1.0 - Payroll Services (RFP Document) 9_26.docx

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) No. P25002, Payroll Services

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

No. P25002

Payroll Services

Table of Contents [Table No. 1]

INTRODUCTION

Adams County Housing Authority dba Maiker Housing Partners (hereinafter, “the Agency”), serves Adams County residents for whom conventional housing is unaffordable. We assist individuals, families, seniors, and persons with disabilities throughout all of Adams County, including the rural and unincorporated areas. Our goal is to provide these households with quality, affordable housing options while supporting their efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Our programs and services include the following: Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher Program, Housing Counseling, Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), Financial Assistance Programs (rent/mortgage and utilities assistance), and a Homeownership Program. We also own and manage several affordable multi-family apartment communities throughout the county. The Agency owns and manages 1947 units, associated in partnerships on another 252 units, which most are available at or below market rents, and we supply 1506 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.

The Housing Authority is an independent public corporation authorized by the State under the Colorado Revised Statutes §29-4-501. It is governed by a seven-person Board of Commissioners and is subject to the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations CFR 2§200.317 - §200.326; Appendix II to Part 200, Contract Provisions for Non-Federal Entity Contracts Under Federal Awards, and 40 CFR §247 Comprehensive Guidelines for Products Containing Recovered Materials. Maiker is a body corporate and politic agency, which was officially organized in 1974 and has been an approved housing counseling agency since 1978 by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Though brought into existence by a resolution of the Adams County Board of Commissioners, Maiker is a separate entity and operates independently of the Adams County Colorado government.

In keeping with its mandate to provide efficient and effective services and a safe environment, Maiker is now soliciting proposals from qualified, licensed, and insured firms to provide services for Maiker owned communities while remaining in compliance with State and local laws, federal regulations, guidelines and requirements. All proposals submitted in response to this solicitation must conform to all of the requirements and specifications outlined and any designated attachments within this document in its entirety.

RFP INFORMATION AT A GLANCE

[Table No. 2]

Procurement Specialist E-Mail: kbrink@maikerhp.org

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

REQUIREMENTS

Electronically formatted proposals must be clearly identified and divided according to the RFP Section 9.0 Proposal Format:

Part 1 – Form of Proposal Part 2 – HUD-5369-C Part 3 – Profile of Firm Form Part 4 – Proposed Services Part 5 – HUD-5370-C1 Part 6 – HUD-SF-LLL Part 7 – Pricing and Fees

3033 W 71st Ave Suite 1000, Westminster, CO 80030 *(The proposal must be emailed, or the "hard copy" proposal can be received in-hand and time-stamped by the Agency by no later than 3:00 PM MST on this date).

1.0 THE AGENCY’S RESERVATION OF RIGHTS. The Agency reserves the right to:

1.1 Right to Reject, Waive, or Terminate the RFP. Reject any or all proposals, to waive any informality in the RFP process, or to terminate the RFP process at any time, if deemed by the Agency to be in its best interests.

1.2 Right to Not Award. Not to award a contract pursuant to this RFP.

1.3 Right to Terminate. Terminate a contract awarded pursuant to this RFP, at any time for its convenience upon 10 days written notice to the successful proposer(s).

1.4 Right to Determine Time and Location. Determine the days, hours, and locations that the successful proposer(s) shall provide the services called for in this RFP.

1.5 Right to Retain Proposals. Retain all proposals submitted and to not permit withdrawal for a period of 60 days subsequent to the deadline for receiving proposals without the written consent of the Agency CO.

1.6 Right to Negotiate. Negotiate the fees proposed by the proposer entity.

1.7 Right to Reject Any Proposal. Reject and not consider any proposal that does not meet the requirements of this RFP, including but not necessarily limited to incomplete proposals and/or proposals offering alternate or non-requested services.

1.8 No Obligation to Compensate. Have no obligation to compensate any proposer for any costs incurred in responding to this RFP.

1.9 Right to Prohibit. At any time during the RFP or contract process to prohibit any further participation by a proposer or reject any proposal submitted that does not conform to any of the requirements detailed herein. By accepting this procurement document and the attachments, each responder is thereby agreeing to abide by all terms and conditions listed within this document, within the attachments and further agrees that he/she will inform the Agency in writing within 5 days of the discovery of any item listed herein or of any item that is issued thereafter by the Agency that he/she feels needs to be addressed. Failure to abide by this time frame shall relieve the Agency, but not the prospective responder, of any responsibility pertaining to such issue.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK/TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS. The Agency is seeking proposals from qualified, licensed, and insured entities to provide the following detailed services listed herein pertaining to the Agency’s Property Management Services.

