Laser_Print_Bills,_Notices_and_other_Forms_(Addendum_#1_Revision).pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

2025-RFP-003

LASER PRINT BILLS, NOTICES AND OTHER FORMS

County of Dane

City-County Building, Room 425, 53703

Madison, WI 53703

RELEASE DATE: December 17, 2024

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: January 16, 2025

RESPONSE DEADLINE: January 30, 2025, 2:00 pm

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY TO:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane

County of Dane

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Laser Print Bills, Notices and other Forms

I. Introduction II. RFP Guidelines and Overview

III. Contract Term IV. Project Overview & Scope of Work V. RFP Response Requirements & Evaluation Criteria

VI. Pricing Proposal VII. Vendor Questionnaire

VIII. Standard Terms and Conditions

Attachments:

A - 14019 Cost Proposal

Request For Proposal #2025-RFP-003 Title: Laser Print Bills, Notices and other Forms

1. Introduction

1.1. Summary

The purpose of this document is to provide interested parties with information to enable them to prepare and submit a proposal according to the specifications set forth within this document.

The County intends to use the results of this process to award a contract or issue a purchase order for the product(s) and/or service(s) stated: To provide printing of tax bills, various notices, and other reports and forms as requested for the Dane County Treasurer and the Planning and Development Department according to the specifications set forth within this RFP Posting..

Services would also include mailing and distribution of aforementioned documents via US Postal

Service and pickup by municipal treasurers.

The Dane County Purchasing Division is the sole point of contact for questions and issues that may arise during the RFP process.

1.2. Contact Information

Megan Rogan

Purchasing Officer

Email: rogan.megan@countyofdane.com

Phone: (608) 283-1487

Department:

Treasurer

1.3. Timeline

Release Project Date December 17, 2024

Question Submission Deadline January 16, 2025, 2:00pm

Question Response Deadline January 21, 2025, 2:00pm

Proposal Submission Deadline January 30, 2025, 2:00pm mailto:rogan.megan@countyofdane.com tel:(608)283-1487

2. RFP Guidelines and Overview

2.1. GENERAL SOLICITATION PROCESS

1. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

A. The County will provide reasonable accommodations, including the provision of informational material in an alternative format, for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. If you need accommodations at a vendor conference or site visit, contact the Purchasing Officer listed or call WI Relay 711 for TDD Services.

2. VENDOR REGISTRATION

A. Interested vendors are required to register at the County's eProcurement Portal. Registration is free and will ensure that you receive notifications of solicitations that match your profile and category codes as well as providing the County with up-to-date company contact information.

B. Once registered, please double check to make sure your vendor information including commodity codes is up-to-date by signing into your account at the County's eProcurement

Portal.

3. CALENDAR OF EVENTS

A. Specific and estimated dates and times of actions related to this solicitation are listed in the timeline in the Introduction Section. The actions with specific dates must be completed as indicated unless otherwise changed by the County. In the event that the County finds it necessary to change any of the specific dates and times in the calendar of events listed below, it will do so by issuing an addendum to this RFP and posting such addendum on the Dane

County eProcurement Portal.

4. CLARIFICATION OF THE SPECIFICATIONS / QUESTIONS

A. All inquiries concerning this solicitation must be submitted via the County's eProcurement

Portal.

B. Questions must be submitted before 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

1. Requests submitted after that time frame will not be considered.

C. Proposers are expected to raise any questions, exceptions, or additions they have concerning the solicitation at this point in the process. If a proposer discovers any significant ambiguity, error, conflict, discrepancy, omission, or other deficiency in this solicitation, the proposer should immediately notify the contact person of such error and request modification or clarification to the solicitation document.

D. Proposers are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of Dane County, except as described herein. No County employee or representative other than those individuals https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane listed as County contacts on this solicitation is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this solicitation.

5. ADDENDA & REVISIONS

A. In the event that it becomes necessary to provide additional clarifying data or information, or to revise any part of this bid, addenda and/or supplements will be posted via the

County's eProcurement Portal. Bidders are responsible to regularly monitor the web site for any such postings. It is recommended to check the eProcurement Portal for addenda prior to submitting a proposal. Bidders must acknowledge the receipt/review of any addenda via the eProcurement Portal.

