Depository_Services_(Addendum_#2_Revision).pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

2022-RFP-185

DEPOSITORY SERVICES

City of Pittsburgh

City-County Building

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

RELEASE DATE: August 22, 2022

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: September 23, 2022

RESPONSE DEADLINE: September 30, 2022, 5:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/pittsburghpa https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/%7bproject.government.code%7d

City of Pittsburgh

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Depository Services

I. Introduction II. Instructions to Bidders

III. Scope of Work IV. Proposal Format Requirements V. Evaluation Phases

VI. Equal Opportunity Review Commission Terms VII. Award and Contract

VIII. General Terms & Conditions IX. Miscellaneous Requirements X. Vendor Questionnaire

Attachments:

A - Exhibit A

B - Exhibit B

C - Exhibit C

D - Exhibit D-Cost Proposal

Request for Proposal #2022-RFP-185 Title: Depository Services

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Summary

In accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Pittsburgh Code, Title Two-Fiscal, Article III-

Depositories, the City of Pittsburgh is soliciting proposals for the provision of depository services ( a

“Depository”) for the period January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

1.2. Background

It is the responsibility of the entity responding to this Request for Proposal (the “Responder”) to carefully read the entire Request for Proposal (RFP), which contains all provisions applicable to successful completion and submission of a proposal.

Recently, the City of Pittsburgh enacted legislation which amended the City of Pittsburgh Code (“City

Code”), Title TwoFiscal, Article III-Depositories, Chapter 221-Contracts, by requiring financial institutions seeking to become City Depositories make a commitment to community reinvestment and responsible banking. The legislation also instructs the City Controller to evaluate banks with which the City does business as to their success or failure in meeting this commitment.

1.3. Contact Information

Clarisa Mejias-Shell

Sourcing Specialist

414 Grant Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Email: clarisa.mejias-shell@pittsburghpa.gov

Phone: (412) 255-2422

Department:

Finance

1.4. Timeline

The following represents the tentative schedule for this project. Any change in the scheduled dates for the Pre Proposal Conference (if applicable), Deadline for Submission of Written Questions, or Proposal

Submission Deadline will be advertised in the form of an addendum to this RFP. The schedule for the evaluation process and other future dates may be adjusted without notice.

RFP Released August 22, 2022

Question Submission Deadline September 23, 2022, 5:00pm

Proposal Submission Deadline September 30, 2022, 5:00pm mailto:clarisa.mejias-shell@pittsburghpa.gov tel:(412)255-2422

Proposal Review and Supplier Scoring October 2022

Contract Award October 2022

2. INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

2.1. Submittal Requirements

All proposals must be submitted electronically. No proposal shall be accepted in person, by U.S. Mail, by private courier service, via oral or email communication, telephone or fax transmission.

Respondents are required to provide one (1) electronic copy of their proposal in either MS Word or PDF by the submission deadline.

If additional hard copies are requested, the proposal should be bound or contained in a loose leaf binder. Document pages shall be 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches in size or folded to such a size. Use section dividers, tabbed in accordance with this Section as specified below. All proposals will need to be provided electronically so the following format will apply for the electronic submittal through the

Beacon website.

2.2. Additional Submission Considerations

Late proposals will not be accepted or considered. Respondents should allow enough time to register company on the City's e-Procurement Portal, search the solicitation they wish to respond to and complete the submission process online before the deadline.

The City of Pittsburgh shall not be responsible for proposals delivered to a person or location other than that specified herein.

All submittals, whether selected or rejected, shall become the property of the City of Pittsburgh and will not be returned.

All costs associated with proposal preparation shall be borne by the applicant.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

3.1. Recently Enacted Changes To The City Code

In accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Pittsburgh Code, Title Two-Fiscal, Article III-

Depositories, the City of Pittsburgh is soliciting proposals for the provision of depository services (a

“Depository”) for the period January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

It is the responsibility of the entity responding to this Request for Proposal (the “Responder”) to carefully read the entire Request for Proposal (“RFP”), which contains all provisions applicable to successful completion and submission of a proposal.

Recently, the City of Pittsburgh enacted legislation which amended the City of Pittsburgh Code (“City of

Code”), Title Two-Fiscal, Article III-Depositories, Chapter 221-Contracts, by requiring financial institutions seeking to become City Depositories make a commitment to community reinvestment and responsible banking. The legislation also instructs the City Controller to evaluate banks with which the

City does business as to their success or failure in meeting this commitment. A copy of the revised City

Code provisions is attached to this RFP as Exhibit C.

