REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MICHAEL A. LIMA, Finance Director/Controller
Finance Department
SUBJECT
Title
Award Mail and Print Services Contract to DataProse, LLC and authorize the Finance Director/Controller to negotiate and execute a three-year (3) contract for services
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City of Fresno engage DataProse, LLC as the company for mail and print services for utilities, business tax, and animal license billings for a three-year (3) contract with three (3) one-year extensions in the total amount of $65,589.60 (exclusive of supply chain increases).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City has been using an outside vendor to print and mail its utility, business tax, and animal license billings for several years. As the previous contract for these services had reached the end of its term, Staff prepared a Request For Proposals (RFP) for mail and print services. This RFP was issued on February 16, 2022. Nine (9) firms responded to the RFP. A committee was formed to evaluate the responses. After an initial evaluation, the committee selected five proposers to interview. Based upon the results of the RFP process and the results of the interviews, the committee determined DataProse, LLC (DataProse) was the most responsive and responsible proposer. The committee cited several reasons for selecting DataProse; including 30 years of print and mail services, a California location, extensive experience with municipalities, familiarity with Sungard Naviline and Tyler Munis software programs, and a close relationship with USPS. Thus, Staff recommends DataProse to be awarded a three-year (3) contract with three (3) one-year extensions for utilities, business tax, and animal licenses billings.
BACKGROUND
The City of Fresno’s Utility Billing and Collection Division of the Finance Department prints, mails, and/or emails monthly utility invoices to the citizens of Fresno. The Business Tax Unit of the Finance Departments prints, mails, and/or emails monthly animal license renewals, and semi-annual and annual tax renewal forms to businesses doing business in the City of Fresno. The City has used an outside vendor to provide these print and mail services for several years. The City’s most recent vendor, OSG Billing Services (formerly known as DivDat), has been with the City since March 2010.
As the previous contract with OSG Billing Services had reached its term limit, Staff prepared an RFP for these print and mail services. On February 16, 2022, a Notice Inviting Proposals was published in the Business Journal and the RFP was posted on Planet Bids with links available on the City of Fresno’s website. Nine firms responded to the RFP.
An RFP Evaluation Committee (Committee) made up of representatives from the Finance Department and the City Clerk - Central Printing was formed to evaluate the RFP responses. The Committee held its first meeting on May 13, 2022. Each of the responding firms was evaluated on:
1) the ability to meet the stated service requirements,
2) costs as shown on the proposal cost detail,
3) experience with the services described, and
4) other related information provided by proposers.
After evaluating the RFP responses based on the previously mentioned criteria, the Committee made the decision to eliminate four of the nine respondents from further consideration, as the prices they proposed were significantly higher than the proposed price offered by five (5) of the other respondents. The Committee held interviews with the following five (5) proposers between May 5, 2022 and May 10, 2022:
• Level One
• Ray Morgan Co.
• OSG Billing Services
• InfoSend
• DataProse
The Committee met on May 17, 2022 to finalize the selection of a firm to provide mail and print services for the utilities, business tax, and animal license bills. Based on all the available information, the Committee chose DataProse to be the vendor for mail and print services. The proposed contract between the City and DataProse has a term of three years with three one-year extensions.
The Committee citied five reasons for its selection:
1) DataProse has over thirty years of experience in this field with extensive experience with municipalities,
2) DataProse has familiarity with both the Sungard Naviline software currently used by Utility Billing and Collection Division, and the Tyler Munis software to which the City is transitioning,
3) DataProse offered technological enhancements, including electronic messaging on invoices or renewals and the ability to track the jobs through the online portal,
4) DataProse has a close working relationship with USPS,
5) DataProse had the lowest price of the respondents.
Staff recommends that Council award the mail and print services contract to DataProse and authorize the Finance Director/Controller to negotiate and execute the contract for services subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney's Office.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not considered.
FISCAL IMPACT
The mail and print service charges are paid from the Finance Department’s budget. The FY 2023 Adopted Budget contains sufficient appropriations to cover DataProse quoted first-year price of $21,863.20. The fee for the remaining years of the proposed agreement will need to be appropriated as part of that fiscal year’s budget.
Attachments:
Bid Evaluation Form
Report from Evaluation Committee