Overview of Required Services. The successful proposer will provide services in the following areas and must possess the following qualifications:

Exhibit A – Scope of Work Payroll Services Requirements Maiker Housing Partners (MHP) is seeking a qualified payroll services provider that delivers comprehensive, compliant, and customer-focused payroll administration and complimentary HRIS and other applications. MHP is currently using Paycom as their provider of these services.

MHP is a Public Housing Authority located in Westminster, CO, with 110 (+/-) full-time employees, 55% of whom are hourly; no independent contractors; payroll is processed bi-weekly; one EIN; and offers a full array of benefits to employees. MHP is looking for a full-service integrated payroll and HRIS solution, including:

· time and attendance;

· ATS support for recruiting and hiring;

· performance and talent management administration;

· benefits administration integration; including open enrollment and ACA compliance and reporting (COBRA support is outsourced and not included);

· customization capability for position management, earnings codes, and reporting dashboards;

· integration with YARDI system

Pricing options for consideration include PEPM and alternative module=based pricing.

MHP is not interested in a PEO proposal.

Specific requirements are noted below.

The following requirements must be addressed in your proposal:

1. Core Services and Expertise Detailed list of “core” payroll service offerings, including associated pricing.

Identification of key personnel assigned to our account, with brief bios and roles:

- Overall Account Responsibility

- Strategic Planning and Execution

- Regulatory Compliance and Reporting

- Communications

- Day-to-Day Service & Vendor Coordination

- Call Center Support Describe your support model (assigned team vs. call center).

Number of clients typically supported per service team/individual.

Unique service offerings or innovations.

Experience working with public housing authorities, government entities, and nonprofit organizations.

Define System Architecture(s) and Integrations such as Azure/Identity (formerly Entra) Service Level Agreements for system uptime and support requests Scalability approach and capacity planning strategies What test/sandbox systems or solutions are available Describe single sign-on SSO Capabilities and support for other SAML/OAuth protocols.

Accessibility compliance interfaces

2. Payroll Management Description of full-service payroll processing, including:

- Pay data entry, W-4 and DD changes, check distribution

- Automatic benefits deductions, including PERA (Public Employee Retirement)

- Tax compliance (Federal, State, SUTA, PERA, estimated deposits)

- Court-ordered deductions (garnishments, tax levies)

- Banking setup and information management

- Unemployment compensation

- Secure file sharing and document exchange

- General Ledger file production and maintenance

- Workers’ compensation tracking

· Download/upload to Yardi Voyager system

· Employee termination processing; final check and accrued time

· What mechanisms are in place to detect/prevent fraud or duplicate entries?

3. Benefits Administration Integration of benefits management with payroll Offboarding and plan termination support Real-time enrollment tracking and personalized coverage visibility Benefits administration, billing, reporting, and open enrollment support Carrier connections for enrollment data Arrearages tracking and management Leave of Absence (LOA) management Health Savings Account (HSA) integration What encryption standards are being used?

How are changes synced between systems?

4. Time and Attendance (T&A) Customization of T&A policies Time off tracking with automated balance updates Holiday calendar Time Off approval workflows Manual leave adjustments, FMLA, and LOA tracking Employee and manager self-service portals Mobile-friendly time tracking apps Lockdown capability for payroll T&A submissions Email notifications and alerts Biometric login support

5. Performance and Talent Management Customizable performance review templates (annual, 360°) Progress tracking and historical review records Budget integration in performance evaluation Certification and continuing education tracking User experience and interface support

6. Compliance and Data Security Adherence to Federal, State, and ADA regulations What data privacy/security measures are in place? SOC 2, ISO, etc.

Colorado-specific compliance expertise (including FAMLI, PERA) Data retention and termination transfer policies Support for paperless processes Internal ticketing and update processes Government/nonprofit client experience PAF (Personnel Action Form) process management Security standards and data handling protocols Detail the identity and access management (IAM) model.

Are Role-base access controls supported?

List intrusion detection/prevention capabilities (IDS/IPS) and monitory practices.

Describe incident response plans and SLA for breach notifications.

Sample audit and compliance logs, both internal and external.

7. ATS/Recruiting and Onboarding Applicant Tracking System (ATS) capabilities, including:

- Resume parsing and job description analysis

- Scheduling automation, screening, status updates

- Referrals and recruiter/manager coordination

- Conversion to employee status post-hire Recruiting platform features:

- Custom branded job site and syndication to boards

- Email templates and automated communications

- E-Verify and background check integration (DMV, credit check, etc.)