Some highlights of the revised City Code provisions include:

A. Any institution that desires a continuing or a new designation as a City depository is required to submit, at the time that institution initially applies to engage in such business and annually thereafter, unless otherwise specified, a sworn statement of its financial condition, showing the amount paid-in capital and surplus and its general financial condition. Such institutions must also submit information needed for evaluation of the policies and practices regarding housing and economic development of such depository or potential depository.

B. All financial institutions participating in the bid process must pledge to make their best efforts to develop responsible lending and financing opportunities to support residential and commercial development of the City’s neighborhoods and execute a Community Reinvestment Plan which is to be submitted to the City. Examples of such efforts are provided at Section 221.02 (b) of the City Code.

C. Pursuant to the City Code, for 2022, all depositories must submit a Community Reinvestment Plan. No depository shall be designated as an eligible depository unless it has executed a Community

Reinvestment Plan.

D. The Director of Finance is prohibited from keeping any City funds on deposit, or from investing in any bank, its affiliates, or other financial institution that makes predatory home loans, abusive payday loans, or other unscrupulous non-home loan or financial products. The

Director of Finance is also prohibited from allowing City moneys to remain invested, or hereafter make investments in, stocks, securities, or other obligations of any business entity that make predatory home and non-home loans or has an affiliate that, or is an affiliate of a bank or other financial institution that makes predatory loans or securities collateralized by any interest in predatory home and/or non-home loans.

E. Each contract with a depository shall contain a requirement that the depository provide written notice to the Mayor and the Director of Finance ninety (90) days prior to the closing of any branch of such depository located within the City, and shall provide such notice within the thirty (30) days prior to the opening of any branch of such depository located within the City.

F. The City Controller, on an annual basis, shall review and evaluate the information contained in the public sections of the evaluations and reports of financial institutions prepared by federal and state agencies pursuant to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA”), 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq. A financial institution must meet at least a satisfactory CRA rating in order to be deemed a qualified depository.

The City Controller, on an annual basis, shall review and evaluate the information contained in the most recent disclosure statements filed by the financial institutions, In addition, the City Controller shall review any information deemed necessary or desirable in evaluating the performance of financial institutions.

G. The City will generate a Responsible Banking and Neighborhood Reinvestment Score which shall be one of the factors, together with an analysis of the institution’s overall financial health and range of services offered to the City, used to determine at which level the City will continue to do business with the financial institution. For more information, please see Title Two, Article III, Sections

221.07 and 221.08 of the City Code.

3.2. Review Process and Selection Criteria:

In accordance with the provisions of Title Two, Article III, Chapter 221 of the City Code, proposals submitted by Responders shall be evaluated by the Director of Finance based upon the Respondent’s annual disclosures, the most recent rankings and recommendations provided by the Reinvestment

Review Committee and any other factors deemed necessary for the good of the City. The Director of

Finance shall submit the proposals from potential depositories to City Council with recommendations.

Council shall authorize those proposals that meet the standards set forth in the City Code and are most advantageous to the City. The Director of Finance and the City Council shall make every effort to recommend and authorize a diverse group of depositories which includes banks of all sizes.

2. City Council shall designate to the Director of Finance the active and inactive depositories for each ensuing year, specifying at least two (2) banks which shall be active depositories for general fund accounts, at least one (1) bank which shall be the active depository for bond fund accounts and other banks as Council shall deem necessary as active depositories for all other accounts.

3. The Mayor and Director of Finance, upon City Council approval, will be authorized to enter into new, or to extend existing, contracts with the financial institutions designated for the next ensuing fiscal year if the qualifications set forth in Title Two, Article III, Sections 221.02 of the City Code are met.

4. The financial institution shall enter into a written Depository Agreement under its seal with the City to accept and comply with all the conditions and provisions of the City Code and contracts and must agree to accept all the City moneys tendered to it and to pay the interest, if any thereon, in accordance with the City Code, and to safely keep and pay over all such moneys deposited with it. By accepting the deposit and executing the agreement aforesaid, the financial institution shall be held to agree to these provisions for itself, its successors and assigns.

