ESBD_File_347994_Addendum 1 - RFP 2024-P05.pdf

ADDENDUM #1

RFP 2024-P05 Delinquent District and County Court Fines and Fees Collection Services Issue Date: February 5, 2024

HAYS COUNTY PURCHASING OFFICE

Stephanie Hunt, Purchasing Agent

712 S. Stagecoach Trail, Ste. 1012 San Marcos, Texas 78666

512-393-2267 ● purchasing@co.hays.tx.us

February 5, 2024

Please find attached Addendum #1 to RFP 2024-P05 Delinquent District and County Court Fines and Fees Collection Services. All questions were answered by Hays County staff.

Attached to Addendum 1:

• Questions & Answers

Acknowledge receipt of this addendum by signing and returning this page with your proposal.

Signature

Company Name Date mailto:purchasing@co.hays.tx.us

Questions & Answers

Questions:

1. What is the date by which you will answer these questions?

• Depends on the number of questions received and the information required to answer the questions.

2. Why has this bid been released at this time?

• The current contract has been in place for a long time and currently auto renews. The

County wanted to secure an updated contract without an auto renew term included.

3. When is the anticipated award date?

• See page 5 of solicitation, March 2024, contract will not be effective until April 2024.

4. Are bidders permitted to deviate in any way from any manner of quoting fees you may be expecting? For example, if there is a pricing page in the RFP, can bidders submit an alternate fee structure? If there is no pricing page in the RFP, do you have any preference for how bidders should quote fees or can bidders create their own pricing categories?

• There is no pricing page for the RFP, review Code of Criminal Procedures Article 103.0031 (b)

5. Please describe your level of satisfaction with your current or recent vendor(s) for the same purchasing activity, if applicable.

• All Courts are satisfied with the current services being received.

6. Has the current contract gone full term?

• Yes, but the current contract auto renews each year until terminated.

7. Have all options to extend the current contract been exercised?

• See question 6.

8. Who is the incumbent, and how long has the incumbent been providing the requested services?

• McCreary Veselka Bragg & Allen

• Since 2016

9. To what extent will the location of the bidder’s proposed location or headquarters have a bearing on any award?

• Review E. Evaluation Criteria on how the proposal will be evaluated and scored.

10. How are fees currently being billed by any incumbent(s), by category, and at what rates?

• Invoiced Monthly

• District Court: Civil and Criminal

• County Court: Civil and Criminal

11. What estimated or actual dollars were paid last year, last month, or last quarter to any incumbent(s)?

• FY 23 (10.1.22-9.30.23): $1,479.30

• Quarter 1 FY 24: $55.00

• January 2024: $0.00

12. To how many vendors are you seeking to award a contract?

• One

13. Can you please provide a greater description of the specific kind of receivables to be placed for collection?

• Civil Suits:

The suits can be filed by either a private consumer or a commercial business.

County Courts: <$250,000 District Courts: >$250,000

• Criminal Suits:

County Courts: Class A & B Misdemeanors District Courts: Felonies

14. To what extent are these accounts owed by private consumers versus commercial businesses?

• Civil Suits:

The suits can be filed by either a private consumer or a commercial business.

The lawsuits vary by private consumer suing a commercial business or commercial business suing another commercial business, etc.

• Criminal Suits:

One defendant per case and will be a private citizen.

15. Will accounts be primary placements, not having been serviced by any other outside collection agency, and/or will you also be referring secondary placements? If so, should bidders provide proposed fees for secondary placements also?

• No secondary vendor will be awarded.

16. What collection attempts are performed or will be performed internally prior to placement?

• The Courts are responsible for giving notice of delinquency before sending to collections.

17. Will the selected vendor be allowed to litigate balances exceeding a certain dollar amount on your behalf, with your explicit approval?

• No

18. What is the total dollar value of accounts available for placement now by category, including any backlog?

• District Court: $4,242,364

• County Court: $51,564

19. What is the total number of accounts available for placement now by category, including any backlog?

• District Court: 1,498

• County Court: 82

20. What is the average balance of accounts by category?

• District Court: $2,832.05

• County Court: $628.84

21. What is the average age of accounts at placement (at time of award and/or on a going-forward basis), by category?

• District Court: 2-4 years old

• County Court: 1-3 years old

22. What is the monthly or quarterly number of accounts expected to be placed with the vendor(s) by category?

• Varies depending on number of cases that are completed and if defendants are meeting their requirements or not.

23. What is the monthly or quarterly dollar value of accounts expected to be placed with the vendor(s) by category?

• See question 22.

24. What has been the historical rate of return or liquidation rate provided by any incumbent(s), and/or what is anticipated or expected as a result of this procurement?