- E-signatures and offer letter generation

- One-click onboarding

· Creating a requisition

· Candidate review

· Candidate disposition (removing them from the active list)

· Candidate communication, including text capabilities

· Candidate response tracking

· Candidate pipelines

· Automated elimination process (does not meet min req, etc)

· Customized prescreen questions

· Simplified dashboard

· Good historical records and archives

· Integration with external job boards

· Reporting and analytics

· Regular product updates Detail Data Retention Policy controls and configuration for policies.

· How does the ATS system interact with the rest of the payroll system in data sync?

8. System Management and Operations Position management across multiple locations Multi-location and multi-manager assignment capability Flexible earnings code configuration Accrual and payout processing aligned with CO laws Self-service access (employee and manager) Customization options (user-defined fields) Data import/export formats and reporting capabilities Org chart exports and custom employee communications Department-level allocation and payroll tracking Reporting on demographics, tenure, compensation, and compliance Detail any available integration support such as SDKs, APIs, SSO, MFA, and AD/LDAP Integration for user access and data synchronization.

Define any limitations such as supported browsers and operating systems.

9. Employee Self-Service (ESS) ESS navigation and ease-of-use Initial and ongoing training support Available help features and resources Mobile access and geolocation Pre-submission check approvals Mobile application support on both Android and iOS?

Define user access management for ESS.

10. Reporting Capabilities Available reporting metrics (standard and custom) Ease of custom report generation Export formats and visualizations External or custom reporting options such as Power BI.

11. Implementation and Transition Clear delineation of vendor vs. client responsibilities One-time fees and associated costs Implementation timeline and project milestones Number of vendor contacts during the process Change management protocols during implementation Availability (hours of operation, onsite vs. virtual) Provide details on sandbox or staging environments during implementation What data migration tools or services are available? How is historical and current data validated post migration?

Describe the support you would expect from Maiker’s IT Department in the implementation.

2.2 Previous/Current Contractor. The Agency’s current contractor for these services is Paycom.

3.0 PROPOSAL FORMAT.

3.1 Tabbed Proposal Submittal. The Agency intends to retain the successful proposer pursuant to a “Best Value” basis, not a “Low Bid” basis (“Best Value,” in that the Agency will, as detailed within the following Section 4.0, consider factors other than cost in making the award decision). Therefore, so that the Agency can properly evaluate the offers received, all proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be formatted in accordance with the sequence noted following.

[Table No. 3] (1) RFP Section (2) Tab No.

(3)

Description

3.1.4.1

As detailed within Section 4.1, Evaluation Factor No. 2, herein, the proposer’s DEMONSTRATED QUALIFICATIONS and CAPACITY.

3.1.4.1.1

Provide information on the qualifications and capacity of the coordinator and team members that will have primary responsibility for this account.

3.1.4.1.2

Highlight any and all qualifications of the coordinator and team members with the scopes of work and services stated.

3.1.4.1.3

Discuss projected workload for this and other competing projects and show that the firm has the capacity to work on a project of this magnitude.

3.1.4.2

As detailed within Section 4.1, Evaluation Factor No. 3, herein, the QUALITY of the TECHNICAL APPROACH and the WORK PLAN.

3.1.4.2.1

Describe the firm’s approach to providing planning coordination services to complete the project scope within the timeline set forth by HUD for the grant. The work plan should include staffing assignments, organizational structure, logistical issues, and other issues;

3.1.4.2.2

Identify proposed schedule of activities for the tasks detailed in the scope of work

3.1.4.2.3

Identify all staff that will be assigned to this scope of work and include a brief resume, job description and title of this person or persons

3.1.4.3

As detailed within Section 4.1, Evaluation Factor No. 4, herein, the proposer’s DEMONSTRATED RELEVANT EXPERIENCE in performing similar work and the proposer’s DEMONSTRATED SUCCESSFUL PAST PERFORMANCE (including meeting costs, schedules, and performance requirements) of contract work substantially similar to that required by this solicitation as verified by reference checks or other means. (NOTE: The Agency will place particular emphasis on the proposer’s above-described EXPERIENCE and PAST PERFORMANCE with Public Housing- and HUD-related work.)

3.1.4.3.1

Provide a description of the firm’s, history, and other general information that describes the planning coordinators understanding of the project.

3.1.4.3.2

Highlight any and all experience with the scopes of work and services stated.

3.1.4.3.5

Highlight experience working with other public entities and housing authorities.

3.1.4.4

If appropriate, how staff are retained, screened, trained and monitored.

