Agenda 01/08/2013 Item #16C1 1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recommendation to award Agreement # 12-5950 to Southwest Direct, Inc., to outsource the
printing and mailing of Collier County Water-Sewer District utility bills.
OBJECTIVE: Continue outsourcing the printing and mailing of Collier County Water-Sewer
District(CCWSD)water,wastewater, and irrigation quality water utility bills.
CONSIDERATIONS: Agreement # 08-5125 with Southwest Direct, Inc. (SWD), approved by
the Board of County Commissioners (Board) on March 10, 2009 (Agenda item 16C1), approved
the outsourcing of utility bill printing and mailing to SWD. That agreement expires on March
10, 2013.
On August 7, 2012, the Collier County Purchasing Department sent Request for Proposal (RFP)
# 12-5950 to 274 vendors specializing in bulk printing and mailing. Seventy-five firms
downloaded the solicitation. Purchasing received three proposals by the due date of
September 12, 2012.
The selection committee reviewed all responses per the requirements included in the RFP. The
committee selected the vendor with the highest score with respect to the capabilities of its web
page, location of its recovery facility in the case of a natural disaster and the quality of both
printed and electronic bill images.
The proposals received were ranked by score from highest to lowest as follows:
1. Southwest Direct, Inc., Fort Myers, Florida
2. Advanced Xerographic Imaging Systems, Inc., Orlando,Florida
3. Pinnacle Data Systems, Birmingham, Alabama
SWD customizes the utility bill to meet CCWSD specifications. SWD provides the CCWSD the
ability to offer customers a choice between receiving a paper bill via postal mail or receiving an
email notification that the bill is available to be viewed via their online account. Billing files are
sent electronically to SWD through a File Transfer Protocol site. if the files are submitted prior
to noon, the utility bills are mailed/emailed that same day. If the files are submitted after noon,
the utility bills are mailed/emailed the next day.
Outsourcing this function has demonstrated several benefits, both tangible and intangible.
• Provides business continuity in the event the Mercantile Avenue facility is damaged or
destroyed in a natural disaster.
• Provides flexible formatting of utility bills to meet customer needs.
• Provides additional billing functionality, such as email notification of bill availability
together with a current balance summary, and the ability to view the entire utility bill
online. This is a feature frequently requested by customers who reside out of the area.
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
• Provides operational savings by eliminating:
o Necessary printing and sorting equipment leases
o Paper and ink supplies
o Courier services to deliver printed bills to the post office
o Return payment envelope for customers who pay via automatic bank draft, and
o Paper and envelope supplies for customers who choose to receive their utility bills
via email.
Staff recommends awarding Agreement # 12-5950 to Southwest Direct, Inc., to outsource the
printing and mailing of Collier County Water-Sewer District utility bills.
FISCAL IMPACT: The current cost to print and mail approximately 56,000 utility bills is
$97,000 annually. This cost will increase as the number of utility bills increases as additional
customers connect to the water/wastewater system. SWD's pricing in Agreement #12-5950 is
the same as in the current contract. Funds are available in the Collier County Water-Sewer
District Operating Fund (408). Estimated costs for the duration of the contract follow.
Budget Estimate
FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17
Printing and Mailing Operating Expense $103,300 $105,000 $107,000 $109,000 $111,000
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: This item has been reviewed and approved by the County
Attorney's Office, is legally sufficient for Board action and only requires a majority vote for
approval—SRT.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no Growth Management Impact associated with
this Executive Summary.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of County Commissioners award Agreement #12-5950
to Southwest Direct, Inc., to outsource the printing and mailing of Collier County Water-Sewer
District utility bills; and, authorize the Chairman to execute the attached Agreement after final
review and approval by the County Attorney.
Prepared By: Teresa Riesen, Revenue Manager, Utility Billing and Accounting
Attachments: Agreement# 12-5950 and Final Ranking Sheet
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
AGREEMENTI2-5950
for
Direct Mailing Services Including Utility Bill Printing and Mailing
THIS AGREEMENT,made and entered into on this day of 201 by
and between Southwest Direct, Inc., authorized to do business in the State of Florida, whose
business address is 2129 Andrea Lane, Ft. Myers FL 33912, (the "Vendor") and Collier
County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, (the "County"):
WITNESSETH:
1. COMMENCEMENT. The Vendor shall commence the work upon the issuance of a
Purchase Order. The contract shall be for a two (2) year period, commencing on date of
award and terminating two (2) years from that date, unless terminated in accordance
with the provisions of Section 9,Termination.
The County may, at its discretion and with the consent of the Vendor, renew the
Agreement under all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement for three
(3) additional one (1) year periods. The County shall give the Vendor written notice of
the County's intention to extend the Agreement term not less than ten(10) days prior to
the end of the Agreement term then in effect.