• Historical Return Rate:

District Court: 11% County Courts: 33%

25. What billing servicer do you utilize?

• The Courts prefer the defendant pay our Compliance department directly vs. the firm accepting the payments on behalf of the County.

26. Have all cases been fully adjudicated by the time of placement?

• Yes, the Courts cannot send fees and fines to collections without a judgement/conviction.

27. If applicable, will accounts held by any incumbent(s) or any backlog be moved to any new vendor(s) as a one-time placement at contract start up?

• The current vendor will be given six months from contract expiration to finalize all cases. No new cases will be assigned to current vendor once a 30-day termination letter has been issued.

28. What is your case management/accounting software system of record?

• Tyler Odyssey Courts and Justice System.

• NWS – Tyler Technologies.

29. Who is your electronic payment/credit card processing vendor?

• Certified Payments.net

30. What process should a vendor follow, or which individual(s) should a vendor contact, to discuss budget-neutral services outside of the scope of this procurement, but related to it, designed to recover more debt prior to outside placement and lower collection costs?

• Contact the Judge who presides over the Court.

31. How do your current processes and/or vendor relationship(s) systematically determine if the death of a responsible party has occurred?

• The Clerk’s Office must receive documentation of a deceased owning party, then the Court’s

Office types up an Order for the Judge to sign to waive all fees and fines.

32. How do your current processes and/or vendor relationship(s) handle the death of a responsible party?

• See question 31.

33. Do you have a designated process or policies around deceased accounts today, and what is envisioned in the future?

• See question 31.

34. Do you currently search and file probated estate claims? Have you considered an automated tool to identify and file probated estate claims?

• No, the County does not search for these, we only respond to claims that are filed.

35. Can you please indicate what inbound and outbound contact methods, beyond phone calls or letters (such as email and text), would be permitted by the scope of work?

• Personal contact is not expected but could be beneficial. If your company has other contact methods beyond phone calls and letters, those should be indicated in your proposal.

36. Can you please attach the specifications? Or if it's easier for you, use this link to securely share the specifications file and I'll get an alert upon transfer.

• To view current solicitations and related documents please visit:

BidNet Direct: www.bidnetdirect.com//hayscounty City of San Marcos, Civic Plus Bid Posting: https://www.sanmarcostx.gov/Bids.aspx Electronic State Business Daily: http://www.txsmartbuy.com/sp

37. Could you please email me the RFP/RFI Document for RFP 2024-P05 Delinquent District &

County Court Fines & Fees Collection Services

• See question 36.

38. Who is your current vendor?

• See question 8.

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu4966273.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DMVBjs-2FbBM6gS39fB13J9AiTj-2B8M1m4IBV1NvYy-2FQ0JnyFLutACNIShaoMURvo-2Fp-2BZMNQ_m1-2B5T0y9KKTFwH14HcV3J1jmttZDWugTDdpI2xF6M-2ByVjHYHq76DQeYtEqYrw7aY-2FOStS8k4rvO72ddmrQoAjmqZIjCcXpiGVP4SWBBQX7H03b7eY7Q77vacdsRId5yHITSqQL4pFBctCqKIYxtQmGbjf8RMmjdxo8a0aOP-2FTGpi8GdmZHUmP5T32PWKSO4-2FwR9iBl0i2v3WiWFfmOJ5AaRy7qWod-2F8qt3MYxEZSCdJY4JWz-2BPBSIrjMrvpwisg0&data=05%7C02%7Cstephanie.hunt%40co.hays.tx.us%7C132939734e154763942508dc1c370153%7C8c0a6e38391149a79fd7da2ef5430acd%7C0%7C0%7C638416269784052538%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=xOR6UMJfuoFCQR2FXv0UtdBQxBCn2fbXFpIlHz%2BPdSI%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sanmarcostx.gov%2FBids.aspx&data=05%7C02%7Cstephanie.hunt%40co.hays.tx.us%7C132939734e154763942508dc1c370153%7C8c0a6e38391149a79fd7da2ef5430acd%7C0%7C0%7C638416269784061775%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dmjcWXzhAGvEaImIM3PeOxoO9ts6Ksdk4Z1vKpXilbs%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.txsmartbuy.com%2Fsp&data=05%7C02%7Cstephanie.hunt%40co.hays.tx.us%7C132939734e154763942508dc1c370153%7C8c0a6e38391149a79fd7da2ef5430acd%7C0%7C0%7C638416269784068538%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=jHvnl8fI25CecyJ8xxXfKRzoNcR3rP70wvpyBvP8UFg%3D&reserved=0

39. How long has the current vendor provided collection services for the County?

• See question 8.

40. Are you satisfied with the current vendor?

• See question 5.

41. What is the current software being used by each court?

• See question 28.