2026_BC_Appendix_A_SOW.pdf

Appendix A Scope of Services

Billing and Collections Department

Scope of Work to be Performed Contractor shall provide all labor, materials, supervision, tools, equipment, facilities and travel necessary to conduct a management evaluation of the Billing and Collections department (B&C).

Contractor’s services shall include, but are not limited to performing tests and analysis necessary;

including interviews with employees at all levels of employment, to allow Contractor to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the department, and to form an opinion and report on the department’s performance in the following areas and make recommendations on how they may be improved:

Mission and Vision:

• Has the department adopted a mission (or vision) statement?

• Is it aligned with the mission of the City?

• Is the department’s mission (or vision) stated clearly, concisely and in easily understandable terms, and are employees aware of it?

• Has management set operational goals for the department?

• Do these goals directly support the mission?

• Are these goals congruent with each other?

• Are these goals defined in measurable terms, including clearly identified performance metrics?

• Is there methodology used to help employees understand how their daily work contributes to the goals of their units, the overall mission of the department, and the City?

Organization Structure:

• Is the current organizational structure adequate to accomplish the department’s mission and/or goals?

• Is the department’s structure efficient and organized in such a way that mission and accountability are clearly defined without duplication and overlap of responsibility?

• Is the department structured to optimize integration, cooperation, and communication within the department as well as with other departments, outside agencies, the Mayor, City Council, and the citizens?

• Does the department’s organizational structure have the appropriate span of control, and does it follow best practices?

• How does it compare with other governmental units of similar size?

Budget:

• Evaluate how the department’s budget is allocated, is their budget managed in the most efficient way to optimize results?

• Evaluate funding mechanisms and determine optimal mix of funding sources.

• Is the department’s budget adequate for it to accomplish its mission?

Staffing Levels:

• Are staffing levels adequate to deliver the service levels expected by our citizens and reflected in the approved budget document?

• Are staffing levels adequate to manage current workloads and support efficient and effective operations?

• Does the department have the resources needed to provide services to a city of our size and keep up with projected population growth (St. Pete 2050 Report)?

• Are staffing levels adequate within each classification (i.e. meter readers, customer service, professional, supervisory, management, etc.)?

• Are staffing levels adequate compared with peer cities and governmental units of similar size?

• Are current employee turnover rates reasonable, and how do they compare with those of similar governmental entities?

• Evaluate the department’s historical staffing levels over the past 5 to 10 years and typical tenure by position.

Staff Qualifications:

• Are staff members, including management, supervisory, office, and operations personnel, qualified to perform their duties in accordance with City’s policies and procedures?

• Do they have the necessary skills, education, licenses, and professional certifications to effectively perform their duties?

• Is training of staff (both short-term and long-term) adequate for the required duties, and are training opportunities equally accessible to all staff members?

• Are there adequate opportunities for continuing education and professional development?

Management of Staff:

• Does management demonstrate strong leadership?

• Do they possess the “soft” skills required to be effective leaders?

• Do they have credibility and the confidence of their subordinates, peers and City leadership?

• Does management clearly communicate the goals and objectives of the City and the department?

• Are these goals and objectives incorporated into daily tasks and action plans?

• Does management hold employees accountable for meeting established goals, objectives, and expectations?

• Does management hold themselves accountable for meeting the needs of their staff?

• Does management lead by example?

• Do they encourage staff to work as a team where every member is valued and invited to fully participate?

• Do they encourage change management throughout the department?

• Is staff operating in accordance with applicable rules, regulations and policies?

• Does management provide consistent coaching, counseling, and constructive performance feedback to employees?

• Are employees provided fair and equal access to training and growth opportunities?

• Evaluate the promotional process within the department.

• Are promotions and advancement opportunities equitable across the department?

• Are there any barriers to moving up to the next level?

• What is the process for investigating employee complaints?

• What is staff’s comfort level with addressing grievances?

• Is there fear of retaliation from a 360-degree view?

• Are there adequate protections in place for whistleblowers?

• Are work schedules established to accomplish the goals and objectives of the department in the most efficient and effective manner?

• Are assignments distributed in the most equitable and efficient manner?

• How do staff interactions with management occur in the field and are they tracked to ensure proper employee engagement is occurring?

Succession Planning:

• Does the department have a succession plan in place for management and supervisory staff?

• Does this plan include a focus on diversity?

• Does this plan include empowerment and/or training of current staff for these future roles in leadership?

• How would the loss of a key person affect the department?

• Is there a continuity of operations plan?

Policies and Procedures:

• Are City and departmental policies and procedures, as applied by the department, adequate to support efficient and effective operations?