2. STATEMENT OF WORK. The Vendor shall provide direct mailing services, including
utility bill printing and mailing in accordance with the terms and conditions of RFP
#12-5950, the Vendor's proposal, and Scope of Services Exhibit A,referred to herein and
made an integral part of this agreement. This Agreement contains the entire
understanding between the parties and any modifications to this Agreement shall be
mutually agreed upon in writing by the Vendor and the County Project or Contract
Manager or his designee, in compliance with the County Purchasing Policy and
Administrative Procedures in effect at the time such services are authorized.
3. COMPENSATION. The County shall pay the Vendor for the performance of this
Agreement the aggregate of the units actually ordered and furnished at the unit price,
together with the cost of any other charges/fees submitted in the proposal, as per
Exhibit B, hereby attached and incorporated by reference.
Any County agency may purchase products and services under this contract, provided
sufficient funds are included in their budget(s). Payment will be made upon receipt of a
proper invoice and upon approval by the Project Manager or his designee, and in
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compliance with Chapter 218, Fla. Stats., otherwise known as the "Local Government
Prompt Payment Act".
3.1 Payments will be made for services furnished, delivered, and accepted, upon
receipt and approval of invoices submitted on the date of services or within six (6)
months after completion of contract. Any untimely submission of invoices beyond
the specified deadline period is subject to non-payment under the legal doctrine of
"laches" as untimely submitted. Time shall be deemed of the essence with respect to
the timely submission of invoices under this agreement.
4. SALES TAX. Vendor shall pay all sales, consumer, use and other similar taxes
associated with the Work or portions thereof, which are applicable during the
performance of the Work.
5. NOTICES. All notices from the County to the Vendor shall be deemed duly served if
mailed or faxed to the Vendor at the following Address:
Southwest Direct, Inc.
2129 Andrea Lane
Ft. Myers,FL. 33912
Attn: Anthony D. Correnti,President
Telephone:239-768-9588
Facsimile:239-768-0408
All Notices from the Vendor to the County shall be deemed duly served if mailed or
faxed to the County to:
Collier County Government Center
Purchasing Department
3327 Tamiami Trail,East
Naples,Florida 34112
Attention: Purchasing &General Services Director
Telephone: 239-252-8975
Facsimile: 239-252-6480
The Vendor and the County may change the above mailing address at any time upon
giving the other party written notification. All notices under this Agreement must be in
writing.
6. NO PARTNERSHIP. Nothing herein contained shall create or be construed as creating
a partnership between the County and the Vendor or to constitute the Vendor as an
agent of the County.
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7. PERMITS: LICENSES: TAXES. In compliance with Section 218.80, F.S., all permits
necessary for the prosecution of the Work shall be obtained by the Vendor. Payment for
all such permits issued by the County shall be processed internally by the County. All
non-County permits necessary for the prosecution of the Work shall be procured and
paid for by the Vendor. The Vendor shall also be solely responsible for payment of any
and all taxes levied on the Vendor. In addition, the Vendor shall comply with all rules,
regulations and laws of Collier County, the State of Florida, or the U. S. Government
now in force or hereafter adopted. The Vendor agrees to comply with all laws
governing the responsibility of an employer with respect to persons employed by the
Vendor.
8. NO IMPROPER USE. The Vendor will not use, nor suffer or permit any person to use
in any manner whatsoever, County facilities for any improper, immoral or offensive
purpose, or for any purpose in violation of any federal, state, county or municipal
ordinance, rule, order or regulation, or of any governmental rule or regulation now in
effect or hereafter enacted or adopted. In the event of such violation by the Vendor or if
the County or its authorized representative shall deem any conduct on the part of the
Vendor to be objectionable or improper, the County shall have the right to suspend the
contract of the Vendor. Should the Vendor fail to correct any such violation,conduct, or
practice to the satisfaction of the County within twenty-four (24) hours after receiving
notice of such violation, conduct, or practice, such suspension to continue until the
violation is cured. The Vendor further agrees not to commence operation during the
suspension period until the violation has been corrected to the satisfaction of the
County.
9. TERMINATION. Should the Vendor be found to have failed to perform his services in
a manner satisfactory to the County as per this Agreement, the County may terminate
said agreement for cause; further the County may terminate this Agreement for
convenience with a thirty (30) day written notice. The County shall be sole judge of
non-performance.
In the event that the County terminates this Agreement, Vendor's recovery against the
County shall be limited to that portion of the Contract Amount earned through the date
of termination. The Vendor shall not be entitled to any other or further recovery against
the County, including, but not limited to, any damages or any anticipated profit on
portions of the services not performed.
10. NO DISCRIMINATION. The Vendor agrees that there shall be no discrimination as to
race,sex, color,creed or national origin.
11. INSURANCE. The Vendor shall provide insurance as follows:
A. Commercial General Liability: Coverage shall have minimum limits of $1,000,000
Per Occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate for Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage
Liability. This shall include Premises and Operations; Independent Vendors; Products
and Completed Operations and Contractual Liability.
