time-to-time as treasury services offered by Wells Fargo and the City's needs evolve. As part of the resolution authorizing the approval of the contract, it is also requested that the City Manager and Financial Services Director be granted the authority to amend the contract as appropriate.

Suntrust will continue to provide banking services to Oakland Park during the implementation of the Wells Fargo contract and services.  Suntrust will continue to provide purchasing card services to the City of Oakland Park.

The current annual cost of banking services is approximately $37,708 a year.  The anticipated annual cost under the proposed contract with Wells Fargo is $30,347, savings of more than $7,000 per year.

Wells Fargo has also provided an 8-month fee waiver, which will result in savings in the first year of the contract of approximately $20,000.