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Council committee approves one-year extension with PFM for city financial advisory services
Summary
The council's finance committee approved an emergency ordinance authorizing a one-year contract extension, with two one-year renewal options, for PFM Financial Advisors to provide strategic municipal financial advisory services. Members pressed officials on local participation, fiduciary role and waived OEO goals.
The Committee of Finance, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion approved ordinance 6892-2026 to authorize the director of finance to enter into contracts with PFM Financial Advisors LLC for a one-year term with two additional one-year renewal options. The director said PFM helped restructure the city's debt program and “kept a $68,000,000 liability off of our books,” and that the firm’s work has become “ingrained in several projects.”
Council members questioned why the administration contracted the Orlando team rather than the local PFM office. The finance director and PFM representatives said the Cleveland office was precluded by a conflict and that an ethics firewall currently separates the Florida and Cleveland teams; the director said he is discussing lifting that firewall with the ethics officer. Jeremy Nedfeld of PFM said the firm acts as a fiduciary under MSRB/SEC rules and “has an obligation to provide financial advice…in a way that benefits the city.”
Members also pressed for clarity on the contract structure, asking why the arrangement is a retainer rather than billing hourly. The director said a retainer proved more economical and covers a broad span of services; he compared the proposed $120,000 retainer to other jurisdictions that pay substantially more for comparable services. Council members flagged that OEO participation goals were waived; the transcript records an administrative statement that OEO goals “were waived” for the contract and council asked that any ethics opinions be filed with the clerk.
The committee approved the ordinance as amended to require the director of finance to provide written notice to the clerk of council whenever a cooperative purchase is used and to include details of such purchases. The committee recorded the ordinance as "stands approved" in the proceedings; no roll‑call vote was taken in committee of the whole according to council rules.
