TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Bruce Moe, Finance Director
Steve S. Charelian, Revenue Services Manager
Gwen Eng, Purchasing Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Resolution No. 17-0113 Awarding RFP No. 1125-17 to InfoSend, Inc. for a Three-Year Contract for Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment Services with an Estimated Total Value of $92,000 (Finance Director Moe).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 17-0113
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) adopt Resolution No. 17-0113 approving a three-year contract with InfoSend, Inc. for electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) services with an estimated value of $92,000; and
b) authorize the City Manager to extend the term of the agreement for up to two additional two-year periods if deemed in the City’s best interest.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Sufficient funds are included in the Finance Department budget for electronic bill presentment and payment services.
BACKGROUND:
In 2009, the City began offering electronic bill presentment and payment services for utility billing (water, sewer, refuse) customers. This service includes issuing utility bills online and accepting electronic payments through ACH (automated clearing house) or credit/debit cards. The City contracted for this service with InfoSend, Inc.
In addition to EBPP services for utility bills, InfoSend provides cost effective outgoing U.S. Mail service for mass mailings such as the City’s business license and animal license renewal programs. They have also provided mail support for notification of special projects and events such as community budget priorities meetings, special environmental programs, and refuse updates pertinent to the City’s residents and businesses.
DISCUSSION:
The existing EBPP contract with InfoSend will expire December 31, 2017. Staff solicited proposals for these services and received three responses. Selection is based upon several factors: cost, experience, staffing, turnaround time, accuracy, facility, technology and references. The proposal comparison (Attachment #1) shows the valuation of services. InfoSend, Inc. was ranked highest based on the evaluation criteria.
Additional factors influencing staff’s recommendation include enhancements such as:
• Free Mobile BillPay App which allows customer payments via smart device (phones, tablets, etc.)
• Improved back office payment reports
• Greater electronic bill messaging capabilities for important City messages on utility bills
• Electronic versions of bill inserts for customers opting for paperless billing
• Cost effective full color bill printing for hardcopy customers
Some of these enhancements were not offered by the other proposers.
While offering competitive pricing, InfoSend, Inc. also provides tracking and archiving of all outgoing mail, systems redundancy/disaster recovery through mirrored production facilities, PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant data security, and a customer web portal with branding consistent with the look and feel of the City of Manhattan Beach website.
InfoSend, Inc. is the recognized leader in EBPP for local governments, and currently works with many of our peers such as the cities of El Segundo, Glendale, Burbank, Dana Point, Costa Mesa, San Clemente, Oceanside, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Ventura.
Given these facts, staff recommends that the City Council: a) adopt Resolution No. 17-0113 (Attachment #2) approving a three-year contract with InfoSend, Inc. (Attachment #3) for electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) services with an estimated value of $92,000; and b) authorize the City Manager to extend the term of the agreement for up to two additional two-year periods if deemed in the City’s best interest. The City may cancel the contract at any time without cause.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
This request for proposals was advertised on the City’s website as well as BidSync, a public bid notification board.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW
The agreement has been reviewed by the City Attorney and is approved as to form.
Attachments:
1. Vendor Comparison
2. Resolution No. 17-0113
3. InfoSend, Inc. Agreement