11.09 - Financial Services Proposal - Ehlers

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The City will have access to the entire staff of Ehlers. During the course of a project, various staff members will have the responsibility for processing and documenting information pertaining to your project. Our key individuals will provide special expertise or professional backup as necessary. At Ehlers, we pride ourselves on our response time to our clients. We work locally out of our corporate headquarters located in Roseville and are available on short notice for meetings and conference calls. For the creation of tax increment districts, the time frame can vary depending on the project, but in any event we are in constant contact with our clients to make sure their needs and expectations are being met. We will work with your project team to define the scope of each project so that the appropriate financing allocations will be applied. Upon finalizing the scope of any project with the City, we will prepare a recommended plan. Any bonds, once authorized, can be sold based on estimated or actual construction and project costs. It takes approximately 30 days to bring an issue(s) to market and approximately 30 days to close the issue(s). One of the first steps taken for any project when creating a new tax increment district is for Ehlers to draft a proposed Schedule of Events that outlines each step, corresponding deadline and the person or party that is responsible for each step. This allows the City and Financial Advisor to monitor progress and manage expectations to ensure proper and timely service delivery. Background Information Concerning the Firm Ehlers is a nationally ranked independent public finance firm with 64 employees in three offices serving clients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. We are headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota and the Financial Advisors assigned to serve the City of Pequot Lakes are based in this office. Our History Ehlers & Associates, Inc. was founded in 1955 by Robert L. Ehlers, Sr. to serve as an advocate for government clients only. His mission was to eliminate the inherent conflict of interest created when an underwriter represents both the issuer /seller and the purchaser /investor in the sale of municipal debt issues. Purchased by the employees in 1985, Ehlers is now a nationally ranked independent financial advisory firm serving over 1,300 local governments from three offices. Ehlers' success has come from putting its clients first — helping them to achieve their financial goals to get results. As the needs of our clients have evolved and grown over the decades, our services have expanded to include not only debt issuance but economic development and redevelopment services, strategic and financial planning, as well as services related to assisting with management, public communications and assistance in involving public participation in community decisions. The original Ehlers' logo, the Greek letter" Y_" or sigma, continues to have significance today. It means "the sum of." Ehlers' strength is the "sum of our partnership with you and our commitment to excellence and to "designing customized financial solutions for outstanding communities." Our Philosophy of Service Our dedication to "how" we deliver these services is as unique and comprehensive as the service itself. We listen to your needs, maintain highly qualified employees to team with you, and present customized options to help decision - makers confidently select the best and lowest cost solutions for their citizens. The focus and Ehlers 2010 Fee Schedule for Financial Consultant Services to the Page 2 City of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota December 28, 2009