B. The Purchasing Division has the sole authority for modifications to specifications and/or the solicitation document.

6. INSPECTION OF PREMISES/VENDOR SITE VISIT - when applicable

A. When applicable, bidder’s may inspect site(s) prior to submitting bids to determine all requirements associated with the project by contacting Megan Rogan. Failure to do so will in no way relieve the successful bidder from the necessity of providing, without additional cost to the

County, all necessary services that may be required to carry out the intent of the resulting contract.

2.2. BID / PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Dane County strongly encourages all vendors to submit proposals well in advance of the solicitation deadline. By doing so, if there are any technical difficulties, there is time to attempt to resolve the situation before the deadline. Late bids will not be accepted.

If there are technical difficulties while trying to submit, first, contact OpenGov Support by clicking into the small blue circle on the bottom, right side of your screen while logged into the OpenGov system.

1. SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

A. Dane County reserves the right to accept any part of this bid deemed to be in the best interest of the County. The County also retains the right to accept or reject any or all bids.

B. Proposals must be submitted via the County's eProcurement Portal before 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 30, 2025. Late, faxed, mailed, hand-delivered, or incomplete proposals will be rejected unless otherwise specified. Dane County is not liable for any cost incurred by proposers in replying to this solicitation.

C. To Submit a Proposal:

1. Register at the County's eProcurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane

2. Click on the green "+Subscribe" button on the left side of the screen and proceed to create an account or sign in if an account already exists.

3. Once registered, click on the "draft" button to draft your proposal.

4. Provide company information

5. Complete the entire Vendor Questionnaire

6. Where indicated, upload the required documents.

7. The file upload status can be seen for each document uploaded.

8. Confirm all files have been uploaded

9. Review your work and click on "submit" proposal

10. Acknowledge any addenda

2. MULTIPLE PROPOSALS & ACCEPTANCE

A. Multiple proposals from a vendor will be permissible; however, the proposer must create separate accounts with separate log-in sequences, emails, and passwords on the

County’s eProcurement Portal. Each such proposal must be submitted separately and labeled as

Proposal #1, Proposal #2, etc.

B. Please message procurementsupport@opengov.com with any questions regarding set up.

3. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS ON SUBMITTING COST PROPOSALS

A. The Cost Proposal section of this solicitation will either be incorporated into the system as a

Pricing Table or as a separate Cost Proposal Attachment that must be downloaded, completed, saved, and uploaded to the Vendor Questionnaire section.

B. Price(s) quoted shall include all labor, materials, equipment, shipping and other costs and conditions outlined within the bid. Pricing shall remain fixed.

4. RIGHT TO REJECT PROPOSALS & NEGOTIATE CONTRACT TERMS

A. The County reserves the right to accept any part of a submission deemed to be in the best interest of the County and to reject any and all proposals and to negotiate the terms of the contract, including the award amount, with the selected proposer prior to entering into a contract. If contract negotiations cannot be concluded successfully with the highest scoring proposer, the County may negotiate a contract with the next highest scoring proposer.

2.3. VENDOR QUESTIONNAIRE DEFINITIONS

1. LOCAL VENDOR PURCHASING PREFERENCE - applicable to RFBs - DOES NOT APPLY TO PUBLIC WORKS

BIDS

mailto:procurementsupport@opengov.com

A. Under Dane County Ordinance 25.08(11)(c-e), a Locally Based and Owned Vendor, Locally

Operated Vendor, or Non-Locally Operated Vendor may be invited to match the low bid if the low bid is offered by a vendor that is not identified as a Locally Based and Owned Vendor, Locally Operated Vendor, or Non-Locally Operated Vendor according to Dane County Ordinance requirements. Local Vendor Preferences do not apply to bids for sand, gravel, salt, asphalt and concrete.

Locally Based and Owned Vendors:

1. When bids are reviewed, the County will determine if a Locally Based and Owned Vendor responding to the bid is the low bidder. If a Locally Based and Owned Vendor is the low bidder, they will be awarded the bid.