3.3. Definitions

AGREEMENT: Agreement means the negotiated contract between the City of Pittsburgh and the

Contractor for performing services set forth in this Request for Proposal (RFP).

ACTIVE DEPOSITORY is defined as a financial institution that holds City assets in an account which allows those assets to be withdrawn at any given time by the City.

BANKS refers to banks and trust companies.

CENSUS TRACT INCOME LEVEL as a percentage of metropolitan statistical area median, upper level refers to greater than or equal to 120%, middle level refers to less than 120% but greater than 80%, moderate refers to less than 80% but greater than 50%, and low refers to less than 50% but greater than

.01%.

CHANGE: Change is the addition to, or reduction of, or other revision to the scope of work in the

Contractor’s proposal and in the Agreement.

CITY: City means the City of Pittsburgh, a municipal corporation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, acting by and through its qualified officials and employees.

CITY DEPOSITORY means a financial institution receiving municipal deposits. CITY MONEYS are funds of the City and other funds for which the City of any officer or employee thereof shall act as custodian or trustee, wherein the legal or equitable title in such funds shall belong to persons, co-partnerships, corporations or the federal or state government, or any agency or political subdivision thereof other than the City.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT means an investment that has as its primary purpose community development as defined in the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LOAN means a loan that has its primary purpose community development as defined in the CRA, and is not otherwise collected and reported for consideration as a consumer, home or small business loan by the financial institution.

COMMUNITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION is a not-for-profit community-based service organization whose staff members have the capacity to develop affordable housing for the community it serves and which meets the certification requirements set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations Title

24 Part 92.

COMMUNITY REIVESTMENT PLAN is a two-year plan describing community reinvestment goals.

DEPARTMENT: Department refers to the Department of Finance of the City of Pittsburgh.

DIRECTOR: Unless otherwise indicated, the term Director refers to the Director of Finance of the City of

Pittsburgh and/or his/her designated representative.

FULL SERVICE BANKING means banking services as defined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(FDIC) in their Summary of Deposits Reporting Instructions that may include but are not limited to accepting deposits, making loans, opening and closing accounts, having a loan officer on site, normal business hours, full-time staff, phone, PC or web access, and may offer safe deposit facilities.

IN-ACTIVE DEPOSITORY is defined as a financial institution that holds City assets in an account which does not allow those assets to be withdrawn for whatever period of time designated by the account stipulations.

LENDING INSTITUTIONS are banks and mortgage lending institutions as defined herein.

LIMITED PURPOSE BANK means banks and trust companies that, because of their business structure, are designated by their primary bank regulatory agency as either “Limited Purpose” or “Wholesale” for compliance with the CRA, or do not have a branch office within the City of Pittsburgh.

LOW-INCOME means less than fifty percent (50%) of the median income for the Metropolitan Statistical

Area.

LOW- TO MODERATE-INCOME means at least fifty percent (50%) but less than eighty percent (80%) of the median income for the Metropolitan Statistical Area.

MIDDLE INCOME means at least eighty percent (80%) but less than one hundred and twenty percent of the median income for the Metropolitan Statistical Area.

UPPER INCOME means greater than one hundred and twenty percent of the median income for the

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE means a business for which more than fifty percent (50%) of the ownership or control is held by one or more minority individuals and more than fifty percent (50%) of the net profit or loss accrues to one or more minority individuals.

MORTGAGE LENDING INSTITUTIONS are state and federal savings and loan associations, building and loan associations, savings banks and mutual thrift institutions which make in excess of thirty (30) percent of all their residential mortgages by number in the City in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the month in which their bid is offered. NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT means an organized, community-based effort involving government, non-profit neighborhood groups, financial institutions, private individuals and resident leadership with the purpose of revitalizing residential, commercial and industrial areas in neighborhoods. PREDATORY LENDER means a business entity that, through itself and/or an affiliate has made, issued or arranged, or assisted others in doing, within any 12 month period, predatory loans that comprise 5% of the total annual number of loans made, issued or arranged or 5% of the total annual number of loans which the business entity has assisted others in so making, issuing or arranging.

PREDATORY LOAN means a threshold or high cost loan that was made under circumstances that involve fraudulent or deceptive acts or practices, including fraudulent or deceptive marketing and sales efforts to sell high cost loans. HISTORIC PRESERVATION NEIGHBORHOOD means a neighborhood that has received a local historic designation and/or a national historic designation. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMETN

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (CDFI) means a mission driven financial institution which creates economic opportunity through providing credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations.