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B. Workers' Compensation: Insurance covering all employees meeting Statutory
Limits in compliance with the applicable state and federal laws. ''
The coverage must include Employers' Liability with a minimum limit of$1,000,000 for
each accident.
Special Requirements: Collier County Government shall be listed as the Certificate
Holder and included as an Additional Insured on the Comprehensive General Liability
Policy.
Current, valid insurance policies meeting the requirement herein identified shall be
maintained by Vendor during the duration of this Agreement. The Vendor shall provide
County with certificates of insurance meeting the required insurance provisions.
Renewal certificates shall be sent to the County ten (10) days prior to any expiration
date. Coverage afforded under the policies will not be canceled or allowed to expire
until the greater of: ten (10) days prior written notice, or in accordance with policy
provisions. Vendor shall also notify County, in a like manner, within twenty-four (24)
hours after receipt, of any notices of expiration, cancellation, non-renewal or material
change in coverage or limits received by Consultant from its insurer, and nothing
contained herein shall relieve Vendor of this requirement to provide notice.
Vendor shall ensure that all subcontractors comply with the same insurance
requirements that he is required to meet.
12. INDEMNIFICATION. To the maximum extent permitted by Florida law, the Vendor
shall indemnify and hold harmless Collier County, its officers and employees from any
and all liabilities, damages, losses and costs, including, but not limited to, reasonable
attorneys' fees and paralegals' fees, whether resulting from any claimed breach of this
Agreement by Vendor, any statutory or regulatory violations, or from personal injury,
property damage, direct or consequential damages, or economic loss, to the extent
caused by the negligence, recklessness, or intentionally wrongful conduct of the Vendor
or anyone employed or utilized by the Vendor in the performance of this Agreement.
This indemnification obligation shall not be construed to negate, abridge or reduce any
other rights or remedies which otherwise may be available to an indemnified party or
person described in this paragraph.
This section does not pertain to any incident arising from the sole negligence of Collier
County.
12.1 The duty to defend under this Article 12 is independent and separate from the
duty to indemnify, and the duty to defend exists regardless of any ultimate liability of
the Vendor, County and any indemnified party. The duty to defend arises
immediately upon presentation of a claim by any party and written notice of such
claim being provided to Vendor. Vendor's obligation to indemnify and defend under
this Article 12 will survive the expiration or earlier termination of this Agreement until
it is determined by final judgment that an action against the County or an indemnified
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party for the matter indemnified hereunder is fully and finally barred by the applicable
statute of limitations.
13. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION. This Agreement shall be administered on behalf of
the County by the Utility Billing Department.
14. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Vendor represents that it presently has no interest and
shall acquire no interest, either direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner
with the performance of services required hereunder. Vendor further represents that no
persons having any such interest shall be employed to perform those services.
15. COMPONENT PARTS OF THIS CONTRACT. This Contract consists of the following
component parts, all of which are as fully a part of the contract as if herein set out
verbatim: Vendor's Proposal, Insurance Certificate, RFP #12-5950 Specifications/Scope
of Services and Addendum/Addenda, Exhibit A Scope of Services and Exhibit B,
Pricing.
16. SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION. It is further understood and agreed by and between
the parties herein that this agreement is subject to appropriation by the Board of County
Commissioners.
17. PROHIBITION OF GIFTS TO COUNTY EMPLOYEES. No organization or
individual shall offer or give, either directly or indirectly, any favor, gift, loan, fee,
service or other item of value to any County employee, as set forth in Chapter 112, Part
III, Florida Statutes, Collier County Ethics Ordinance No. 2004-05, and County
Administrative Procedure 5311. Violation of this provision may result in one or more of
the following consequences: a. Prohibition by the individual, firm, and/or any
employee of the firm from contact with County staff for a specified period of time; b.
Prohibition by the individual and/or firm from doing business with the County for a
specified period of time, including but not limited to: submitting bids, RFP, and/or
quotes; and, c. immediate termination of any contract held by the individual and/or
firm for cause.
18. IMMIGRATION LAW COMPLIANCE. By executing and entering into this agreement,
the Vendor is formally acknowledging without exception or stipulation that it is fully
responsible for complying with the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986 as located at 8 U.S.C. 1324, et seq. and regulations relating thereto, as either
may be amended. Failure by the Vendor to comply with the laws referenced herein shall
constitute a breach of this agreement and the County shall have the discretion to
unilaterally terminate this agreement immediately.
19. OFFER EXTENDED TO OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. Collier County
encourages and agrees to the successful proposer extending the pricing, terms and
conditions of this solicitation or resultant contract to other governmental entities at the
discretion of the successful proposer.
•
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20. AGREEMENT TERMS. If any portion of this Agreement is held to be void, invalid, or
otherwise unenforceable, in whole or in part, the remaining portion of this Agreement
shall remain in effect.
21. ADDITIONAL ITEMS/SERVICES. Additional items and/or services may be added to
this contract in compliance with the Purchasing Policy.
