Details
01/04/2022
Strategic Growth Plan & Fiscal Analysis - RFP
City of Circleville
REQUEST FOR PLANNING AND FISCAL ANALYSIS SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF CIRCLEVILLE,OHIO
SECTION 1: BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE:
INTRODUCTION: THE CITY OF CIRCLEVILLE
The City of Circleville (“City”) is the county seat of Pickaway County, Ohio, located just south of the
Columbus Metropolitan Area. The City has a population of 14,050 residents and has a rich tradition
of agriculture and manufacturing. It is best-known throughout Ohio and the United States for
hosting the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show, an event that has been held since 1903 attracting
approximately 400,000 visitors to the city every October.
The City was founded in 1810 and is located along the Scioto River. Since its founding, Circleville
has been a hub for manufacturing and industry. Currently, some of the largest area employers
include manufacturing facilities such as: DuPont, Sofidel America, PPG, Georgia Pacific and others
located just south of the City. Circleville is also home to large employers such as OhioHealth Berger
Hospital, Health Care Logistics Corporate Headquarters, and FORJAK Industrial.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Circleville faced significant economic hardships as it
experienced the downsizing and ultimate closings of several large manufacturers, including its
Thomson RCA facility that at one point employed over 1,000 people. Additionally, hundreds of jobs
were cut from downsizing that occurred in other facilities such as the GE Circleville Lamp Facility
and Smurfit-Stone facility. Within a very short period of time the City lost over 2,500 jobs, which
resulted in significant challenges for the City and its income demographics.
Demographic trends that encapsulate the challenges faced in Circleville include median household
income, rate of citizens in poverty, and owner-occupied housing rate. The median household
income of residents is $42,103, which is 25% lower than the state median income. Additionally,
22% of Circleville residents are in poverty. Finally, the rate of owner-occupied housing is only 55%.
In response to these challenges, community leaders have come together in creative and
collaborative ways throughout the last decade. The City of Circleville has been a leader in Pickaway
County’s economic development efforts but has had limited direct benefit from economic growth in
the areas that surround the City.
Today, the City desires to be well positioned for strategic growth that is to occur in the greater
Columbus region, including the million new residents projected by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning
Commission by 2050.
RATIONALE AND IMPETUS
Although the crisis of the early 2000’s is in the community’s rearview mirror, significant challenges
exist for the post-industrial community. While the City has benefited from notable success in
attracting employers to the area, few of those employers are located within the City’s limits and the
City itself collects very little revenue from those employers. The City is positioned with ample
capacities in its municipal water and sewer facilities, but much of the infrastructure requires
Circleville – Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis
upgrades and maintenance. It also benefits from many pre-annexation agreements with adjacent
un-incorporated ground and has great proximity to other regional amenities such as highway
infrastructure, airports, and rail.
While the City has experienced some growth in retail and service sectors, its tax structure still
reflects policies that were beneficial to a community with large employment centers and high
earners. However, today a considerable number of its residents’ highest earners commute north to
the Columbus Metropolitan Area to work, and thus do not pay City income taxes, while many of its
incumbent taxpayers remain in the service and retail industries.
While City leaders recognize there is a need and opportunity for growth, under existing conditions
there is significant costs to growth. The City is seeking a qualified service provider to provide a
Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis that will help realize the items outlined in SECTION 2.
Opportunity and boundless potential exist for a community like Circleville when leaders commit to
collaborative implementation and set a vision for the coming decades.
PREVIOUS PLANNING EFFORTS
The City has utilized the Circleville Comprehensive Plan that was originally prepared and
implemented in 1970 and then later updated by Edsall & Associates. Edsall & Associates also
completed Circleville Land Use Plan in 2006 that was adopted by the City in 2008.
The Circleville Comprehensive Plan and the Circleville Land Use Plan still serve as a framework for
city leaders and provides much utility for throughfare, land-use, and many other aspects of
community growth and planning. However, these plans do not consider many of the fundamental
changes that have occurred within the life of the community or throughout the Columbus Region
since their latest updates.
While the utility and value of the Circleville Comprehensive Plan and the Circleville Land Use Plan are
recognized by community leaders and policymakers, they do not thoroughly address or include
revenue challenges, benchmarking, strategic growth strategies, or incorporate aspects of fiscal
analysis that the City now desires. The City is not seeking an update of the existing plans, rather the
opportunity to cast a new vision by seeking qualified services to draft and implement a Strategic
Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis.