3.1.4.5

The proposed quality assurance program.

3.1.4.6

An explanation and copies of forms that will be used and reports that will be submitted and the method of submission of such reports (i.e., written; fax; Internet; etc.).

3.1.4.7

A complete description of the products and services the firm provides.

3.1.6.1

The client’s name;

3.1.6.2

The client’s contact name;

3.1.6.3

The client’s telephone number and email address; and

3.1.6.4

A brief narrative description and scope of the service(s) and the dates the services were provided, including a brief narrative description of those specific services including scope; size; cost; principal elements and special features.

3.2 Entry of Proposed Fees. The proposed fees shall be submitted by the proposer and received by the Agency. Do not submit, enter, or refer to any fees or costs within the 9-tab proposal submittal detailed within the preceding Section 3.0 herein—any proposer that does so may, at the Agency’s discretion, be rejected without further consideration.

3.2.1 Pricing Items. The proposed fees (Pricing Items) shall be submitted by the proposer and received by the Agency. Do not submit, enter or refer to any fees or costs within the 9-tab proposal submittal detailed within Section 3.0—any proposer that does so may be rejected without further consideration. Unless otherwise stated, the proposed fees are all-inclusive of all related costs that the successful proposer will incur to provide the noted services, including, but not limited to: employee wages and benefits; clerical support; overhead; profit; licensing; insurance; materials; supplies; tools; equipment; long distance telephone calls; travel expenses; document copying not specifically otherwise agreed to by the Agency; etc.

[Table No. 4] (1) RFP Section (2) Item No.

(3)

Qty (4)

U/M (5)

Description

NOTE: The successful proposer SHALL NOT negotiate any further payments from the payroll services chosen by the Agency; meaning, the successful proposer SHALL NOT receive a fee from the insurance carriers for these services. The fees paid to the successful proposer by the Agency pertaining to the above-noted Pricing Items No. 1 and No. 2 shall be the ONLY renumeration the successful proposer shall receive.

3.3 Additional Information Pertaining to the Pricing Items.

3.3.1 All quantities entered by the Agency herein within the immediate-preceding Table No. 4 herein and within the corresponding Pricing Items are for calculating purposes only. As may be further detailed herein, whereas the Agency anticipates that the ensuing contract will be a Requirements Contract, in such case the Agency does not guarantee any minimum or maximum amount of work as a result of any award ensuing from this RFP but shall retain the right to order from the awarded Contractor(s), on a task order basis, any quantity of services the Agency requires.

3.3.2 Entry of Fees. Proposers must enter a realistic and reasonable proposed cost for all Pricing Items. Whereas no additional proposed costs can or will be received after the proposal submittal deadline, any proposer that does not, in the opinion of the Agency, comply with this requirement may be rejected without further consideration.

3.3.2.1 Warning! Realistic Proposed Cost for the Pricing Items. Each proposer is strongly encouraged to enter a realistic cost for the Pricing Item listed within each of the preceding Table No. 4 herein. For instance, if the successful proposer enters $1.00 per hour for the “hourly” Pricing Item No. 2, then the $1.00 per hour is what the successful proposer will charge the Agency for the work that the Agency may retain the successful proposer to provide if the Agency deems such retention is in the Agency’s best interests to do so. Further, if, despite this warning, the successful proposer proposes a very low fee that the Agency deems is not realistic, then the Agency reserves the right to require the successful proposer to, at contract execution, present a cash bond in a suitable amount (i.e., $5,000.00) to ensure that the successful proposer will fulfill his/her obligations in this matter.

3.3.2.2 No Post-submittal Deadline Corrections Allowed. The Agency WILL NOT, after the submittal deadline, negotiate an increase to any unit costs or fees proposed prior to the submittal deadline; accordingly, proposers are strongly cautioned to submit a realistic price for the Pricing Items identified within the preceding Table No. 4 herein.

3.3.2.3 Review the Entry of Proposed Fees. The Agency strongly recommends that each proposer, print the receipt provided and review the entry to ensure that the proposer has entered the proposed fees correctly. The proposer will NOT be able to correct this entry after the posted deadline has expired, which means that the Agency will utilize such entry to assign the points pertaining to Evaluation Factor No. 1 detailed within the following Table No. 6 herein.

3.3.2.4 Determination of the Lowest Calculated Cost. After a proposer has entered his/her proposed unit costs for the Pricing Item. The total sum of all the line items shall be the Total Calculated Cost that the Agency will utilize to determine the points assigned for Evaluation Factor No. 1, identified within the following Table No. 6 herein.