2. If a Locally Based and Owned Vendor is not the low bidder but is within 15% of the low bid, the

County will contact the Locally Based and Owned Vendor and provide that vendor the option of matching the low bid price.

3. If no Locally Based and Owned Vendors are among the responding bidders, or the Locally Based and Owned Vendor declines to match the low bid, then the County will determine if a Locally

Operated Vendor has responded to the bid.

Locally Operated Vendors:

4. If a Locally Operated Vendor is within 10% of the low bid, the County will contact the Locally

Operated Vendor and provide that vendor the option of matching the low bid price.

5. If no Locally Operated Vendors are among the responding bidders, or the Locally Operated

Vendor declines to match the low bid, then the County will determine if a Non-Locally Operated

Vendor has responded to the bid.

Non-Locally Operated Vendors:

6. If a Non-Locally Operated Vendor is within 5% of the low bid, the County will contact the Non-

Locally Operated Vendor and provide that vendor the option of matching the low bid price.

7. If no Non-Locally Operated Vendors are among the responding bidders, or the Non-Locally

Operated Vendor declines to match the low bid, then the County will award the bid to the low bidder without regard to the location of the vendor.

2. LOCAL VENDOR PURCHASING PREFERENCE - applicable to RFPs - DOES NOT APPLY TO PUBLIC WORKS

BIDS

A. Under County ordinances, a Local Vendor is defined as a supplier or provider of equipment, materials, supplies or services that has an established place of business within the County of

Dane. An established place of business means a physical office, plant or other facility. A post office box address does not qualify a vendor as a Local Vendor.

1. County ordinance provides that a local vendor (within Dane County) automatically receive five points toward the evaluation score.

2. County ordinance provides that vendors located within the counties adjacent to Dane County

(Columbia, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, Sauk) automatically receive two points toward the evaluation score.

3. LOCAL CONTENT VENDOR PREFERENCE - generally only applicable to RFBs - DOES NOT APPLY TO

PUBLIC WORKS BIDS

A. Under Dane County Ordinance 25.08(4)(f-j), bidders offering goods made in Dane County, its surrounding counties, or the State of Wisconsin receive a price preference on sealed bid solicitations. Bids are first evaluated to determine if any bidders are offering products that qualify as Dane County-Made Goods, Regionally-Made Goods, or Wisconsin-Made Goods. Local

Vendor Preferences do not apply to bids for sand, gravel, salt, asphalt and concrete.

B. A bidder offering Dane County-Made Goods will be considered the successful bidder if their price is up to 15% higher than the low bid for goods that are not Dane County-Made Goods. If no vendors meet this criteria, then the County will determine if any bidder is offering Regionally-

Made Goods. If so, then such a bidder will be considered successful if their price is up to 12.5% higher than the low bid for goods that are not Regionally-Made Goods. If no vendors meet this criteria, then the County will determine if any bidder is offering Wisconsin-Made Goods. If so, that bidder will be considered successful if their price is up to 10% higher than the low bid for goods that are not Wisconsin-Made Goods. If no vendors are offering Dane County-Made, Regionally-Made, or Wisconsin-Made Goods, then the County will evaluate the low bid without regard to the content of the goods.

4. FAIR LABOR PRACTICES CERTIFICATION

A. Dane County Ord. 25.09 (1) is as follows:

1. (28) BIDDER RESPONSIBILITY. (a) Any bid, application or proposal for any contract with the county, including public works contracts regulated under chapter 40, shall include a certification indicating whether the bidder has been found by the National Labor Relations

Board (NLRB) or the Wisconsin Employment Relations Committee (WERC) to have violated any statute or regulation regarding labor standards or relations within the last seven years.

The purchasing manager shall investigate any such finding and make a recommendation to the committee, which shall determine whether the conduct resulting in the finding affects the bidder’s responsibility to perform the contract.

B. If a company indicates that they have been found by the NLRB or WERC to have such a violation in the Vendor Questionnaire section, a copy of any relevant information regarding such violation with is required to be uploaded with the bid submission.

C. Additional information about the NLRB and WERC can be found using the following links:

www.nlrb.gov and http://werc.wi.gov.