MINORITY LED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION means a community organization for which at least 51% of the board is comprised of minority representation.

3.4. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

A. Responders are responsible for all costs associated with responses to this RFP. In no event shall the

City be responsible for any costs related to the preparation of a response to this RFP or for attending any requested meetings contemplated in this RFP.

B. Through this RFP process the City is seeking to diversify the sizes of banks acting as Depositories. To that end, the City encourages small and intermediate small banks to submit an application. For the purposes of this RFP, small and intermediate small means the inability to hold deposits greater than ten million dollars. Small and intermediate small status alone will not disqualify or act as a hindrance in the scoring and evaluation process.

C. Applications should be based on cleaned HMDA data for the prior reporting year.

D. The City reserves and may exercise the following rights and options with respect to this selection process:

1. To reject any and all proposals and reissue the RFP at any time prior to execution of a final contract, if, in the City’s opinion, it is in the City’s best interest to do so.

2. To supplement, amend, substitute, or otherwise modify this RFP at any time prior to selection of one or more responders for negotiation and to cancel this RFP with or without issuing another RFP.

3. To accept or reject any or all of the items in any proposal and award the contract in whole or in part if it is deemed in the City’s best interest to do so.

As noted above, the City may also choose to select more than one Depository.

. To reject the proposal of any Responder who, in the City’s sole judgment, has been delinquent or unfaithful in the performance of any contract with the City, is financially or technically incapable or is otherwise not a responsible proposer. 5. To reject as informal or non-responsive, any proposal which, in the City’s sole judgment, is incomplete, is not in conformity with applicable law, is conditional in any way, or deviates from the mandated requirements of the RFP.

6. To waive any informality, defect, non-responsiveness and/or deviation from this RFP that is not, in the

City’s sole judgment, material to the proposal.

7. To permit or reject, at the City’s sole discretion, amendments (including information inadvertently omitted), modifications, alterations and/or corrections to proposals by some or all of the Responders following proposals submission.

8. At the City’s sole discretion, to request that some or all of the Responders modify proposals or provide additional information.

3.5. MISCELLANEOUS

A. Conflict of Interest. By submission of a proposal to this RFP, Responder agrees that it presently has no interest and shall not have any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner with the performance of the services required under this RFP.

B. Fair Trade Certification. By responding to this RFP, the Respondent certifies that no attempt has been made, or will be made, by the Respondent to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a submission for the purpose of restricting competition

C. Debarment. This RFP is also subject to Section 161.22 of the City of Pittsburgh Code related to debarment from bidding on and participating in City contracts.

D. No proposal shall be accepted from, or contract awarded to, any individual or firm in which any City employee, director, or official has a direct or indirect financial interest in violation of applicable City and

State ethics rules. Entities that are legally related to each other or to a common entity which seek to submit separate and competing proposals must disclose nature of their relatedness.

E. Pursuant to Section 161.36 of the Pittsburgh City Code, a Responder must include a disclosure of any finder’s fees, fee splitting, firm affiliation or relationship with any broker-dealer, payments to consultants, lobbyists, or commissioned representatives or other contractual arrangements of the firm that could present a real or perceived conflict of interest.

F. Through this RFP process, the City is seeking to award to one or more Depositories for the maximum public benefit. As such, the selected Depositories shall be based on a combination of selection factors and is not based on best price or best rates alone.

G. Veteran-Owned Small Business and MBE/WBE. Responders to this RFP agree to assist the City’s efforts to encourage the participation of veterans, minorities, and women in City contracts by making a good-faith effort to utilize veterans, minorities, and women in performing the work required under this

RFP.

3.6. Cost Proposal

Proposing vendors should deliver their cost proposal using the form attached as exhibit D.

4. PROPOSAL FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

4.1. Response Format

All submitted responses shall follow the formatting below, and all proposals will need to be provided electronically through the City's e-Procurement Portal. Each numbered section is to be uploaded as a separate file. If hard copies of submissions are required, each numbered section shall be a removable tab. Document pages shall be 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches in size or folded to such a size.

Response to Scope

Firm’s Qualifications, Experience and References

Describe the firm and provide a statement of the firm’s qualifications for providing the scope of services.