22. DISPUTE RESOLUTION. Prior to the initiation of any action or proceeding permitted
by this Agreement to resolve disputes between the parties, the parties shall make a good
faith effort to resolve any such disputes by negotiation. The negotiation shall be
attended by representatives of Vendor with full decision-making authority and by
County's staff person who would make the presentation of any settlement reached
during negotiations to County for approval. Failing resolution, and prior to the
commencement of depositions in any litigation between the parties arising out of this
Agreement, the parties shall attempt to resolve the dispute through Mediation before an
agreed-upon Circuit Court Mediator certified by the State of Florida. The mediation
shall be attended by representatives of Vendor with full decision-making authority and
by County's staff person who would make the presentation of any settlement reached at
mediation to County's board, for approval. Should either party fail to submit to
mediation as required hereunder, the other party may obtain a court order requiring
mediation under section 44.102, Fla. Stat.
23. VENUE. Any suit or action brought by either party to this Agreement against the other
party relating to or arising out of this Agreement must be brought in the appropriate
federal or state courts in Collier County, Florida, which courts have sole and exclusive
jurisdiction on all such matters.
24. CONTRACT STAFFING: The Vendor's personnel and management to be utilized for
this project shall be knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. The County reserves the
right to perform investigations as may be deemed necessary to ensure that competent
persons will be utilized in the performance of the contract. The Vendor shall assign as
many people as necessary to complete the required services on a timely basis, and each
person assigned shall be available for an amount of time adequate to meet the required
service delivery dates.
25. ORDER OF PRECEDENCE: In the event of any conflict between or among the terms of
any of the Contract Documents, the terms of the Request for Proposal and/or the
Vendor's Proposal, the Contract Documents shall take precedence. In the event of any
conflict between the terms of the RFP and the Vendor's Proposal, the language in the RFP
would take precedence.
26. ASSIGNMENT:Vendor shall not assign this Agreement or any part thereof,without the
prior consent in writing of the County. Any attempt to assign or otherwise transfer this
Agreement, or any part herein, without the County's consent, shall be void. If Vendor
does, with approval, assign this Agreement or any part thereof, it shall require that its
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assignee be bound to it and to assume toward Vendor all of the obligations and
responsibilities that Vendor has assumed toward the County.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Vendor and the County,have each,respectively,by an
authorized person or agent,hereunder set their hands and seals on the date and year first
above written.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ATTEST: COLLIER COUNTY,FLORIDA
Dwight E. Brock, Clerk of Courts
By: By:
Dated: .F.red-14l.-Geyle-T
(SEAL) Georgia A. Hiller, Esq., Chairwoman
SOUTHWEST DIRECT, INC.
Vendor
By:
First Witness Signature
TTvpe/print witness nameT
Second Witness Typed signature and title
TType/print witness nameT
Approved as to form and
legal sufficiency:
(4)Assistant County Attorney
Print Name
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Exhibit A
Scope of Services
Contract Overview
This contract covers outsourcing of all services related to the design,print,meter,mail and electronic
delivery of monthly Collier County utility bills.
Background
The Utility Billing and Customer Service (UBCS) department of the County uses the Harris
Corporation's,InHANCE utility billing system to process and print customer bills for water, effluent,
and sewer service. The County currently outsources the design (to meet County specifications),
printing, mailing, emailing notification of eBILL availability,and web access of all its utility bills and
any supporting documentation.
In the InHANCE billing system, UBCS customers are assigned to billing cycles. UBCS currently
prints bills for thirty one (31) billing cycles each month (increasing to fifty seven (57) cycles),
consequently, multiple cycles of bills are printed on some days. Bills are printed and mailed every
business day of the year with very few exceptions. Approximately sixty thousand (60,000) bills are
mailed, or made available via the web,to customers each month. The average number of bills printed
each day is two thousand six hundred and seven (2,607). The estimated highest number of bills
printed in a day is six thousand four hundred forty seven (6,447). The estimated lowest number of
bills printed in a day is one thousand (1000). UBCS anticipates that the number of customers billed
each year increases by two (2) percent.
UBCS bills that are mailed to customers currently consist of a one page (two sides, with the reverse
side static information) bill and a return envelope (see attached Exhibit A for current UBCS bills and
inserts). The bill is printed on an 8 1/2' x 11" stock bill form with a perforated tear off payment
remittance slip on the bottom of the bill, current print colors may be changed at some future time.
Occasionally, inserts will be included with each customer bill. The inserts are either one or two
(maximum) 81/2' by 11" pages. The inserts might be smaller than 81 " x 11" or one folded 81/z x 14".
In the future, UCBS may be interested in sending multiple pages as a part of their utility bills. The
large majority of customer bills are mailed to addresses within the U.S.; however, bills are sent to
addresses in other countries. Approximately, 4% of the bills per month are mailed internationally,
including to Canadian addresses,and 96% of the bills per month are mailed domestically.
The final processing and printing of bills for a cycle is all completed and performed on the same day.