5. COOPERATIVE PURCHASING

A. Participating in cooperative purchasing gives vendors the opportunity for additional sales without additional bidding. Municipalities and state agencies use cooperative purchasing to expedite purchases. A “municipality” is defined as any county, city, village, town, school district, https://www.nlrb.gov/ http://werc.wi.gov/ board of school directors, sewer district, drainage district, vocational, technical and adult education district, or any other public body having authority to award public contracts (s.

16.70(8), Wis. Stats.). Federally recognized Indian tribes and bands in this state may participate in cooperative purchasing with the state or any municipality under ss. 66.0301(1) and (20, Wis.

Stats.

B. In the Vendor Questionnaire section, you will have the opportunity to participate in allowing municipalities and state agencies to piggyback this bid. Participation is not mandatory. A vendor’s decision on participating in this service has no effect on awarding the bid.

C. Dane County is not a party to these purchases or any dispute arising from these purchases and is not liable for delivery or payment of any of these purchases.

6. DESIGNATION OF CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETY INFORMATION - generally only applicable to RFPs

A. All restrictions on the use of data contained within a proposal and all confidential information must be clearly stated on the Vendor Information Attachment under the “Designation of

Confidential and Proprietary Information” section.

B. Proprietary information submitted in a proposal, or in response to the RFP, will be handled in accordance with the applicable Wisconsin State Statute(s).

C. Submitted pricing will always become public information when proposals are opened and therefore cannot be designated as confidential.

D. Other information cannot be kept confidential unless it is a trade secret. Trade secret is defined in Sect. 134(80)(1)(c) Wis. State Statutes, as follows: "Trade secret" means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method technique or process to which all of the following apply:

1. The information derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.

2. The information is the subject of efforts to maintain its secrecy that are reasonable under the circumstances.

E. To the extent permitted by law, it is the intention of Dane County to withhold the contents of the proposal from public view until such times as competitive or bargaining reasons no longer require non-disclosure, in the opinion of Dane County. At that time, all proposals will be available for review in accordance with the Wisconsin Open Records Law.

F. In the event the Designation of Confidentiality of this information is challenged, is required to provide legal counsel or other necessary assistance to defend the Designation of Confidentiality.

G. Failure to designate confidential and proprietary information within the Designation of

Confidential and Proprietary Information section of the Vendor Information Attachment may mean that all information provided as part of the proposal response will be open to examination or copying. The County considers other markings of confidential in the proposal document to be insufficient. The undersigned agrees to hold the County harmless for any damages arising out of the release of any material unless they are specifically identified within the Designation of

Confidential and Proprietary Information section of the Vendor Information Attachment.

2.4. EVALUATION

1. PRELIMINARY EVALUATION

A. The proposals will first be reviewed to determine if all applicable requirements are met. Failure to meet mandatory requirements may result in the proposal being rejected. In the event that all vendors do not meet one or more of the mandatory requirements, the County reserves the right to continue the evaluation of the proposals and to select the proposal which most closely meets the requirements specified in the solicitation.

2. PROPOSAL SCORING - applicable to RFPs

A. Accepted proposals will be reviewed by an evaluation team and scored against the stated criteria in the evaluation section of the RFP posting. This scoring will determine the ranking of vendors based upon their written proposals. If the team determines that it is in the best interest of the County to require a Phase 2 Evaluation which may include oral presentations, the highest-ranking vendors will be invited to make such presentations. Those vendors that participate in the interview process will then be scored, and the final ranking will be made based upon those scores.RFP Cost Proposal's will be scored using a standard quantitative calculation where the most cost criteria points will be awarded to the proposal with the lowest cost.

3. ORAL PRESENTATIONS/INTERVIEW - applicable to RFPs

A. Top ranked selected proposers may be required to make oral interview presentations and/or site visits to supplement their proposals, if requested by the County. The County will make every reasonable attempt to schedule each presentation at a time and location that is agreeable to the proposer. Failure of a proposer to conduct a presentation to the County on the date scheduled may result in rejection of the vendor’s proposal.