• How do the department's policies and procedures compare with industry best practices?

• Do they align with applicable laws and regulations, including public records retention and recordkeeping statutes?

• Are policies applied fairly and consistently across the department?

• How do we ensure this fairness and consistency?

• Is the Human Resources department involved in this process?

Customer Service:

• Does the department provide customer-focused services and communications?

• Is communication with customers appropriately documented?

• Are customer satisfaction levels regularly measured using feedback from customers?

• How are customer complaints handled?

• Is there a formal process to escalate customer service issues, and to capture, track, and respond to customer feedback in a timely manner?

• How are customer service response times measured and documented?

• Are there any delays in responding to residents?

• Are the staff interacting with customers providing adequate services?

• Has management established clear customer service standards and expectations, and are these standards effectively communicated to employees and reinforced through training, supervision, and performance management?

• Are employees trained appropriately in customer service skills, including how to deliver the message, to make residents feel heard?

• Do employees have the tools and skills to effectively handle customer issues?

• Are employees trained to deal with issues as they come up, i.e., recent cases of customers reporting unusually high utility bills?

• How does the management team help employees deal with such situations?

• When extenuating circumstances arise, do employees feel they are getting timely and accurate information from upper management to respond effectively?

• Are periodic refresher training sessions provided for employees whose roles have an impact on customer service?

• Is the department doing all it can to provide good standards of employee care?

• Are all employees encouraged and given the opportunity to put forward practical suggestions for improving customer service?

• Is the team directly interacting with customers included in discussions and able to provide feedback on improving customer service?

• Is action taken, where possible, to address customer suggestions and common complaints?

• Are employees kept informed about customer satisfaction results and actions taken to address identified issues and improve service delivery?

• Are employees provided with regular performance feedback and coaching to support continuous improvement?

• Do employees feel valued for their day-to-day work and for going above and beyond?

• How is exceptional performance linked to recognition, promotion, or pay raises?

• What happens when an employee underperforms?

• What is the corrective action plan for addressing poor performance, particularly in customer service?

Communication:

• Evaluate the availability and utilization of communication tools?

• Could information be readily available to elected officials without having to reach out to department staff?

• Evaluate communication between the department and elected officials; could it be improved?

• Evaluate communication between the department and their customers; could it be improved?

• Evaluate communication within the department; could it be improved?

• Is the community outreach performed by the department effective?

• How can it be improved?

• Are there clear points of contact within the department that elected officials, the media and the general public can reach out to address specific questions?

Technology:

• Does the department proactively leverage technology to improve service, enhance efficiency, and control costs?

• Is the technology used by the department outdated?

• Is the best available technology being used to help staff perform at the highest level?

• How is the department leveraging technology in key areas, i.e. software, operations, meter reading?

• Is the current technology appropriate for the department’s needs, and how does it compare with industry standards and other governmental units of similar size?

• Is the new technology (Tyler) appropriate for the department’s needs, and how does it compare with industry standards and other governmental units of similar size?

• How do other cities and utilities collect and manage water meter data for billing, and how do they leverage meter technology to optimize accuracy and efficiency?

• Is management actively seeking new technologies to better serve customers, from bill generation through to customer support?

• Is AI being explored as a tool to improve department efficiency?

• Could AI be leveraged to detect anomalies or spikes in water consumption, identify potential leaks, or notify customers of unusual usage patterns?

Employee Engagement:

• Does management provide ongoing communication with non-union employees regarding departmental changes, updates to policies and procedures, and changes in day-to-day operations?

• Does management provide ongoing communication with the local union regarding these topics?

• Does management engage with union representatives concerning staff-related topics such as general morale, employee engagement opportunities, employee feedback and complaints, equipment needs, and staff training for both maintaining qualifications and empowerment for advancement opportunities?

Diversity (women/minority):

• What is the current demographic makeup of the department?

• Does the department have a diversity plan in place?

• If so, how is the implementation of this plan tracked, and does it align with the citywide values and goals?

• If there is not one, what steps are being taken towards the development of a plan?

Strategic Planning and Development:

• Is the department where it needs to be compared with departments in our peer cities, i.e.

cities of similar size and demographics?

• Is the department prepared to keep up with the City’s projected growth?

• Does it have the necessary resources?

• Where are we now, and where are we going to be 30 years from now?

• Are we on a timeline/budget schedule to scale the department to match the trajectory of the

City and be able to meet the needs of tomorrow?

• When was the last strategic plan completed, and what is the plan for implementation?

Employee Safety:

• Do employees feel they have a workplace free of harassment, bullying, abuse of power, and other inappropriate behaviors?