The due date that is printed on the bills is calculated based on the assumption that the bills will be
printed and mailed on the same date that the bill is processed in the system. If the bills are printed
and mailed at a date after the date that the final bill processing is performed, the customer's ability to
pay before the due date printed on the bill is impacted. As a result,it is imperative that customer bills
be printed and mailed on the same day that the final processing is performed.
The County currently has a standard bill print format that is used for all customer utility bills. Any
new format must be compatible with the system that produces the original bill. UBCS must be able to
locally print copies of bills from the vendor's website,in the UBCS offices.
After the final processing of a cycle of customer accounts is completed, the InHANCE system creates
a file that contains the customer bill information. The format that the County presents the file to the
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current outsource vendor is a TXT formatted file;within the file are headers, trailers, detail, location,
description of bill, totals, draft information, message and special characters contained by the format
regulated data created by the software. The mapping of the formatted data file will be presented by
the Harris computer firm in Exhibit 1A: Mapping File of this RFP. The vendor will capture the data,
and per the County's approved design, populate and print bills; fold and stuff into envelopes
provided by the supplier; seal and meter; and deliver to the United States Postal Service (USPS) on a
daily basis. Postage for the mailing of local and nationwide customer bills will be charged to the
County's USPS postage permit,international postage will be paid in advance via purchase order.
The County's current InHANCE system identifies customer bills that are automatically paid by
customers using bank drafts and other automated payments. Those customers receive a copy of their
bill; however, the bill is marked as paid via bank draft or auto pay and the bill does not include a
return envelope. The County's current InHANCE system also identifies customer accounts where a
duplicate bill has been requested to be sent to a secondary address. Email notification of bill
availability is also a feature of the billing options provided to customers; the InHANCE system
identifies those customer bills where the customer has elected to receive eBILL notification.
The County requires that the vendor upload of customer bills to the vendor's website,continues.
Detailed Scope of Work
The Vendor shall be responsive to the UBCS requirements below and pricing will be inclusive of all
labor,equipment,materials and other services to complete the entire scope of service.
1. Data,Security and Technical Support
a. Provide a secure FTP site, or approved equivalent, for UBCS to send, and the vendor to
receive the daily files from UBCS in the format identified by the County.
b. Provide all technical support staff, software and equipment to complete the entire scope of
work.
c. Ensure that the County's data is protected, secured and not shared with third party vendors,
or other individuals,in accordance with local,state and federal regulations.
d. Provide a "1 - 800" toll free or local telephone number for UBCS support; telephone support
must be from 7:00AM-5:00PM(Collier County Local Time),Monday-Friday.
e. Provide a four(4)hour,or less,response time for technical calls.
f. Provide for an escalation of issues system, along with contact names, telephone numbers and
emails.
g. Provide for redundant data and equipment delivery systems in the event of a declared or
undeclared (by the County) disaster. A disaster is defined as fire, weather related, or other
catastrophic loss of operational capability at the vendor's primary location for the execution
and delivery of service in this RFP.
2. Internet Site
a. The vendor is required to upload customer bills to the vendor's website on completion of each
cycle printing and maintain a minimum of eighteen (18) months of bills for each account.
UBCS customers will access this site via a link from the County's online account access
website. UBCS will replicate the printing of bills from this site in the event customers do not
have access to the Internet.Any inserts will be uploaded to the vendor's website as well as the
County's website.
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3. Design,Print,Meter and Mail Services
a. Provide complete UBCS invoice (bill, insert and envelope) design, printing, metering and
processing of all bills per approved UBCS prototype acceptance. Bills must be printed with
the following: names, addresses, bar codes, OCR characters, plus billing usage information
and graphical images,per UBCS specifications.
b. Provide for on-going changes to design of bills or inserts at the request of UBCS. Quotes will
be provided for all bills design changes and inserts printed by vendor. Quotes for inserts
should include a per thousand basis as well as full customer base distribution.
c. Provide for a maximum of two one page 8 1/2"x 11" inserts or one 81/2' x 14" folded insert,with
option for multiple pages. Collier County would like to have quotes for printing in the range
of 60,000 flyers, etc. Collier County would also like to have a quote for any flyers, etc.
requested for under 60,000 units. Inserts can be flyers,brochures,etc.
d. UBCS data sent to the FTP site by noon each day must be processed, printed, metered and
mailed the same day. Data sent after noon, must be processed,printed, metered and mailed
by noon the following day.
e. The customer due date that is printed on the bills must be 20 (twenty) days from the date the
bill is printed(i.e.if the print date is 10/1/12,the customer due date is 10/20/12).
f. Provide for separation of bills that are printed (i.e. customers using bank drafts and other auto
pay methods will not receive return envelopes or targeted messages).
g. Provide for separation of bills where customers have elected to receive email notification of
eBILL availability via the County's website and send emails as appropriate.
h. Provide for email delivery failure notification with rejection codes by billing cycle.
i. Provide for the printing of duplicate bills to a secondary address based on data in the bill file.
j. Provide for the lowest prevailing first class meter rate available for Utility bill metering
domestically,international and Canadian.See also Table A below.
k. Outgoing bills via USPS should be post marked with a Florida (preferably Collier or Lee
County)post mark,unless mailed under a disaster condition.