3.3.2.5 No Deposits/No Retainer. The Agency will NOT pay any deposits or retainer fees as a result of award of the ensuing contract (such is not allowed per relevant HUD regulation). This means that the Agency will pay the successful proposer(s) for actual services provided only. For services billed at the hourly rate (as detailed within the preceding explanations pertaining to Pricing Item No. 2), the Contractor will be required to submit a full back-up detail of all hours worked, listed by no more than the “15-minute” standard.

3.3.3 Potential Escalation of Rates. At the discretion of the CO, at the end of the first one-year contract period (and at the end of any ensuing extended contract period), there may be an escalation of hourly rates (not to the firm-fixed fee) allowed in the same amount of any escalation that occurs pertaining to the corresponding or most similar rate listed on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index (PPI) ("most similar," as determined by and at the sole discretion of the Agency). For example, if, at the end of the first contract period the listed rates increase 5% as compared with the listed rates on the date of contract execution, then the Contractor will, at the CO’s discretion, be entitled to a 5% increase in the rates that he/she was being paid at that time. Similarly, for ensuing years, the ending-date of the previous contract period shall be the base-line date to determine the previously listed rate.

3.3.3.2 Notification Must Be Received From the Contractor. The Contractor must notify the CO, in writing, of such desired escalation at least 60 days prior to the end of the noted contract period(s). Such escalations may occur no more than once in any 12-month period without the express written consent of the CO.

3.3.3.2.1 Right to Reject. As stated within the preceding Section 3.3.3 herein, the Agency reserves the right to reject any such request for an increase in fees if the Agency feels doing so is in its best interests. Similarly, the Contractor has the right to terminate services if the Agency rejects the request for an increase. This will occur in the following manner (procedure):

3.3.3.2.1.1 Step No. 1. The Contractor submits his/her written request for an increase, accompanied by the required documentation, to the Agency CO within the required 60-day period (please see the preceding Section 3.3.3.1 herein);

3.3.3.21.2 Step No. 2. The Agency considers the requested increase and, within 10 days of receipt of such, issues a written response to the Contractor as to if the request is approved or rejected;

3.3.3.2.1.3 Step No. 3. If rejected and the Contractor wishes to, as a result, cease providing the services to the Agency, the Contractor has 10 days from the receipt of the written notice of rejection to deliver to the Agency CO a written notice that he/she is hereby invoking his/her right to discontinue the services within 120 days of the date this notice was delivered to the Agency (the specific date 120-days hence shall be written within the notice);

3.3.3.2.1.4 Step No. 4. The Agency will then endeavor to ensure that the Agency makes other arrangements to replace the Contractor (i.e., contract with another firm; do the services in-house; etc.) as the Contractor for the applicable services; further, if such other arrangements are completed by the Agency prior to the aforementioned 120-day date, the Agency shall retain the right to deliver to the Contractor, a 10-day written notice to cease services (meaning, the 120-day period is a maximum additional contract period that the Agency may, at its discretion, shorten with such written notice).

3.3.4 Prior Agency Approval Required. Please note that the Contractor shall NOT conduct any additional work without the prior written authorization of the Agency representative (via delivery of a Task Order, which may take the form of an email). Failure to abide by this directive shall release the Agency of any obligation to pay the Contractor for any work conducted without the noted prior written authorization.

3.3.5 Overtime. Pursuant to the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, overtime shall be not less than time and one half for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. The Agency shall consider regular time to be Monday-Friday (excluding holidays), 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Accordingly, the Agency will pay a rate of 1.5 of the listed hourly rates herein for any work the Agency requires the successful proposer to work specifically during non-regular-time hours; however:

3.3.5.1 The Agency shall NOT be responsible to pay the successful proposer for any work that the successful proposer CHOOSES to work during non-regular-time hours; meaning, if the necessity for the work “after hours” is due to the Contractor’s lack of staffing or if such work is to support any of the work the Agency expects that such work will be provided during normal work hours. The exception to this shall be if a “non-normal” action by the Agency or an “Act of God” causes the Contractor to work “after hours” to solve the problem, then aforementioned over-time rule shall apply. All such overtime work must be pre-approved in writing by the Agency.

3.3.5.2 If ordered by the Agency, and under the same strictures as the requirements detailed within the immediate-preceding Sections 3.3.5 and 3.3.4.1, Holiday hours worked shall be paid by the Agency at the rate of 2.5.

