Princeton's City Council will spend part of Monday's 6 p.m. work session shaping a request for proposals for an independent study of how city government is organized and staffed, before the city asks consulting firms to bid.
The city has budgeted $168,000 in its General Fund for the efficiency review, according to a memo from Purchasing Officer Maggie Metzner. No contract will be awarded and no money spent at Monday's meeting; staff wants direction on what the study should cover and how fast.
Two parts, priced piece by piece
Draft RFP 26-100024 splits the work in two. Part A is a citywide review in six tasks: project start-up and data collection, an organizational assessment, benchmarking against comparable cities, an operational efficiency analysis, recommendations on structure, and a final report to the council.
Part B is a staffing analysis of workloads, supervisory ratios, position classifications and succession needs, with a separate fixed fee for each of 16 departments, from the city manager's office, finance and IT to police, fire, the library, municipal court, parks, planning and public utilities.
Firms would also price optional add-ons: a classification and compensation study, employee and community surveys, a strategic planning workshop and extra council workshops.
Because every piece carries its own price, the memo says, city leaders could pick which areas to study and decide whether to finish in one fiscal year or begin with priority departments and add later phases as money allows. Any later phase would need budget approval.