Identify the services which would be completed by your firm’s staff and those that would be provided by sub-consultants, if any. Identify any sub-consultants you proposed to utilize to supplement your firm’s staff.

Provide a summary of the firm’s experience in providing these or similar services. Provide a minimum of three references for related projects, including dates, contact person, phone number, email, and a brief description of the project or scope of work.

Qualifications of Project Team

Provide a brief summary of the qualifications and experience of each team member assigned to this project, including length of service with the firm and resume/bio, and the qualifications /experience of any sub-consultant staff on your project team.

Project Approach and Plan

Provide a detailed discussion of your firm’s approach to the successful completion of the scope of services outlined in this RFP. Include thorough discussions of methodologies you believe are essential to accomplishing this project or completing the scope of services. Include a proposed work schedule to accomplish all of the required tasks within the desired timeline. Identify the staff roles who would be assigned to each major task, including sub-consultants.

Cost Proposal

Provide a total cost proposal for all services to be delivered, and a breakdown of costs delineated by major phase and/or deliverable as described in your project plan. Include a schedule of hourly rates for all proposed staff and the amount of time each person will be devoted to this project. Define any reimbursable expenses (e.g., travel) requested to be paid by the City. Note: If travel expenses are included, the rate assumptions generally should not exceed the United States General Services

Administration (GSA) rates for Pittsburgh.

PLEASE NOTE: The City does not agree to late fees, penalties, interest, attorney’s fees or other contingent liability. In no event shall the City be liable for special, indirect, incidental, reliance, lost profits or other business interest damages.

Demonstration of Good Faith Effort

Include statements of assurance regarding the following requirements detailed in the Equal Opportunity section of this solicitation:

A. Solicit certified MBE/WBE/Veteran-Owned companies for various service categories where opportunities exist to subcontract within their company’s business model.

B. Complete MWDBEVOSB Commitment Form to document good faith effort. Please provide scope of services to be delivered by each subcontractor. If a subcontractor is not chosen, a justification is required describing why services could not be rendered by a sub-contractor.

C. Provide email documentation of solicitation correspondence with MBE/WBE/Veteran-Owned companies.

Failure to include all of the elements specified may be cause for rejection. Additional information may be provided, but should be succinct and relevant to the goals of this RFP. Excessive information will not be considered favorably.

5. EVALUATION PHASES

Selection Procedure

Your Proposal will be evaluated by a Proposal Committee comprised of the Director or other supervisor of the Using Department, one or more members of the Director’s staff, at least one member of the

Office of Management & Budget and any other department representatives as deemed necessary.

Submittals will be reviewed for responsiveness, and responsive submittals will further be screened by a selection committee in accordance with the criteria listed below. The firm(s) submitting the highest rated proposal may be invited for interviews.

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Satisfaction of City Criteria

Vendor demonstrates satisfaction of all City criteria for depository services, as outlined in

Scope of Work and applicable Exhibits.

Pass / Fail 100 (100% of Total)

6. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REVIEW COMMISSION TERMS

6.1. MWE/DBE

The City of Pittsburgh is committed to the ideal of providing all citizens an equal opportunity to participate in City and its Authorities' contracting opportunities. It is therefore the City's goal to encourage increased participation of women and minority groups in all City contracts. The City requires that all respondents demonstrate good faith efforts to obtain the participation of Minority-Owned

Business Enterprises (MBE's) and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (WBE's) in work to be performed under City contracts. The levels of MBE and WBE participation will be monitored by the City of

Pittsburghs Equal Opportunity Review Commission (EORC). In order to ensure that there are opportunities for historically disadvantaged minority groups and women to participate on Covered

Contracts, and consistent with the City's current equal employment opportunity practice and goals, the

EORC will review contracts to include an evaluation of a developer/contractors employment of minority groups and women, encourage goals of eighteen (18) percent and seven (7) percent respectively.

6.2. Veteran-Owned Small Business

It is also the City's goal to encourage participation by veteran-owned small businesses in all contracts.

The City of Pittsburgh shall have an annual goal of not less than five (5) percent participation by veteran-owned small businesses in all contracts. The participation goal shall apply to the overall dollar amount expended with respect to the contracts. The City requires that all respondents demonstrate good faith efforts to obtain the participation of veteran-owned small business in work to be performed under City contracts. The levels of veteran-owned participation will be monitored by the City of Pittsburghs EORC.