3.4 Proposal Submission. All proposals must be submitted, emailed or submitted by “hard copy”, and time-stamped received in the designated Agency office by no later than the submittal deadline stated herein (or within any ensuing addendum). A total of 1 original signature copy (marked "ORIGINAL") and 2 exact copies (each of the 2 separate proposal submittals shall be marked “EXACT COPY” and shall, as with the “ORIGINAL,” have a cover and extending tabs) of the proposal submittal, shall be placed unfolded in a sealed package and addressed to:

Maiker Housing Partners Attention: Katelyn Brink, Procurement Specialist 3033 W 71st Ave Suite 1000, Westminster, CO 80030

3.4.1 Labeling Proposal Package. The package exterior must clearly denote the above noted RFP number and must have the proposer’s name and return address. Proposals received after the published deadline will not be accepted.

3.4.2 Submission Conditions. DO NOT FOLD OR MAKE ANY ADDITIONAL MARKS, NOTATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS ON THE DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED! Proposers are not allowed to change any requirements or forms contained herein, either by making or entering onto these documents or the documents submitted any revisions or additions; and if any such additional marks, notations or requirements are entered on any of the documents that are submitted to the Agency by the proposer, such may invalidate that proposal. If, after accepting such a proposal, the Agency decides that any such entry does not changed the intent of the proposal that the Agency intended to receive, the Agency may accept the proposal and the proposal shall be considered by the Agency as if those additional marks, notations or requirements were not entered on such. Each prospective proposer that does so is thereby agreeing to confirm all notices that the Agency delivers to him/her as instructed, and by submitting a proposal, the proposer is thereby agreeing to abide by all terms and conditions published herein and by addendum pertaining to this RFP.

3.4.3 Submission Responsibilities. It shall be the responsibility of each proposer to be aware of and to abide by all dates, times, conditions, requirements and specifications set forth within all applicable documents issued by the Agency, including the RFP document, the documents listed within the following Section 3.8, and any addenda and required attachments submitted by the proposer. By virtue of completing, signing and submitting the completed documents, the proposer is stating his/her agreement to comply with the all conditions and requirements set forth within those documents. Written notice from the proposer not authorized in writing by the CO to exclude any of the Agency requirements contained within the documents may cause that proposer to not be considered for award.

3.5 Proposer's Responsibilities — Contact with the Agency. It is the responsibility of the proposer to address all communication and correspondence pertaining to this RFP process to the designated CO only. Proposers must not make inquiry or communicate with any other Agency staff member or official (including members of the Board of Commissioners) pertaining to this RFP. Failure to abide by this requirement may be cause for the Agency to not consider a proposal submittal received from any proposer who may Agency not abided by this directive.

3.5.1 Addenda. All questions and requests for information must be addressed in writing to the CO. The CO anticipates that it will respond to all such inquiries in writing by addendum to all prospective proposers (i.e., firms or individuals that have obtained the RFP Documents). During the RFP solicitation process, the CO will NOT conduct any ex parte (a substantive conversation—“substantive” meaning, when decisions pertaining to the RFP are made—between the Agency and a prospective proposer when other prospective proposers are not present) conversations that may give one prospective proposer an advantage over other prospective proposers. This does not mean that prospective proposers may not call the CO—it simply means that, other than making replies to direct the prospective proposer where his/her answer Agency already been issued within the solicitation documents, the CO may not respond to the prospective proposer’s inquiries but will direct him/her to submit such inquiry in writing so that the CO may more fairly respond to all prospective proposers in writing by addendum.

3.6 Proposer's Responsibilities — Equal Employment Opportunity and Supplier Diversity. Both the Contractor and the Agency have, pursuant to HUD regulation, certain responsibilities pertaining to the hiring and retention of personnel and subcontractors.

3.6.1 Within 2 CFR §200.321 it states:

3.6.1.1 Contracting with small and minority businesses, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms.

3.6.1.2 (a) The non-Federal entity must take all necessary affirmative steps to assure that minority businesses, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used when possible.

3.6.1.3 (2) Affirmative steps must include:

3.6.1.3.1 (1) Placing qualified small and minority businesses and women's business enterprises on solicitation lists; and,

3.6.1.3.4 (4) Establishing delivery schedules, where the requirement permits, which encourage participation by small and minority business, and women's business enterprises; and,

3.6.1.3.5 (5) Using the services and assistance, as appropriate, of such organizations as the Small Business Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce; and,

3.6.1.3.6 (6) Requiring the prime contractor, if subcontracts are to be let, to take the affirmative steps listed in paragraphs (1) through (5) of this section.