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
The City has many key stakeholders who are valued and engaged, including adjacent or interrelated
local governments, non-profit community organizations, local industry, small businesses, and most
of all the residents of Circleville. Below is a list of key stakeholders who the City views as partners
in its effort to complete a Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis:
Circleville City Schools
Circleville Downtown Business Association
Circleville Township
Circleville – Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis
Logan Elm School District
Ohio Christian University
PICCA - Pickaway County Community Action
Pickaway Chamber of Commerce
Pickaway County
Pickaway County Community Foundation
Pickaway County Visitors Bureau
Pickaway Progress Partnership (P3)
Pickaway WORKS
Up Town Circleville
Washington Township
Wayne Township
And others.
SCOPE OF SERVICES:
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
The City is seeking qualifications for professional services to:
Identify opportunities & strategies for revenue positive growth through the following methods and
analysis:
• Review of economic activity in the City and surrounding area.
• Describe current demographic, growth, and revenue trajectory in the absence of a new
strategic plan.
• Provide benchmarking of similar communities and provide a snapshot review of
demographics.
• Provide comparative analysis of aspirational communities that have undergone
transformational, sustainable growth.
• Review current public policies related to taxation and municipal tax revenue.
• Provide financial analysis of current municipal revenue.
• Review strengths and opportunities of current revenue sources.
• Review current status of municipal services, amenities, and utility & road infrastructure and
their capacity for growth.
• Review current zoning and land-use policies, as well as permitting and approval processes, and
quantify impacts to desirable outcomes.
At the core of these methods, the qualified service provider must provide objective data to support
their findings.
The City’s objective is to solicit qualifications for consultative services from qualified
interdisciplinary planning firms or teams who have experience in city planning, community and
urban design, land use planning, natural resource mapping, citizen participation and visioning,
demographic and fiscal analysis, growth scenario development and analysis, and quality
Circleville – Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis
presentation graphics. Following review and evaluation of all provided qualifications, it would be
the City’s intent to award a contract to the firm or team that can best deliver a Strategic Growth Plan
and Fiscal Analysis through fiscal & trend analysis and visioning process.
DESIRED OUTCOME
As a result of the methodology and objectives forementioned, the City of Circleville and its
stakeholders seek from a qualified service provider a Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis that
will be utilized for policymakers and community leaders to help make informed, strategic, decisions
that will lead to prosperity and revenue positive growth for the community. The Strategic Growth
Plan and Fiscal Analysis should also engage with community stakeholders and as a result provide
materials that are accessible and consumable by the public.
Within the provided Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis a successful consultant will include,
but not be limited to, the following:
1) Introduction – to community values, vision for the future Circleville, community history,
community partners, purpose, and process of the plan.
2) Overview of Existing Conditions – of demographics, trends, economic outlook, utility
infrastructure capacity & condition, etc.
3) Comprehensive Trend Analysis and Benchmarking – the plan should use data from
existing conditions to expressly describe the current trajectory of the City and provide
relative comparisons.
• Are there Ohio or American cities that should be aspirational examples for the City?
• Are there cautionary examples that highlight the value of planning, preparedness,
and collaboration?
4) Goals and Vision – Establish a vision and set concrete goals for growth, including:
• Demographic Indicators – population growth, income, age, home ownership,
poverty, etc.
• Revenue – to support services, safety, amenities, etc.
• Business development – Desired employment sectors, locations, etc.
The Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis should provide a current baseline description, as well
as provide relevant, data driven, recommendations to promote revenue positive growth that reflect
and align with the goals and vision that will be established in Goals and Vision (“4”). The Strategic
Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis should include, but not be limited to, such for the following subjects:
I. Quality of Life, Community Character, and Amenities – for sustainable services, urban
design, place making, public art, heritage, historic preservation, streetscape, etc.
• Transportation – road network, connectivity, streets, trails, corridors, gateways,
pedestrian travel.
• Land-use- urban, suburban areas, rural, employment area, opportunities for
revitalization.
• Community facilities – parks, amenities, recreation, safety, public health, food
systems, poverty alleviation.
II. Economic Development Factors- that impact growth in the community.
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• Infrastructure – utility capacity to accommodate growth, electric utilities, municipal
water & sanitary sewer, road & transportation, fiber & connectivity, etc.
• Competitive Advantages – natural resources, location, workforce, etc.
• Growth Opportunities for Industry and Service Sectors – that should be of strategic
opportunity. Service, hospitality, light manufacturing, commercial, residential, etc.
III. Housing and Population Growth – impacts, opportunities, preparedness.
• Demonstrate correlation between residential growth and available amenities.
• Demonstrate correlation between residential growth and workforce availability.
• Attainable and sustainable growth goals that address lack of amenities and workforce
concerns.
IV. Fiscal Analysis and Taxation Policy Review – Detailed review of municipal taxation,
revenue sources.
• Fiscal Analysis and review of current taxation policies for policymaker consumption.