2.5. AWARD

1. RFB AWARD

A. The County will award the bid to the most responsive and responsible bidder whose bid is most advantageous to the County. In determining the most advantageous bid, the County may consider criteria such as, but not limited to, cost, bidder’s past performance and/or service reputation, and service capability, quality of the bidder’s staff or services, customer satisfaction, references, the extent to which the bidder’s staff or services meet the County’s needs, bidder’s past relationship with the County, total long term cost to the County, fleet continuity and any other relevant criteria listed in this solicitation.

B. A resulting award and any part thereof shall not be subcontracted or assigned to another

Contractor without prior written permission of the County. The Contractor shall be directly responsible for any Subcontractor’s performance and work quality when used by the Contractor to carry out the scope of the job. Subcontractors must abide by all terms and conditions under this Contract.

2. RFP AWARD

A. An RFP award will typically be granted in one of two ways.

1. The award may be granted to the highest scoring responsive and responsible proposer.

2. Alternatively, the highest scoring proposer or proposers may be requested to submit final and best offers. If final and best offers are requested, they will be evaluated against the stated criteria, scored and ranked. The award will then be granted to the highest scoring proposer.

B. A resulting award and any part thereof shall not be subcontracted or assigned to another

Contractor without prior written permission of the County. The Contractor shall be directly responsible for any Subcontractor’s performance and work quality when used by the Contractor to carry out the scope of the job. Subcontractors must abide by all terms and conditions under this Contract.

3. PAYMENT TERMS AND INVOICING

A. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing, Dane County will pay properly submitted vendor invoices within thirty (30) days of receipt of goods or services. Payment will not be made until goods or services are delivered, installed (if required), and accepted as specified. Invoices presented for payment shall be submitted to via email to the Department Invoice Email

Address shown on the Bill To section of the PO issued. The Dane County purchase order number must be noted on the submitted invoice.

B. Other incidental or standard industry charges not identified herein, are not allowed under this contract. Miscellaneous service charges used to help the Contractor pay various fluctuating current and future costs are not allowed. These charges include, but are not limited to, costs directly or indirectly related to the environment, energy issues, fuel charges, service and delivery of goods and services.

4. NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO AWARD

A. Upon finalizing the award, a notification email may be sent via the OpenGov system showing the awarded vendor(s).

B. As a courtesy, the County may send a Notice of Intent letter to responding vendors at the time of the award. - applicable to RFPs

C. Written notice of award to a vendor in the form of a purchase order or other document, mailed or emailed to the address shown on the bid will be considered sufficient notice of acceptance of bid.

5. CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE

A. The successful vendor is required to submit to Dane County a Certificate of Insurance prior to performing any work under this contract. The certificate is required prior to issuance of purchase order. See Section 22.0 Insurance Responsibility in the Standard Terms & Conditions.

B. Please contact your insurance representative to issue an Additional Insured Endorsement naming County of Dane, a municipal corporation, its boards, commissions, agencies, officers, employees and representatives listed as an ADDITIONAL INSURED on the General Liability policy.

C. Indicate mailing address as:

o County of Dane

Risk Management

City County Building Room 425

210 Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd.

Madison, WI 53703

D. Please inform your insurance representative that you have agreed to provide us with 30 Days written notice in the event of cancellation for any reason before the expiration date of your policy or policies.

E. Call 608-266-4965 with any questions.

6. PERMITS & LICENSES

A. The Contractor selected under this bid shall be required to obtain the necessary permits and licenses prior to performing any work under this contract. The Contractor will be required to demonstrate valid possession of appropriate required licenses and will keep them in effect for the term of this contract.

B. Contractor must be financially responsible for obtaining all required permits and licenses to comply with pertinent regulations, municipal, county, State of Wisconsin and Federal laws, and shall assume liability for all applicable taxes.

7. SATISFACTORY WORK

A. Any work found to be in any way defective or unsatisfactory shall be corrected by the

Contractor at its own expense at the order of the County. The County also reserves the right to contract out services not satisfactorily completed and to purchase substitute services elsewhere. The County reserves the right to charge the vendor with any or all costs incurred or retain/deduct the amount of such costs incurred from any monies due or which may become due under this contract.