3.6.2 Within HUD Procurement Handbook 7460.8 REV 2 it states:

3.6.2.1 Section 15.5.A, Required Efforts. Consistent with Presidential Orders 11625, 12138, and 12432, the [Agency] shall make every effort to ensure that small businesses, MBEs, WBEs, and labor surplus area businesses participate in [Agency] contracting.

3.6.2.2 Section 15.5.B, Goals. [The Agency] is encouraged to establish goals by which they can measure the effectiveness of their efforts in implementing programs in support of . . . contracting with disadvantaged firms. It is important to ensure that the means used to establish these goals do not have the effect of limiting competition and should not be used as mandatory set-aside or quota, except as may otherwise be expressly authorized in regulation or statute. Some localities have adopted minority contracting set-aside policies or geographic limitations, which may be in conflict with Federal requirements for full and open competition.

3.6.3 Within our Agency Procurement Policy it states that our Agency will:

3.6.3.1 Assistance to Small and Other Business, Required Efforts:

3.6.3.1.1 Including such firms, when qualified, on solicitation mailing lists; and,

3.6.3.1.2 Encouraging their participation through direct solicitation of proposals or proposals whenever they are potential sources; and,

3.6.3.1.3 Dividing total requirements, when economically feasible, into smaller tasks or quantities to permit maximum participation by such firms; and,

3.6.3.1.4 Establishing delivery schedules, where the requirement permits, which encourage participation by such firms; and,

3.6.4 Requirements. Accordingly, please see Section 3.1.7 within Table No. 3 herein which details the information pertaining to this issue that the proposer must submit in response to this proposal showing compliance, to the greatest extent feasible, with these regulations.

3.7 Pre-proposal Conference. There is not a Pre-proposal Conference scheduled as a part of this RFP competitive solicitation process.

3.8 Recap of Attachments. It is the responsibility of each proposer to verify that he/she Agency downloaded the following attachments pertaining to this RFP, which are hereby by reference included as a part of this RFP:

[Table No. 5] (1) RFP Section (2) Document No.

(3)

Attachment (4)

Attachment Description

This RFP Document

3.8.8.2

4.0 PROPOSAL EVALUATION.

4.1 Evaluation Factors. The following factors will be utilized by the Agency to evaluate each proposal submittal received; award of points for each listed factor will be based upon the documentation that the proposer submits within his/her proposal submittal:

[Table No. 6] (1) Factor No.

(2) Max Point Value (3)

Factor Type (4)

Factor Description

(Technical) The proposer’s DEMONSTRATED QUALIFICATIONS and CAPACITY.

(Technical) The QUALITY of the TECHNICAL APPROACH and the WORK PLAN.

(Technical) The proposer’s DEMONSTRATED RELEVANT EXPERIENCE in performing similar work and the proposer’s DEMONSTRATED SUCCESSFUL PAST PERFORMANCE (including meeting costs, schedules, and performance requirements) of contract work substantially similar to that required by this solicitation as verified by reference checks or other means. (NOTE: The Agency will place particular emphasis on the proposer’s above-described EXPERIENCE and PAST PERFORMANCE with Public Housing- and HUD-related work.)

(Technical) The OVERALL QUALITY, PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE, and ORGANIZATION of the PROPOSAL SUBMITTED, based upon the opinion of the evaluators.

100 points

Total Points

*NOTE: Points will be awarded for each Subjective Factor by each of the appointed evaluation committee members based on his/her opinion after a thorough review of the information submitted by each proposer within his/her proposal.

4.2 Evaluation Method. Please note that the Agencies may choose to evaluate the proposals submitted together, or the Agencies may choose to evaluate the proposals submitted separately at each Agency. In any case, the result of the evaluation may be that the Agencies complete award to the same proposer or may be that the Agencies complete award to different proposers. The eventual award will occur based on the following detailed brief procedures.

4.2.1 Initial Evaluation for Responsiveness. Each proposal received will first be evaluated for responsiveness (i.e., meets the minimum of the requirements). NOTE: Please reference Section 3.1 herein.

4.2.2 Evaluation Packet. An evaluation packet will be prepared for each evaluator, typically including the following documents:

4.2.2.1 Instructions to Evaluators;

4.2.2.2 Proposal Tabulation Form;

4.2.2.3 Written Narrative Form for each proposer;

4.2.2.4 Recap of each proposer’s responsiveness;

4.2.2.5 Copy of all pertinent RFP documents.

4.2.3 Evaluation Committee. The Agency anticipates that it will select a minimum of a three-person committee to evaluate each of the responsive emailed or “hard copy” proposals submitted in response to this RFP. PLEASE NOTE: No proposer shall be informed at any time during or after the RFP process as to the identity of any evaluation committee member. If, by chance, a proposer does become aware of the identity of such person(s), he/she SHALL NOT make any attempt to contact or discuss with such person anything related to this RFP. As detailed within Section 3.4 of this document, the designated CO is the only person at the Agency that the proposers shall contact pertaining to this RFP. Failure to abide by this requirement may (and most likely will) cause such proposer(s) to be eliminated from consideration for award.