• Recommendations to create sustainable taxation policies that result in diverse
municipal revenue sources without disincentivizing growth and investment to the
community.
V. Zoning and Permitting – review current processes and impacts and provide
recommendations aligned within the study.
VI. Implementation – of planning that will achieve goals expressed in item 4. The team
selected by the City to provide a Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis will also be
available to assist the City in implementation of the plan.
DELIVERABLE DOCUMENTS AND TAKE-AWAYS
Following the review, fiscal analysis, findings, and recommendation of the Strategic Growth Plan
and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis the qualified service provider should provide a variety of
materials, documents, tools and graphics that will be accessible to both policymakers and the
general public.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
As a part of the Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis, the qualified service provider should seek
public input and stakeholder engagement where appropriate within their process. Public
confidence, stakeholder participation, and thoroughness of service provider are key factors for
success.
SECTION 3: RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS:
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
The City is seeking responses to REQUEST FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (“RFQ”) only from
professional service providers who have demonstrated knowledge and experience in providing
interdisciplinary planning and fiscal analysis for comparative municipalities.
Circleville – Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis
Qualified service providers will only be considered if they can demonstrate relevant, satisfactory,
experience in addressing desired outcomes stated under Desired Outcomes and demonstrate
ability to utilize methodology outlined under Objectives and Methodology under Section 2: Scope
and Services of RFQ.
SUMMARY OF SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS
Submittals should include the following items, along with other material to demonstrate
Consultant’s expertise and capability:
1. A brief written description of the service providers approach to the project.
2. The expertise of the team assembled by service provider to carry out the work.
3. A list of comparable projects undertaken by service provider and/or team members.
RECOMMENDED FORMAT FOR RESPONSES
Professional service providers intending to respond to this RFQ should utilize the following
recommended format for responses:
1) Description of Approach and Overview of Qualifications – up to 10 pages of
introduction to firm’s process, typical approach, public engagement, qualifications, and
ability to meet Scope of Services.
2) Team Experience and Expertise – Up to 10 pages of description of qualifications, multidisciplinary nature of team assembled for this project, specific evidence of relevant
experience in: city planning, community and urban design, land use planning, natural
resource mapping, citizen participation and visioning, demographic and fiscal analysis,
growth scenario development and analysis, and quality presentation graphics.
3) Comparable Project Summary – Provide a brief summary of comparable projects
completed for similar or aspirational municipalities and communities. Service providers
should consider providing recommendations, reviews, or other relevant evidence of success
and community satisfaction from previous projects.
4) Estimated Timeline for Delivery – Provide an estimated timeline to complete Strategic
Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis that meets requirements outlined in Section 2: Scope of
Services.
5) Sample Deliverable Documents and Take-aways - Provide sample deliverable
documents and take-aways that may be final product of Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal
Analysis.
6) Cost Estimate and Pricing Structure – Provide a high-level estimated price, including
explanation/methodology/justification for price determination for work completed, i.e.
hourly rate, per product rate, flat rate, etc.
EVALUATION OF RESPONSES
The City will evaluate all submittals to determine which service providers have the experience and
qualifications that are most suited for this project. If warranted, the City may request personal
Circleville – Strategic Growth Plan and Fiscal Analysis and Fiscal Analysis
interviews with the highest-ranked service providers or may request one or more responses with
further detail.
Detailed interviews or subsequent information/qualification requests may include but are not
limited to the following:
1. Detailed description of methodology and approach.
2. Work and timeline detail.
3. Interviews/recommendations with previous municipalities that project team has worked
with.
4. Data expected and samples of previous work.
5. Additional pricing detail and cost methodology.
RIGHT OF REFUSAL AND COST OF RESPONSE
The City reserves the right to reject any and/or all responses in their entirety. The City also
reserves the right to cease or remove any response from consideration. The City reserves the right
to award a contract or continue further evaluation of any provider in any manner deemed in the
best interest of its citizens.
The City accepts no responsibility for any expenses incurred by the responders to this RFQ;
including cost associated with RFQ responses and presentations. Such expenses are to be borne
exclusively by the responders.
RESPONSE DEADLINE AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Responses are to be submitted no later than 4:00PM EST on Friday, January 28, 2022
The City reserves the right not to review responses submitted after the deadline.
Responses should be submitted to:
City of Circleville
ATTN: Linda Chancey, Council Clerk
127 S. Court St.
Circleville, OH 43113
lchancey@circlevilleoh.gov
Formal questions to this RFQ may be submitted to the City anytime prior to the response deadline.
The City reserves the right not to respond to questions that are not germane to this project and/or
do not provide sufficient time to respond to question(s) prior to deadline.
Responses should be provided in at least six (6) paper hard copies that may be delivered to the
contact above as well as an electric copy of the response.