1. Bills must be printed so that the use of return paper, envelopes, postage, etc. by billed
customers is minimized.
m. Provide for daily reports in Excel format of what has been printed, mailed, metered by class,
etc.
n. Provide reports for reconciliation of fees charged to Collier County
4. Miscellaneous
a. Ensure compliance with USPS CASS/ MASS standards (notification of non-compliance is to
be reported in written format to Collier County within one (1)business day of notification by
the USPS).
b. Ensure certification of USPS NCOA-Link system(notification of non-compliance is to be
reported in written format to Collier County within one (1)business day of notification by the
USPS).
c. Ensure compliance with USPS address verification/ validation.
d. Demonstrate the use of"environmentally friendly products" (inks,paper,etc.)without adding
additional costs to this contract.
e. Demonstrate a quality assurance program on a monthly basis to ensure that bills are being
printed property,metered and sent from the supplier's locations.
f. Provide reasonable training to other county departments to incorporate similar bill,print and
meter services for the same cost.
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5. Disaster Recovery Plan:
a. Provide for disaster recovery plans in the event the distribution facility is down;recovery is of
the utmost importance and service must be reinstated within forty eight(48) hours of the
disaster declaration by Collier County.
b. Use of third party vendors during the disaster must adhere to all of the terms and conditions
of this contract,including the security of the County's data.
c. Disaster recovery facilities must be provided from outside of the State of Florida. Bills must be
mailed on same schedule,post mark and color printing requirements may be eased upon
written approval by the County in a disaster scenario.
6. Additional Requirements
SECTION 1: PROCESSING OF MAILING AND BILLING DATA FILES: Each business day, the
County will send the Vendor files ("Data Files") that contain one, or multiple cycles of customer bill
information. The County may send multiple files to the Vendor per day. The Data Files will be sent
to the Vendor via the Vendor's secure FTP site. Data Files that the County sends to the Vendor's FTP
site by 12:00 noon each business day shall be processed and all customer bills and inserts printed and
mailed,by 5:00 pm the same business day. Data Files that the County sends to the Vendor's FTP site
after 12:00 noon each business day, shall be processed and all customer bills and inserts printed and
mailed by 5:00 pm the next business day. If the County's internal network is not able to send Data
Files to Vendor, the County will contact the Vendor immediately and make arrangements to provide
the Vendor with the Data files. Any travel expenses incurred will be reimbursed as per Section
112.061 of the Florida Statutes.
SECTION 2:UNAVAILABILITY OF VENDOR'S FTP SITE: The Vendors YIP site shall be available
to the County twenty four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week, to accept Data Files. If the
Vendor's FTP site is unavailable to accept Data Files from the County, the County shall notify the
Vendor's designated contact person immediately and the Vendor shall make the necessary
arrangements, at Vendor's sole expense,to obtain the Data Files from the County within twenty four
(24) hours. If files are obtained before 12:00 noon of the same day of notification, Vendor agrees to
process before 5:00 pm the same day. If data files are obtained after 12:00 noon on the same day of
notification, Vendor agrees to process before 5:00 pm the next business day. If the Vendor does not
process, print and mail all customer bills and inserts as outlined above, the County will assess
liquidated damages as per Section 11 below.
SECTION 3: DATA RECONCILIATION INFORMATION - Upon completion of the processing,
printing, and mailing of all customer bills in a Data File, Vendor shall email the County notifying
them that the Data File has been successfully processed and the date and time that the customer bills
were mailed. The email will contain a file with any address corrections identified for the customers in
the Data File. An email messages will be sent to a distribution list of the County employees. This list
will be provided to the Vendor by the Utility Billing and Customer Service Department.
SECTION 4: NCOALINKTM - Vendor shall provide mail forwarding via the NCOALink from the
United States Postal Service (USPS) to update the mailing address for customers in the Data Files
when the customer bills are being printed. The customer mailing addresses in the Data Files are
electronically matched to the national database of address changes within the last eighteen (18)
months.
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
SECTION 5: EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE, AND FACILITIES - It shall be the responsibility of the
Vendor to obtain, and maintain all the equipment, software, services, and facilities required to
accurately print and mail the County's bills within the timeframes defined in this Agreement. The
County shall not be responsible for providing or maintaining any of the equipment, software, or
facilities needed to process,print,and mail the customer bills and inserts.