4.2.4 Evaluation. The CO will evaluate and award points pertaining to Evaluation Factor No. 1 (the “Objective” Factor). The appointed evaluation committee, independent of the CO or any other person at the Agency, shall evaluate the responsive proposals submitted and award points pertaining to Evaluation Factors No. 2 through No. 6 (the “Subjective” Factors). Upon final completion of the proposal evaluation process, the evaluation committee will forward the completed evaluations to the CO.

4.2.4.1 Points Awarded Range. Pertaining to the Subjective Factors, note the following range of points awarded (points pertaining to this RFP are shaded—also see the Evaluation Factors detailed within the preceding Section 4.1 herein):

[Table No. 7] Points Awarded Range

*Pursuant to Section 7.2.N.3 of HUD Procurement Handbook 7460.8 REV 2.

**Total available points to be awarded, including cost points, minus preference points.

4.2.5 Potential “Best and Finals” Negotiations. The Agency reserves the right to, as detailed within Section 7.2.N through Section 7.2.R of HUD Procurement Handbook 7460.8 REV 2, conduct a “Best and Finals” Negotiation, which may include oral interviews, with all firms deemed to be in the competitive range. Any firm deemed not to be in the competitive range shall be notified of such in writing by the Agency in as timely a manner as possible, but in no case within no longer than 5 business days after the beginning of such negotiations with the firms deemed to be in the competitive range.

4.2.6 Determination of Top-ranked Proposer. The subjective points awarded by the evaluation committee shall be combined with the objective points awarded by the CO to determine the final rankings, which shall be forwarded by the CO to the ED for approval. If the evaluation was performed to the satisfaction of the ED, the final rankings may be forwarded to the Agency Board of Commissioners (BOC) at a scheduled meeting for approval. Contract negotiations may, at the Agency's option, be conducted prior to or after the BOC approval.

4.2.6.1 Minimum Evaluation Results. To be considered to receive an award a proposer must receive a total calculated average of at least 70 points (of the 115 total possible points detailed within Section 4.1 herein).

4.2.6.2 Ties. In the case of a tie in points awarded, the award shall be decided as detailed within Section 6.12.C of HUD Procurement Handbook 7460.8 REV 2, by “drawing lots or other random means of selection.”

4.2.7 Notice of Results of Evaluation. If an award is completed, all proposers will receive by e-mail a Notice of Results of Evaluation. Such notice shall inform all proposers of:

4.2.7.1 Which proposer received the award;

4.2.7.2 Where each proposer placed in the process as a result of the evaluation of the proposals received;

4.2.7.3 The cost or financial offers received from each proposer;

4.2.7.4 Each proposer’s right to a debriefing and to protest.

4.2.8 Restrictions. All persons having familial (including in-laws) and/or employment relationships (past or current) with principals and/or employees of a proposer entity will be excluded from participation on the Agency evaluation committee. Similarly, all persons having ownership interest in and/or contract with a proposer entity will be excluded from participation on the Agency evaluation committee.

5.0 CONTRACT AWARD.

5.1 Contract Award Procedure. If a contract is awarded pursuant to this RFP, the following detailed procedure will be followed:

5.1.1 An Agreement to Abide. By completing, executing and submitting the Form of Proposal, Attachment A, the “proposer is thereby agreeing to abide by all terms and conditions pertaining to this RFP as issued by the Agency, either in “hard copy” or by email, including the contract clauses already attached as Attachments G and G-1 through G-3. Accordingly, the Agency has no responsibility to conduct after the submittal deadline any negotiations pertaining to the contract clauses already published, and will most likely NOT do so.

5.2 Contract Conditions. The following provisions are considered mandatory conditions of any contract award made by the Agency pursuant to this RFP:

5.2.1 Contract Form. The Agency will not execute a contract on the successful proposer's form—contracts will only be executed on the Agency form (please see Sample Contract, Attachments G and G-1 through G-3), and by submitting a proposal the successful proposer agrees to do so (please note that the Agency reserves the right to amend this form as the Agency deems necessary).