The engagement, end to end.
A typical TaxBase Advisors engagement takes 60–90 days from first mayor conversation to contract signing, and runs on a quarterly cadence after that. Here's exactly what happens, in order.
1 · The first conversation
A 30-minute call. Usually the mayor or economic development director, often with a council member or two listening in. We come prepared: trade-area leakage figures pulled from public data, three or four retailers we'd target if we were running your recruitment, and a reasonable read on which sites in your city we'd prioritize.
You get a clear picture of what we'd actually do for you. We get a clear picture of whether your city is ready for the kind of work we run.
2 · The proposal
Within seven days of the first call, we send a written proposal: scope, retainer tier (based on population), deliverables, term, terminations rights. The proposal includes a draft Master Services Agreement and a city-specific Statement of Work that names your priority categories and target sites.
For most cities, we pursue a sole-source procurement under your professional services exemption — fastest path, avoids 60-day RFP cycles. We provide sole-source justification language for your purchasing officer, adaptable to your jurisdiction's procurement code.
3 · Council resolution
Most professional services contracts above the mayor's discretionary threshold require council approval. This is a feature, not a bug. A council resolution gets you 5–7 advocates instead of one mayor — and our work becomes much more durable to political turnover when it's adopted as policy.
We provide draft resolution language. Your city attorney adapts it.
4 · Signing & kickoff
Contract signing triggers our 90-day onboarding: trade area & gap analysis delivered in weeks 2–3, priority sites profiled in weeks 4–6, retailer outreach launched in week 7. By day 90 you have a working dashboard, an active pipeline of 15–30 retailers, and a calendar of quarterly briefing dates locked.
5 · Steady-state quarterly cadence
After onboarding, the engagement settles into a predictable rhythm:
- Daily: dashboard auto-refresh from our working files. You always see current pipeline state.
- Per council cycle (bi-weekly to monthly): Council IQ intel email synced to your council's meeting cadence. Neighboring cities' agendas, regional EDO/IDB activity, retailer announcements affecting your trade area.
- Monthly: status email summarizing outreach, hot leads, anything that needs city action.
- Quarterly: in-person briefing with mayor, economic development, and sometimes council. Pipeline review, deals closed, deals lost and why, recommendations for the next quarter.
- Annually: ICSC RECon Las Vegas representation, plus regional Southeast conferences.
6 · When deals close
A retailer-landed cascade is the most consequential event in any engagement. When a target retailer signs:
- Our brokerage represents the landlord, developer, or seller — never the retailer.
- Standard market commission paid by the principal — your retainer never funds our commission.
- If the deal needs evaluation of state and local incentive packages, we work through our standing partnership with the Alabama Small Business Development Network (ASBDN) for Alabama engagements, and through other state small business development organizations and independent consultants for engagements outside Alabama. Institutional reach at the table without your city paying for a separate government-relations practice. (Note: actual TIF drafting remains with city attorneys and bond counsel — we coordinate evaluation, not legal documents.)
- We earn a performance bonus on every retailer that opens during the term, capped annually to keep your budgeting predictable. The retainer covers our work; the bonus is real skin-in-the-game on outcomes.
- The dashboard reflects the close immediately. The mayor briefing deck for that quarter leads with the win.
7 · Renewal or graduation
The initial term is two years. At Year 2, we look at what landed, what's still in motion, and whether the engagement structure still fits. Many cities renew on the same Active Recruitment tier. Some graduate to Performance Partner — outcome-weighted pricing for cities with strong political will. Others move to our Watchtower tier — light intel-only subscription that keeps the dashboard live without active recruitment.
We work this way deliberately. Every decision in the engagement structure is designed to keep our incentives aligned with yours — retailers landing on parcels inside your tax base, not just any tax base.