SECTION 6: SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES - Vendor shall provide all implementation
and system testing services as per Exhibit D and E to the County at no charge. The implementation
will prepare the Vendor system to process,print,and mail the County's customer bills,including,but
not limited to the following:
• Preparing the Vendor secure FTP site for accepting Data Files sent to the Vendor by the
County Training County personnel to access the FTP site to transfer Data Files to the Vendor
• Implementing the County's bill print format into the Vendor system
• Design an interactive web site, which will allow the County's customers to view and print
their bills
• Provide ongoing web site development
SECTION 7:WEB SITE PROVIDED BY VENDOR-Vendor shall make a web site available twenty-
four (24) hours seven (7) days a week to allow the County's customers to access their utility bill
information. A link will be implemented on the County's web site to transfer customers from the
County's web site to the Vendor's web site. A County customer that accesses the Vendor web site
will be required to enter their account number; the Vendor web site must authenticate the account
number before displaying the customer's billing information. When a customer enters a valid
account number, the Vendor's web site will display the customer's bills for the last twelve months.
The customer shall have the ability to print a copy of any of the bills in their account. If the customer
elects to print a copy of a bill, the format of the bill printed will be the same as the format of the bill
that is mailed directly to the customer.
The customer bill information that is displayed on the Vendor web site will be limited to only those
customer bills that have been processed,printed,and mailed by the Vendor. Customer bills that were
not processed,printed,and mailed by the Vendor will not be available on the Vendor web site.
Vendor shall design, and implement the web site at no cost to the County. Additionally, there shall
be no on-going cost to the County for the use or hosting of the Vendor web site.
Prior to the implementation of the web site, the County and the Vendor shall develop a web site
design that is mutually agreed to by both the County and the Vendor.
SECTION 8: UNAVAILABILITY OF VENDOR'S PRIMARY FACILITY - For the duration of this
Agreement, the Vendor shall have an agreement in place with a third party company to perform
processing, printing, and mailing of the County's customer bills in the event that the Vendor's
primary facility is unavailable due to an act of God, or other event that is beyond the reasonable
control of the Vendor. If the Vendor's primary facility is unavailable, the Vendor shall have twenty
four (24) hours from the time the County sends the Data File to the Vendor FTP site to have the third
party company process,print all the customer bills and inserts,and mail the customer bills. Customer
bills printed by a third party will be printed in black and white. If the Vendor FTP site is not available
to accept the Data File,Vendor's responsibility for obtaining and processing the Data Files shall be as
defined in Section 2 above.
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
Any and all costs incurred as a result of using the third party company to process,print, and mail the
County's customer bills shall be the responsibility of the Vendor. The County shall not be responsible
for any additional costs beyond the cost of processing,printing,and mailing customer bills as defined
in this Agreement.
SECTION 9: POSTAGE - Postage for the mailing of local and nationwide customer bills will be
charged to the County's USPS postage permit, international postage shall be paid upon request in
advance via purchase order. The County shall provide Vendor with the required postage permit
information, and it shall be the County's responsibility to ensure sufficient payments are made to the
USPS to enable mailings to be made against the postage permit. Vendor shall be responsible for
sorting, grouping, packaging, and in all other ways preparing the customer bills and inserts for
mailing so that the lowest possible postage fee is charged for the mailings.
SECTION 10: LIQUIDATED DAMAGES- County and Vendor recognize that the turnaround time
for processing the utility bills are critical and time sensitive under this Agreement,County will suffer
financial loss if Vendor fails to achieve daily processing within the time specified above. In such
event,the total amount of County's damages,will be difficult,if not impossible,to definitely ascertain
and quantify. Should Vendor fail to achieve processing, printing, and mailing of customer bills and
inserts within the timeframes established herein, County shall be entitled to assess, as liquidated
damages, but not as a penalty, ($1000.00) for each calendar day thereafter until processing, printing,
and mailing of utility bills and inserts is achieved. Vendor hereby expressly waives and relinquishes
any right which it may have to seek to characterize the above noted liquidated damages as a penalty,
which the parties agree represents a fair and reasonable estimate of the County's actual damages at
the time of contracting if Vendor fails to perform the Work within the required time periods.
SECTION 11: NO WAIVER - The failure of the County to enforce at any time or for any period of
time any one or more of the provisions of the Agreement shall not be construed to be and shall not be
a waiver of any such provision or provisions or of its rights thereafter to enforce each and every such
provision.
SECTION 12: CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE COUNTY'S INFORMATION-Vendor acknowledges
that all material and information supplied by the County which has or will come into the possession
or knowledge of Vendor in connection with Vendor's performance is to be considered the County's
confidential and proprietary information, disclosure of which information to or use by third parties
will be damaging or which disclosure may be prohibited by law. Vendor agrees to hold such material
and information in strictest confidence,not to make use of it other than for performance as defined in
this Agreement,to release it only to Vendor employees requiring such information,and not to release
or disclose it to any other party or otherwise violate applicable law with respect to any disclosure of
information.
SECTION 13: LICENSE TO DO BUSINESS IN FLORIDA - For the duration of the Agreement,
Vendor shall be licensed to do business in the State of Florida.