8. GOVERNMENT STANDARDS

A. All materials, equipment, and supplies provided to the County must fully comply with all safety requirements as set forth by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and all applicable OSHA

Standards. Bidders shall comply with all local, state and federal regulations, directives and laws.

9. DANE COUNTY SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES

A. On October 18, 2012, the Dane County Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution 103, 2012-2013 establishing the following sustainability principles for the county:

o Reduce and eventually eliminate Dane County government’s contribution to fossil fuel dependence and to wasteful use of scarce metals and minerals;

o Reduce and eventually eliminate Dane County government’s contribution to dependence upon persistent chemicals and wasteful use of synthetic substances;

o Reduce and eventually eliminate Dane County government’s contribution to encroachment upon nature and harm to life-sustaining ecosystems (e.g., land, water, wildlife, forest, soil, ecosystems); and o Reduce and eventually eliminate Dane County government’s contribution to conditions that undermine people’s ability to meet their basic human needs.

2.6. CONTRACTING

1. CONTRACT/PROJECT ADMINISTRATION

A. The County department(s) utilizing the service will be responsible for drafting, coordinating, monitoring and administering the resulting service contract/purchase order. The department shall be responsible for notifying the awarded vendor about contract renewals or extensions.

Any modifications or additions to the contract(s)/purchase order(s) shall be communicated by the department to the Purchasing Division.

2. CONTRACT ASSIGNMENT - SUBCONTRACTORS

A. A resulting contract and any part thereof shall not be subcontracted or assigned to another

Contractor without prior written permission of the County. The Contractor shall be directly responsible for any subcontractor's performance and work quality when used by the Contractor to carry out the scope of the job. Subcontractors must abide by all terms and conditions under this Contract.

3. CONTRACT ADDITIONS

A. The County reserves the right to add new items and locations at a price conforming to other like items on the contract. The procedure for such additions shall be as follows:

1. The County Purchasing Officer will contact the vendor requesting pricing for the item(s) to be added.

2. The vendor, within three working days, should respond in writing and include the bid number, contract period and the price for each item or service to be provided.

3. Upon receipt, the County shall issue a Change Order adding the service or product(s) to the

Contract or Purchase Order.

B. The County reserves the right to accept or reject prices and obtain bids on the open market for these add ons.

C. When applicable, Contractor may be required to sign a Dane County Contract.

4. CONTRACT TERMINATION

A. If for any reason the successful contractor fails to fulfill the requirements of the contract for providing the specified services, the County shall have the right to cancel the contract at any time and negotiate for the services with another contractor.

3. Contract Term

The contract shall be effective on the date indicated on the Dane County Purchase Order or the Dane

County Contract execution date. The initial term length and renewal terms available are estimates only and are subject to change.

If applicable, any optional or renewal terms are not automatic extensions. Renewal terms must be agreed upon mutually by Dane County and Contractor.

Anticipated Terms (Calendar Dates)

Term 1: April 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025

Term 2: January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

Term 3: January 1, 2027 - December 31, 2027

Term 4: January 1, 2028 - December 31, 2028

Term 5: January 1, 2029 - December 31, 2029

4. Project Overview & Scope of Work

The following definitions and links are used throughout the RFP.

County: Dane County

County Agency: Department/Division utilizing the service or product.

Dane County Purchasing website: https://www.danepurchasing.com/

Proposer/Vendor/Firm/Contractor: a company submitting a proposal in response to this RFP.

4.1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Since 1999, Dane County has outsourced the printing of tax bills, various notices, and a number of reports and other forms. The County would like to have our printing needs supported in this matter and have assurance that these vital documents will be printed and delivered with a high level of quality, timeliness, and professionalism.

The final documents are to either be mailed via US Postal Service or picked-up by the municipal treasurer as coordinated with the respective Dane County department or municipality.

Files that need to be printed will be sent from Dane County to a secure FTP site that the printing services provider supports. The printing service provider will check to see if there are files that need to be printed on a daily basis.

Standard print jobs will be defined for the service provider by Dane County. Any special print job specifications will be handled through email, phone or other form of communication with the service provider.