6.3. Good Faith Commitment

In order to demonstrate good faith commitment to these goals, all respondents are required to complete and submit with their bids the attached MDE/WBE/Veteran-Owned Solicitation and

Commitment Form (which details the efforts made by the respondents to obtain such participation).

Failure to submit a properly completed form along with documentation of Good Faith Commitment may result in rejection of the bid. Participants are encouraged to contact the Equal Opportunity Review

Commission at 412-255-8804 to assist further. For further information, including definitions and additional requirements, please see Chapter 177A (Sections 177A.01 et. seq.) of the City Code and

Section 161.40 of the City Code.

7. AWARD AND CONTRACT

7.1. Award

After the City has received all Proposals and conducted its initial Evaluation, described above, the

Proposal Committee may invite one or more Respondents to a follow-up interview to further discuss their Proposal(s).

The Proposal Committee may decide to accept the Proposal of one or more Respondents. It may decide to reject all proposals. Once a Proposal is accepted, the contract negotiation process will commence.

This RFP and your response to it, in the form of your entire Proposal, will become part of the Contract. If a real or apparent conflict should arise between this RFP/Proposal and other language contained in the final Contract, the language of the final Contract shall control.

7.2. Contracting Process

Successful Respondents will be required to enter into a Contract with the City of Pittsburgh, contingent upon the approval of City Council. This Contract will be directed and managed by the issuing department and the Office of Management & Budget.

Work cannot commence on the Scope of the RFP until it a contract is fully executed. The City cannot process invoices nor approve payments until this Contract has been fully executed by the Respondent and all required City signatories, including the issuing department, the Law Department, and the City

Controller.

City laws and policies mandate the incorporation of various custom terms and conditions into all City contracts. For this reason the City will not sign any standard contract proffered by the respondent.

An agreement shall not be binding or valid with the City unless and until it is fully executed by authorized representatives of the City and of the Proposer. Once the Contract is fully executed the City will notify Respondent in writing and give the order to proceed.

8. GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

8.1. Examination of Proposal Documents

A. The submission of a proposal shall be deemed a representation and certification by the

Respondent that they:

1. Have carefully read and fully understand the information that was provided by the City to serve as the basis for submission of the proposal.

2. Have the capability to successfully undertake and complete the responsibilities and obligations of the proposal being submitted.

3. Represent that all information contained in the proposal is true and correct.

4. Did not, in any way, collude; conspire to agree, directly or indirectly, with any person, firm, corporation or other proposer in regard to the amount, terms or conditions of this proposal.

5. Acknowledge that the City has the right to make any inquiry it deems appropriate to substantiate or supplement information supplied by a proposer, and proposer hereby grants the City permission to make these inquiries, and to provide any and all related documentation in a timely manner.

B. No request for modification of the proposal shall be considered after its submission on the grounds that the proposer was not fully informed to any fact or condition.

8.2. RFP Term

Respondent’s proposal shall remain firm and effective, subject to the City’s review and approval, for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the closing date for the receipt of proposals.

The City may enter into negotiations with one or more Respondents during the one hundred twenty

(120) day period during which all proposals will stay effective. The purpose of such negotiations will be to address questions and identify issues as the parties move towards the execution of a final contract or contracts.

8.3. RFP Communications

Unauthorized contact regarding this RFP with employees or officials of the City of Pittsburgh other than the RFP Coordinator named in the header section of this solicitation may result in disqualification from this procurement process.

Neither Respondent(s) nor any person acting on Respondent(s)’s behalf shall attempt to influence the outcome of the award by the offer, presentation or promise of gratuities, favors, or anything of value to any appointed or elected official or employee of the City of Pittsburgh, their families or staff members.

All inquiries regarding the solicitation are to be directed to the designated RFP Coordinator. Outside of pertinent RFP questions directed to the City of Pittsburgh as specified above, any other attempts to contact any City of Pittsburgh personnel regarding this RFP, without prior approval by the RFP

Coordinator will be considered grounds for dismissal and immediate disqualification from the RFP process. This includes, but is not limited to, all verbal, voice, text, e-mail, and social media (e.g. –

LinkedIn) contact.

Please note the following:

A. The City shall not be responsible for nor bound by any oral instructions, interpretations or explanations issued by the City or its representatives.