SECTION 14: BILLING AND REPORTING-Vendor will invoice the County on the last day of each
month for the processing, printing and mailing of customer bills. If the last day of the month falls on
a weekend or holiday the invoice will be sent to the County on the next business day. Vendor shall
include with each invoice a report of the cycles of customer bills processed and the number of bills
processed per cycle reconciling the total number of bills processed to the amount of the Vendor's
invoice.
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
7. Quality Assurance Standards
SECTION 1 - QUALITY ASSURANCE - Quality Assurance refers to Vendor's adherence to the
County's required specifications of the final output of customer bills and inserts, including but not
limited to, text alignment, color, and clarity. Any changes to Quality Assurance as described above
must be mutually agreed upon between Vendor and the County.
To minimize risk of unacceptable Quality Assurance, Vendor will ensure its bill formatting software
remains compatible with the County's software and Data Files.Vendor will upgrade its software as is
reasonably necessary and as upgrades are available to ensure Quality Assurance.
Vendor will implement quality control standards in the areas of the Data File confirmation and
reporting, address correction and mail forwarding, file processing, and print assurance. County can
verify 100% mail on all customer bill cycles through extensive reporting that will be provided by
Vendor including:
• Transmission Reply Report to verify the numbers of records received in each Data File, the
number processed for production,and the dollar amount due from the file.
• Address Correction - Vendor will provide address correction via CASS (Coding Accuracy
Support System) Certification,a control of the United States Postal Service. CASS Certification
works by cleaning and standardizing County addresses to ensure they meet USPS
specifications. CASS will standardize the address spelling, add the nine-digit ZIP code (ZIP +
4), assign a delivery point barcode, report uncertified entries, and provide postal
documentation. In addition, Presort will qualify the mail for the lowest possible postal rate.
After County's' file is processed, a CASS Error Report is supplied in an Excel file format and
emailed to a County contact designated by County.
• NCOALink - Track move eligible to be forwarded addresses, and sort analyze each
processing cycle that is issued at the time of production.
• File Naming Conventions - Tactic used by Vendor to ensure that only the County's data is
processed through the template created for the County's customer bills, thereby avoiding
print errors.
• Prints Assurance Feature - Matches County paper code to the customer code in County's file
to ensure County data is printed on the corresponding paper stock.
• Quality Control Checks - Each Vendor department on the production floor performs a series
of quality checks at every station such as visual inspection, random sampling and hand
sorting prior to machine insertion.
SECTION 2 - SERVICE AVAILABILITY - The Service Availability component encompasses those
systems utilized by Vendor to provide the service to the County under the terms and conditions of
this Agreement. Service Availability includes Technical Error Resolution and Production Issues.
Technical Error Resolution refers to any situation that interferes with the Vendor's ability to conduct
the mechanical process (es) required to provide the data, i.e., Vendor servers being inoperable, and
changes in bill or bill data format. Production Issues refer to any situation, other than Technical
issues, that interfere with the Vendor's ability to process the County's billing data in accordance with
the requirements in this Agreement.
To minimize risk of unacceptable Service Availability,Vendor will ensure its bill formatting software
remains compatible with County's software. Vendor will upgrade its systems and software as is
reasonably necessary and as upgrades are available to ensure Service Availability. Additionally,
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
Vendor will inspect the County's data transmissions for any physical damage and verify that the
record count agrees with the transmittal. All Data Files will be tested for read errors. County will be
notified immediately if any problems occur with the transmission and a time will be established with
County for retransmissions of the Data File. Vendor will work closely with the County to make sure
the Data Files are formatted correctly,minimizing any chance of error.
SECTION 3 - ERRORS - In the event the Vendor mails bills to customers with errors within any
given cycle, Vendor agrees to bare the total cost and any and all expenses associated to reprint,
reprocess and re-mail bills to customers. These costs include, but are not limited to, postage, data re-
processing, supplying new envelopes and forms, printing, data imaging, inserting and delivery to
post office within twenty four (24) hours of error occurring. Errors include, but are not limited to,
formatting, discoloration, upside down bills, bills printed on incorrect stock, etc. Errors could range
from one error per billing cycle,several errors per billing cycle,an entire cycle or a series of cycles.
,III
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1/8/2013 Item 16.C.1 .
Exhibit B
Pricing
C'f _
t %'TiSN t_a �' .pit kz-� 'M,�
A prototype of typical
bill with no inserts, $ .138
including bill and return Price per piece
envelope
A prototype of typical
bill with no inserts $ .133
assuming bank draft. Price per piece
E-Bill
A prototype of typical bill
with inserts and return $ .138
envelope. Price per piece
Printing of 8.5"x 11"
60#white offset inserts 4/0 no bleeds- $3,152.00
2/2 no bleeds- $3,152.00
4/4 no bleeds - $3,695.00
Above prices are for 60,000
inserts
Printing of 8.5"x 11"
80#gloss inserts 4/0 no bleeds- $3,893.00
2/2 no bleeds - $4,297.00
4/4 no bleeds- $4,545.00
Above prices are for 60,000
inserts
Envelope Impression $ 0.01
Fee Price per Envelope
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