A04_SOW_Payment_Monitoring_Services.pdf

Statement of Work

Title: Payment system for the Marking, Tagging, and Reporting and Walrus Harvest Monitoring

Contract Period: April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2029

Background: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Marine Mammals Management (MMM) Office's runs programs that monitor the subsistence harvest of polar bears, Pacific walruses, and northern sea otters and has village monitors observing walrus harvest in certain Alaskan villages. The Marking, Tagging, and Reporting Program (MTRP) and the Walrus Harvest Monitoring Program (WHMP) employ a network of local community taggers/monitors to affix tags to subsistence harvested marine mammals, collect biological samples, monitor walrus harvest, and report the information to the MMM.

The Service pays the taggers and harvest monitors a fee for each animal they process, or the hours spent monitoring.

Goal/objective: Find vendor to provide a payment system and payroll service for the taggers and harvest monitors. This would include sending tax documents to some of the payees.

Scope of work: The Service processes approximately 400 transactions per year and each transaction varies between $10–2,500 for a total of about $100,000 per year paid out to approximately 120 taggers/ monitors. Remaining current fiscal year period is approximately $32,000 as we are not operating the WHMP in 2024 and we will have made payments for first 6 months. Approximately 75% of the payees are able to receive electronic fund transfer payments, while 25% may need a physical check or debit card deposit sent to them. The contractor would be responsible for paying the payee for each tagging or monitoring fee and tax document sent. The contractor would then be required to request a reimbursement from the Service, which includes the vendor’s added transaction fee (per payment or document sent).

Payment overview: Budget annual totals encompass total expenses for operation of the program, tagger/monitor pay and the vendor's added transaction fee. Vendor is compensated for making payments through these transaction fees.

The workflow for this proposed process includes the following:

• Local taggers and harvest monitors (payees) complete their work and submit the certificates, data, samples, hours, and payment invoices to MMM staff.

• MMM staff receives, records, and approves the certificates, data, samples, hours, and payment invoices.

• MMM staff electronically transmits payment invoices and payee contact information to the payment contractor, including sensitive banking and tax information. A secure system is required.

• The payment contractor processes the payment invoices and issues payments to payees in a timely manner. Currently, we issue payments weekly in response to individual invoices. The contractor should continue this schedule.

• Access to traditional bank accounts is not readily available for approximately 25% of the payees. The payment contractor will be responsible for issuing payments in a manner suitable for payees, including options such as electronic transfers to a bank account, physical checks, or other methods.

• The payment contractor will be responsible for collecting and maintaining necessary information from payees to make payments, track payments, and provide tax documents when needed.

• The payment contractor will be paid for each of these payments, and each tax document sent.

• The payment contractor will also be responsible for providing payee customer support such as phone number, email, or social media, or all. Payees occasionally call to inquire about the status and time of payment. We wish to have a contact that can respond to these inquiries.

• The payment contractor will maintain all necessary records and provide any requested reports to MMM staff. The specific information, reports, formats, and schedules will be determined during the development of the contract and in consultation with MMM, Budget and Financing, and Contracting.

• The payment contractor will submit invoices to the Service as specified in the contract for services rendered.

• The payment contractor will provide points of contact for MMM staff for the administration of the payments.

• MMM staff will be responsive to the payment contractor's questions and will inform the contractor of changes to authorized payment rates.