B. Each proposer shall assume the risk of the method of dispatching any communication or proposal. •The RFP Coordinator must receive all written comments, including questions and requests for clarification, no later than the Deadline for Submission Questions listed in the tentative project schedule.

C. The City reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, the appropriate and adequate responses to written comments, questions, and requests for clarification. The City’s official responses and other official communications pursuant to this RFP shall constitute an addendum of this RFP.

D. The City will publish all official responses and communications pursuant to this RFP to the City of

Pittsburgh procurement website. It is the responsibility of each proposer to check the site and incorporate all addenda into their response.

E. All addenda for this RFP will be distributed via the City of Pittsburgh procurement website at procurement.pittsburghpa.gov/beacon/opportunities

F. Only the City’s official, written responses and communications shall be considered binding with regard to this RFP.

8.4. Addenda/Clarifications

Should discrepancies or omissions be found in this RFP or should there be a need to clarify this RFP, questions or comments regarding this RFP must be put in writing and received by the RFP Coordinator within the Question and Answer tab.

8.5. Withdrawal of Proposals

A proposer may withdraw its proposal at any time before the expiration of the time for submission of proposals as provided in this RFP by delivering a written request for withdrawal signed by, or on behalf of, the proposer.

8.6. Public Record

Respondent, by submittal of a proposal, acknowledges that all proposals may be considered public information in accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Right to Know laws. Subject to award of this RFP, all or part of any submittal may be released to any person or firm who may request it.

Therefore, proposers shall specify in their proposal response if any portion of their submittal should be treated as proprietary and not releasable as public information. Proposers should be aware that all such requests may be subject to legal review and challenge.

Any information considered proprietary should be indicated as such or not included in the response.

8.7. Non-Conforming Proposal

A proposal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the provisions of these RFP instructions and specifications. Any alteration, omission, addition, variance, or limitation of, from or to a proposal may be sufficient grounds for non-acceptance of the proposal, at the sole discretion of the City.

8.8. Disqualification

Factors such as, but not limited to, any of the following may be considered just cause to disqualify a proposal without further consideration:

A. Evidence of collusion, directly or indirectly, among proposers in regard to the amount, terms or conditions of this proposal;

B. Any attempt to improperly influence any member of the evaluation team;

C. Existence of any lawsuit, unresolved contractual claim, or dispute between the proposer and the

City; •Evidence of incorrect information submitted as part of the proposal;

D. Evidence of proposer’s inability to successfully complete the responsibilities and obligation of the proposal; and

E. Proposer’s default under any previous agreement with the City, which results in termination of the agreement.

8.9. Restrictions on Gifts & Activities

The City of Pittsburgh Ethics Code and Chapter 197 of the City Code (Code of Conduct) was established to promote public confidence in the proper operation of our local government. These resources outline the requirements for disclosure of interests and restricted activities as related to public procurement processes. Proposers are responsible to determine the applicability of these requirements to their activities and to comply with its requirements.

8.10. Rights of the City of Pittsburgh

This RFP does not commit the City to enter into a contract, nor does it obligate the City to pay for any costs incurred in preparation and submission of proposals or in anticipation of a contract.

The City reserves the right to:

A. Reject any and all proposals;

B. Issue subsequent Requests for Proposals;

C. Cancel this RFP with or without issuing another RFP;

D. Remedy technical errors in the Request for Proposals process;

E. Approve or disapprove the use of particular sub-consultants;

F. Make an award without further discussion of the submittal with the proposer (therefore, the proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms that the firm or individual might propose);

G. Meet with select proposers at any time to gather additional information;

H. Make adjustments to the scope of services at any time if deemed by the Office of Management and Budget to be in the best interest of the City;

I. Accept other than the lowest offer.

J. Waive any informality, defect, non-responsiveness, or deviation from this RFP that is not material to the Respondent’s proposal;

K. Reject the proposal of any Respondent who, in the City’s sole judgment, has been delinquent or unfaithful in the performance of any contract with the City;

L. Reject the proposal of any Respondent who, in the City’s sole judgment, is financially or technically incapable of performing in accordance with this RFP;

M. Negotiate with any, all, or none of the Offerors and to enter into an agreement with another

Offeror in the event that the originally selected finalist defaults or fails to execute an agreement with the City.

