HomeMy WebLinkAboutC05-091 Chapin Valuation Consultants
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CONSULTING AGREEMENT
This Consulting Agreement ("Agreement") dated as this 2~"Ht. day of
Mttv-(.{/1 , 2005, is between the County of Eagle, State of Colorado, a body
corporate and politic, by and through its Board of County Commissioners ("County"),
and Chapin Valuation Consultants, a consultant with the mailing address of P.O. Box
4023, Eagle Colorado 81631 ("Consultant").
WHEREAS, County is in neE"d of a person to provide the services outlined in
Section 1.1 hereunder;
WHEREAS, Consultant has represented that he has the experience and
knowledge in the subject matter necessary to carry out the services outline in Section
1.1 hereunder;
WHEREAS, County wishes to hire Consultant to perform the tasks associated with
such services outlined in Section 1.1 hereunder;
WHEREAS, County and Consultant intend by this Agreement to set forth the
scope of the responsibilities of the Consultant in connection with the services and
related terms and conditions to govern the relationship between Consultant and County
in connection with the services.
Aareement
Therefore, based upon the representations by Consultant set forth in the
foregoing recitals, for good and valuable consideration, including the promises set forth
herein, the parties agree to the following:
1. Services Provided:
1.1 The Consultant will provide the consulting services as more particularly set forth
in the attached Exhibit "A," (hereinafter called "Consulting Services"). The
Consulting Services are generally described as 1) examining the Assessor
reappraisal process prior to completion and mailing of Notices of Value and 2)
assisting in the appeals process through consultation on pending appeals cases.
1.2 The Consultant agrees that Consultant will not enter into any consulting
arrangements with third parties that will conflict in any manner with the Consulting
Services.
1.3 The Consultant will provide the Consulting Services hereunder in Eagle,
Colorado or elsewhere as may be mutually agreed.
2. Term of Agreement:
2.1 This Agreement shall commence upon execution of this agreement, subject to
the provisions of Section 2.2 hereof, shall continue in full force and effect
throughout the appeals process or until earlier terminated as provided for herein.
2.2 This Agreement may be terminated by either party for any reason at any time,
with or without cause, and without penalty whatsoever therefore.
2.3 In the event of any termination of this Agreement, Consultant shall be
compensated for all hours of work then completed, plus approved expenses.
3. Independent Contractor:
3.1 With respect to the provision of the Consulting Services hereunder, Consultant
acknowledges that Consultant is an independent contractor providing Consulting
Services to County. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to make
Consultant an agent, employee, partner or representative of County. Moreover,
this Agreement creates no entitlement to participate in any of the Employee
Benefit Plans of County including insurance, paid vacation and recognized
holidays.
3.2 The Consultant shall not have the authority to, and will not make, any
commitments or enter into any agreement with any party on behalf of County
without the written consent of a senior management representative of County.
3.3 The Consultant will maintain liability, unemployment and workmen's
compensation insurance on his/her own behalf, as necessary.
4. Remuneration:
4.1 For the Consulting Services provided hereunder, County shall pay to the
Consultant a fee of $125.00 per hour not to exceed 100 hours of work. Nothing
herein shall constitute a guarantee of particular hours worked. Payment for
hours beyond this amount will only be by written amendment to this Agreement.
4.2 Not more often than once a month, Consultant shall submit to County an invoice
for payment identifying the work completed as of the date of the invoice and
accompanied by such supporting documentation as County may reasonably
require. County agrees to pay Consultant within thirty (30) days of receipt of a
properly documented invoice. Upon request, Consultant shall provide County
with such other supporting information as County may request.
4.3 Consultant shall maintain comprehensive, complete and accurate records and
accounts of its performance relating to this Agreement for a period of three (3)
years following final payment hereunder, which period shall be extended at
County's reasonable request.
4.4 Travel expenses, if necessary, shall be in an amount mutually agreed to by the
parties.
4.5 County will not withhold any taxes from monies paid to the Consultant hereunder
and Consultant agrees to be solely responsible for the accurate reporting and
payment of any taxes related to payments made pursuant to the terms of this
Agreement.
4.6 The funds appropriated for this project are equal to or in excess of the contract
amount. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement,
no charges shall be made to County nor shall any payment be made to
Consultant in excess of the above amounts for any work done without the written
approval of the County in accordance with a budget adopted by the Board of
County Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of the Colorado
Revised Statutes.
5. Indemnification:
5.1 Within the limits allowed by law, Consultant shall indemnify County for, and hold
and defend the County and its officials, boards, officers, principals and
employees, harmless from, all costs, claims and expenses, including reasonable
attorney's fees, arising from claims of any nature whatsoever made by any
person in connection with the acts or omissions of, or representations by, the
Consultant in the performance of this Agreement. This indemnification shall not
apply to claims by third parties against the County to the extent that the County
is liable to such third party for such claim without regard to the involvement of the
Consultant.
6. Consultant's Professional Level of Care:
6.1 Consultant shall be responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the
Consulting Services, including all supporting data and other documents prepared
or compiled in performance of the Services, and shall correct, at its sole
expense, all significant errors and omissions therein. The fact that the County
has accepted or approved the Consulting Services shall not relieve Consultant of
any of its responsibilities. Consultant shall perform the Consulting Services in a
skillful, professional and competent manner and in accordance with the standard
of care, skill and diligence applicable to consultants, with respect to similar
services, in this area at this time.
