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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
David Wilkins, Assistant Attorney General, Director Transit Section |
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PRESENTER(S): |
David Wilkins, Assistant Attorney General, Director Transit Section |
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Mike Bell, Assistant Attorney General, UTA Counsel |
TITLE:
title
Contract: Memorandum of Agreement for UTA Legal Counsel and Amendment One to the Memorandum of Agreement (Utah Attorney General's Office)
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Non-Procurement Agreement
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and authorize the Executive Director to execute Amendment One. The Memorandum of Agreement and accompanying Amendment provide for the addition of an Assistant Attorney General and provides that UTA will cover the costs of an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Investigator hired by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to perform EEO investigations for UTA.
BACKGROUND:
The Public Transit District Act (UCA 17B-2a-810.1) directs that the Utah Attorney General’s Office shall serve as legal counsel for a large public transit district, that the Attorney General is the legal advisor of a large public transit district, and that the AGO shall perform all legal services required by the large public transit district.
Pursuant to this statutory mandate, the AGO and UTA entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with an effective date of April 30, 2020, which defines the scope of services provided by assigned AGO attorneys to UTA and the administration of costs and items of support provided to assigned AGO attorneys by UTA. The MOA covers an expected term of 10 years. The MOA was executed by UTA’s former Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer after conferring with the Board of Trustees office. The belief was that formal Board action was unnecessary since UTA’s utilization of Assistant Attorney Generals for provision of legal services was mandated by statute.
Recently, at UTA’s request, the AGO has employed an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator to reside at and support UTA who shall report to the AGO Transit Section Director. In addition, the AGO has added one additional attorney to address UTA’s employment law matters. Since the hiring of the EEO Investigator was not mandated by statute, it was necessary to bring Amendment One to the Board for formal approval. It therefore makes sense to bring the basic MOA along with Amendment One to the Board for approval.
DISCUSSION:
UTA is requesting approval of the MOU with an original estimated value of $6,000,000 (over 10 years), and Amendment 1, with the not-to-exceed value of $1,700,000 (covering the remaining 5 years of the agreement).
UTA is willing to compensate the AGO for the full cost of the investigator’s salary and benefits; and is also willing to provide the investigator with the same logistical, travel, training, and other support it provides to the AGO attorneys as described in the original MOA. The additional Attorney shall have the duties and receive the support described in the base MOA.
CONTRACT SUMMARY:
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Contractor Name: |
Utah Attorney General’s Office |
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Contract Number: |
25-500429 |
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Base Contract Effective Dates: |
April 30, 2020 through April 29, 2030 |
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Extended Contract Dates: |
N/A |
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Existing Contract Value: |
$6,000,000 |
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Amendment Amount: |
$1,700,000 |
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New/Total Contract Value: |
$7,700,000 |
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Procurement Method: |
Mandated by law |
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Budget Authority: |
2025 Approved Operating Budget |
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ALTERNATIVES:
UTA could hire an EEO investigator, but the value of attorney-client privilege would not be available.
FISCAL IMPACT:
These contracted services are part of annual operating budget.
The approved 2025 Operating Budget includes $900,000 for AG services covered under this agreement. The annual estimated expense for this contract going forward (accounting for the increase in services requested through amendment 1) is $900,000, with an approximate annual increase of 3%. Annual budget requests will be made for the remaining 5 ¼ years of the contract, as appropriate. .
This contract does not include the cost of AGO litigation division or other AGO support. This merely covers the 4 AGO attorneys and 1 EEO investigator assigned full time to UTA.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 25-500429 - Memorandum of Agreement between Utah Transit Authority and Utah Attorney General's Office
2. Amendment 1 - Memorandum of Agreement between Utah Transit Authority and Utah Attorney General's Office