Hillsborough County committee approves six firms for municipal bond underwriter pool, excludes TD Securities

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County evaluation committee voted by consensus to add six underwriting firms to the county's eligibility pool after scoring responses to request for qualifications RMQ-2500231 for municipal-bond underwriting services, and confirmed that a seventh proposal from TD Securities USA, LLC was deemed unacceptable by procurement services and excluded from evaluation.

The committee met remotely and recorded the session. Sakina Ford, chief buyer for the project, told participants the meeting was being recorded and that the cone of silence remained in effect. "This is the evaluation committee meeting and possible scoring for request for qualifications RMQ-two500231 municipal bonds underwriting services for the risk management department," Ford said.

The committee's deliberations focused on three scoring categories set in the RFQ: credit and structuring expertise, analytical and technical approach (maximum 35 points); marketing and underwriting capabilities (maximum 35 points); and proposer organization, staff experience and qualifications (maximum 30 points). Julie Wisdom, debt and financial analysis manager for Hillsborough County, said the RFQ sought firms qualified for negotiated credit transactions and for more complex deals such as affordable-housing, public-private partnerships and transportation work. "The point of this is to have just a small group of firms qualified to help the county with the more specialized transactions," Wisdom said.

Committee members Irma Mooka, budget managing director in the Management and Budget Department, and Evan Fitzgerald, senior accountant in Debt and Enterprise Accounting, participated in the scoring. The committee reviewed proposals from JPMorgan; BofA Securities Inc.; RBC Capital Markets LLC; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; Raymond James & Associates, Inc.; and Barclays. The proposal from TD Securities USA, LLC was not included in the evaluation per procurement services.

After discussion and verification of references and supporting documents, the committee recorded consensus scores and a qualification determination for each proposer. Final consensus totals reported by Ford were: JPMorgan, 100; BofA Securities Inc., 100; RBC Capital Markets LLC, 97; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 100; Raymond James & Associates, Inc., 100; and Barclays, 100. Committee members agreed that each of those proposers met the RFQ's qualification requirements and should be placed on the eligibility list.

During the review, committee members noted that RBC's submission initially lacked some of the documentary evidence expressly requested in the RFQ for minimum qualifications (for example, direct documentation of registrations). The committee reviewed supplemental links and materials provided by the vendor and verified public records (including MSRB and FINRA listings) during the meeting, but agreed to reflect the procedural shortfall in scoring. Committee members described a 10% deduction in the organization/staff/qualifications category for RBC, resulting in a score of 27 out of 30 in that category and a total score of 97.

Ford also confirmed that none of the proposers had requested the DM/DWBE bonus points for the evaluation, so no additional points were applied. The committee did not record any formal motion or roll-call roll that would change the unanimous consensus; members repeatedly voiced agreement and confirmed that each proposer qualified under the RFQ requirements.

The committee concluded the meeting after Ford said she would finalize and distribute the scoring spreadsheet and post the recording once available. No further actions or formal contract awards were finalized at the meeting; the scoring reflects qualification for an underwriter pool and not an individual negotiated award to any firm.