7. Notices:
7.1 Any notice to be given by any party to the other shall be in writing and shall be
deemed to have been duly given if delivered personally, by facsimile
transmission or if sent by prepaid first class mail, and for the purposes aforesaid,
the addresses of the parties are as follows:
(a) Eagle County Assessor
500 Broadway
PO Box 449
Eagle, CO 81631
with a copy to:
Eagle County Attorney's Office
500 Broadway
PO Box 850
Eagle, CO
(b) Chapin Valuation Consultants
Attn: Mark Chapin
P.O. Box 4023
Eagle, CO 81631
7.2 Notices shall be deemed given on the date of delivery; on the date a FAX is
transmitted and confirmed received or, if transmitted after normal business
hours, on the next business day after transmission, provided that a paper copy is
mailed the same date; or three days after the date of deposit, first class postage
prepaid, in an official depositary of the U.S. Postal Service.
8. Miscellaneous:
8.1 This Agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of
Colorado and the parties hereby agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts
thereof. Venue shall be in the Fifth Judicial District for the State of Colorado.
8.2 The Consultant and County acknowledge that, during the term of this Agreement
and in the course of the Consultant rendering the Consulting Services, the
Consultant may acquire knowledge of the business operations of County and
other aspects of the business affairs of County that are not generally known and
the Consultant shall not disclose, use, publish or otherwise reveal, either directly
or through another, to any person, firm or corporation, any knowledge,
information or facts concerning any of the past or then business operations of
County and shall retain all knowledge and information which he has acquired as
the result of this Agreement in trust in a fiduciary capacity for the sole benefit of
County, its successors and assigns during the term of this Agreement, and for a
period of five (5) years following termination of this Agreement.
8.3 All documents (including electronic files) which are obtained during or prepared
in the performance of the Consulting Services shall remain the property of the
County and are to be delivered to County before final payment is made to
Consultant or upon earlier termination of this Agreement.
8.4 This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the parties related to
its subject matter. It supersedes all prior proposals, agreements and
understandings.
8.5 This Agreement is personal to the Consultant and may not be assigned by
Consultant.
8.6 This Agreement does not and shall not be deemed to confer upon or grant to any
third party any right enforceable at law or equity arising out of any term, covenant, or
condition herein or the breach thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement the day and
year first above written.
COUNTY OF EAGLE, STATE OF
COLORADO, By and Through Its
ATTEST: BOARD 0 UNTY COMMISSIONERS
.....
Cia k to the Board of
County Commissioners
CHAPIN VALUATION CONSULTANTS
BY:~~~
ark Chapin
March 15,2005
Mr. Jack Ingstad
Eagle County Administrator
Eagle County Government
500 Broadway, Eagle, CO 81631-0850
Dear Jack:
I would like to thank you for taking the time to meet with me yesterday regarding
consulting for the 2005 appeals process and possibly working with the assessor's office
on the completion of the current reappraisal.
My understanding of the consulting assignment is split into two functions. One: Assist
in the appeals process and consult on pending appeals cases, working with the attorney's
office. Two: Examine the Assessors reappraisal process prior to completion and mailing
of Notices of Value (NOV's) at the end of April.
Several thoughts come to mind regarding the reappraisal for 2005. The primary issue
relates to timing. The final completion of the reappraisal has typically been by mid April
with submission of the real property NOV data to the printing and mailing vendor by
April 15 -17 +/-. This allows a window of four weeks to complete the reappraisal and
meet the vendor's deadline in order to mail the Notices by the end of April. According to
information you've received, the reappraisal is in its final stages with the assessor's staff
waiting on analysis results from statistician Russ Thimgan. The factors studied and
submitted by Mr. Thimgan are typically for all vacant land and residential and
commercial improved properties. However, in my experience it is extremely important to
have an internal process in place. This allows for a double check of final values and
statistical results prior to the electronic transfer of the NOV data to the printing vendor.
This process helps ensure the passing of the state mandated audit. Failing the audit can
result in a reappraisal order from the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) and costs
associated with a reappraisal order. An appraisal order by the SBOE could either be
conducted by the Division of Property Taxation (DPT) or an outside firm. Additional
costs would also be incurred for mailing new NOV's and for the appeals process, which
could be pushed further back into the year. (Eagle County has not had a reappraisal order
within the past sixteen years.)
Other areas of the reappraisal which would also be subject to review prior to NOV's are
agricultural property, vacant land discounted property, possessory interest property, sand
and gravel producing property (there are less then twenty accounts to my knowledge in
this last category) and finally county wide new construction. (New construction value is
a key ingredient to tax revenue calculations.)
Personal property NOV's are mailed at a later date, and should also be reviewed as this
class of property is subject to audit requirements also.
EXHIBIT
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Estimated time for meeting with appraisal staff and the review process is a minimum of
thirty hours initially and twenty hours each week for the following three weeks. I will
also be available via phone and on call as needed. My consulting rate is a $125.00 per
hour. Appeals consultation is based on the same hourly rate. Out of area travel expenses
will be added over and above my hourly rate.
As you know, I hold a Certified General Appraisal License in the State of Colorado and
have a total of twenty seven years of assessment experience in the state. I bring those
years and my fourteen years in Eagle County to the table. I am happy to lend my Ad
Valoreum experience and knowledge ofthe area back to the county to assist you through
this process. Please let me know your decision as soon as possible, as I will need to
arrange my work schedule accordingly.
Sincerely,
Mark Chapin
Chapin Valuation Consultants