N. Award a contract to the firm(s) that presents the best qualifications and whose proposal best accomplishes the desired results; and/or

O. Enter into an agreement with another proposer in the event the originally selected proposer defaults or fails to execute an agreement with the City.

P. Require a performance bond and/or other “failure to deliver” agreement by the awardee at time of contracting.

9. MISCELLANEOUS REQUIREMENTS

9.1. Acknowledgements

A. Conflict of Interest - By submission of a proposal to this solicitation, Respondent agrees that it presently has no interest and shall not have any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner with the performance of the services required under this RFP.

B. Code of Ethics - By submission of a proposal to this solicitation, Respondent agrees to abide by the Code of Ethics of The City of Pittsburgh. The full Ethics Handbook can be found here:http://pittsburghpa.gov/humanresources/files/policies/10_Ethics_Handbook.pdf

C. Fair Trade Certification - By responding to this solicitation, the Respondent certifies that no attempt has been made, or will be made, by the Respondent to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a submission for the purpose of restricting competition.

D. Non-Disclosure - By responding to this solicitation, the Respondent acknowledges they may be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement during the contracting process if they are the successful respondent.

E. Debarment - This solicitation is also subject to Section 161.22 of the City of Pittsburgh Code related to debarment from bidding on and participating in City contracts.

F. Financial Interest - No proposal shall be accepted from, or contract awarded to, any individual or firm in which any City employee, director, or official has a direct or indirect financial interest in violation of applicable City and State ethics rules. Entities that are legally related to each other or to a common entity which seek to submit separate and competing proposals must disclose the nature of their relatedness.

G. Full Fee Disclosure - Pursuant to Section 161.36 of the Pittsburgh City Code, a Respondent must include a disclosure of any finder’s fees, fee splitting, firm affiliation or relationship with any broker-dealer, payments to consultants, lobbyists, or commissioned representatives or other contractual arrangements of the firm that could present a real or perceived conflict of interest.

http://here:http:/pittsburghpa.gov/humanresources/files/policies/10_Ethics_Handbook.pdf

10. VENDOR QUESTIONNAIRE

10.1. Response to Scope Proposal

Please upload your Response to Scope detailed in Proposal Format Requirements

10.2. Cost Proposal

Please upload your Cost Proposal detailed in Proposal Format Requirements

10.3. Do you agree with the City's Terms and Conditions?*

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required

10.4. Vendor Contact Sheet*

Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Blank_Vendor_Contact_Sheet.pdf

*Response required

10.5. Vendor Registration Form*

Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Blank_Vendor_Registration_F...

*Response required

10.6. Statement of Affiliation*

Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Blank_Statement_of_Affiliat...

*Response required

10.7. W-9*

Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• W9.pdf

*Response required

10.8. Authorized Signatory*

Provide the name, title, & email address of the authorized signatory for your company (for details on who is considered an authorized signatory, please look at our terms & conditions section) https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/pittsburghpa/projects/25005?section=197738 https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/pittsburghpa/projects/25005?section=197738 https://government-project.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/12982/e4d05cd1-c02e-435b-bc70-af5ad0124ab0_Blank_Vendor_Contact_Sheet.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJX4CP36AEOP5JL2A&Expires=1663757842&Signature=uSS3Vti3f%2BQF5P8kaQD2DwetQwo%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22Blank_Vendor_Contact_Sheet.pdf%22 https://government-project.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/12982/5850bbcb-e558-4521-bf07-f695e7a7341d_Blank_Vendor_Registration_Form.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJX4CP36AEOP5JL2A&Expires=1663757842&Signature=P8e5N9R1V2PxL2CtxZqLRIZ%2FZI0%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22Blank_Vendor_Registration_Form.pdf%22 https://government-project.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/12982/cf4a7de9-ea30-4713-96d5-72e3a9a79ea8_Blank_Statement_of_Affiliations.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJX4CP36AEOP5JL2A&Expires=1663757842&Signature=2ApahQXgnLzz4TM5DGCmBrZR60A%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22Blank_Statement_of_Affiliations.pdf%22 https://government-project.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/12982/42dfa6ab-19f8-42d0-9cc2-395cceebdcbc_W9.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJX4CP36AEOP5JL2A&Expires=1663757842&Signature=kSwN7NmbGK%2FPILL%2FReT0WNpq%2B%2Fg%3D&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22W9.pdf%22

*Response required