• If any employees have encountered such issues within the department, do they feel their concerns were handled appropriately and effectively?

• Is the department taking sufficient steps to ensure the safety and well-being of its field employees, including meter readers?

Billing Process:

• Is there adequate oversight of the billing process?

• Are employees updated on Administration’s efforts to improve billing accuracy?

• Are employees empowered to provide feedback and suggestions to improve these efforts?

• Why were billing errors reported by customers?

• When did the billing errors begin occurring; before or after the storms of 2024?

• Were specific zip codes disproportionately impacted?

• Were certain types of properties, such as vacant homes, more affected by billing errors?

• What factors are considered when deciding to issue a shut-off notice, and what criteria determine if a customer should receive one?

• Is there a process for writing off uncollectible accounts?

• How does Tiered Billing impact customers, especially those who are financially disadvantaged?

• Review the collection side of the process.

• What is the role of the Utilities Billing Review Committee (UBRC)?

• Are appropriate controls in place for the UBRC?

• Is there a process for handling billing disputes, adjustments, write-offs, and escalation to the UBRC?

• Review the UBRC’s policies and procedures and interview with UBRC members.

Meter Reading Process:

• Is the meter reading process effective and efficient?

• What is the process for collecting water meter data?

• How is meter reader information verified, and how is data reliability ensured?

• Is there an established formal dispute resolution process?

• How are questions and discrepancies about water consumption resolved?

• How do our water meters compare with those used by peer cities?

• How do analog meters compare to digital meters in terms of accuracy and reliability?

• Have other cities fully transitioned to digital meters, and how do we compare?

Utility Assistance Programs:

• Do we have the right assistance programs in place?

• How often are they evaluated to ensure the assistance offered matches the real needs of the customers?

• Is the management team proactively and continuously looking for ways to help customers who experience difficulty paying their utility bills?

• How do our assistance programs compare with those offered by our peer cities and governmental units of similar size?

Emergency Preparedness:

• How do the department’s emergency preparedness policies and procedures compare with those of peer cities that have experienced natural disasters?

• Does the department have an up-to-date emergency response plan?

• How often is it updated?

• Has it been updated to incorporate lessons learned from the 2024 hurricane events?

B&C Employee Survey Contractor shall conduct an anonymous survey of B&C employees to ascertain their attitude regarding the management and working environment in the department (including employee morale). The survey conducted should meet the following criteria:

• It will be based on a 100% sample of the employees in the department, with anonymous survey responses.

• Survey responses are to be analyzed by several demographic groupings, to include at a minimum, race, gender, organizational unit (division, section), organizational level, employee function and tenure with the department and organization.

• Areas of interest to be surveyed will include, but not be limited to employee attitude with regard to supervision, upper management, working and safety conditions, interpersonal relationships with other employees, discrimination, racial equity, equal opportunities for training and advancement, satisfaction with how information is shared within the department and communication up and down the organizational hierarchy (do they feel their voice is heard and do they feel as they are valued members of a team). It will also assess if employees believe the department is ran effectively, do they feel empowered to speak up about inefficiencies and water meter issues, satisfaction with resources needed to do their jobs, overall happiness, and other factors identified as important issues through interviews with department management, supervisors and a sample of employees.

• Survey employees on what they think are the internal and external barriers to efficiency, what are the roadblocks that affect their operations, and how do other departments impact the department’s operations (360-degree view).

• Additional survey questions for management staff, to include, but not be limited to, does management feel supported by Administration? Is there a disconnect between the Administration’s views and the management’s day-to-day reality?

The Contractor will be responsible for:

• Conducting preliminary research and interviews to determine the appropriate topics to survey.

• Designing and preparing the survey instrument, including open-ended questions, to solicit open and honest feedback from all employees.

• Disseminating surveys and collecting completed surveys while providing a safe space for the respondents, at or outside the workplace.

• Performing data analysis of the surveys returned and reporting survey results by demographic groupings.

• Where appropriate, making recommendations for organizational changes or programs based upon survey findings.

The survey instrument shall become property of the Contractor, and the City of St. Petersburg will be provided with a summary of the statistical results and a summary of the open-ended statements provided by employees.

Report Contractor shall provide twenty (20) hard copies and one (1) digital copy in PDF via email of its management evaluation report to the City within 180 days after the effective date of this Agreement. The report shall show findings and recommendations, including an executive summary, related data tables, charts, graphs, and other statistical analysis or supporting documentation. Contractor shall be required to make a minimum of one oral presentation of its findings and recommendations to the Budget, Finance & Taxation (BF&T) Committee and/or City Council.