Dane County requires a 24-hour turnaround on printing requests during November and December for tax bill processing. Except for these bills, printing turnaround shall be 72 hours or less, when agreed upon in advance by both parties. These turnaround times include the printing services provider adding a

2D barcode to the documents for sorting of tax bills and reminder notices by an exact match on both the name and mailing address.

Special forms, stock and binding may be required as part of this contract. Additional charges may be incurred for items outside of the normal items included in this agreement.

4.2. CURRENT OPERATIONS

Dane County currently contracts with Business Communication Solutions (BSC) for a portion of its printing needs. This is a close partnership producing timely delivery of perfect images used for machine printing, sorting, folding, insertion, remittance processing, and the associated reports surrounding the assessment and tax functions of the County. Of necessity, the accuracy of these projects is paramount. Dane County is accustomed to high quality timeliness, output and provider responsiveness.

Dane County also continues to use its in-house printing services as needed throughout the year.

4.3. NOTIFICATION AND FORMAT OF JOBS TO BE PRINTED

Files to be printed will be placed on the provider’s secure FTP site. The provider will check each morning at 9 AM for files to be printed. Any files that are not on the providers FTP site by 9 AM will require https://www.danepurchasing.com/ special treatment or may be delayed one (1) day with the prior approval of Dane County. Any files on

FTP site by 9 AM must be delivered by 1 PM the following business day. Files requiring special treatment or shorter turnaround time will be sent to the FTP site with notification through a phone call or email to the company providing the service. Assessment files to be printed will be placed on the provider’s secure site. An email will be sent in conjunction with this placement that includes the print parameters and delivery specifications. In the event that a job must be printed, sorted, folded, inserted and mailed, the timeframe is slightly more flexible, but cannot exceed 72 hours.

Most jobs will be sent with forms embedded in the data file as PDFs and will always be in black and white. A couple of jobs may be sent as an Excel file to merge onto a ¼ page Publisher Template for cardstock postcards. Color printing will not be necessary or desired. Labels will either be in PDF or a

Microsoft Excel compatible format. The printing services provider adds a 2D barcode to the documents for sorting of tax bills and reminder notices by an exact match on both the name and mailing address.

4.4. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

The contractor must have equipment and the capability to provide the following minimum services. Requirements may change from time to time over the life of the contract:

o Merge Excel data into fields of a Microsoft Publisher postcard template.

o Laser Print portrait duplex on 8-1/2” x 11” 24 lb. bond with a horizontal perforation 3-2/3” from the bottom of the form.

o Laser print portrait sing-side on 8-1/2” x 11” 20 lb. bond with a perforation 3-

2/3” from the bottom.

o Laser print duplex portrait on 8-1/2” x 11” with a perforation 3-2/3” from the bottom (perforated lower 1/3” is a postcard).

o Laser Print merged data landscape duplex onto 8-1/2” x 11” cardstock.

o Cut 8-1/2” x 11” cardstock into 4 postcards.

o Fold 8-1/2” x 11” forms in thirds.

o Insert folded 8-1/2” x 11” form(s) in window envelopes.

o Insert folded 8-1/2 x 11” form(s) along with a return envelope in window envelopes.

o Apply postage to envelopes, and securely deliver to the USPS post office, either as processed, or mailed in one batch, at Dane County’s direction.

o Laser print landscape/duplex on 8-1/2” x 11” 20 lb. Bond with 3 hole punch on top.

o Laser print various size labels (primarily 1.33” x 4”, 1” x 4”, and 2” x 4”) o Organize and assemble reports, place into binders and sort by assessor.

o Add a 2D barcode to the documents to be used for machine sorting of tax bills and reminder notices by an exact match on both the name and mailing address.

4.5. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements are mandatory; compliance will not be waived:

A. Proposers must have the capacity to produce a minimum of 20,000 tax bills per day during the period of the last week of November through the second Monday in December annually.

B. Proposers must provide deliverables of printed tax bills between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm on a 24 hour turnaround each business day during the period of the last week in November through the second Monday in December annually.

C. Final Installment Notices must be printed with an OCR-A font (ISO 1073-1: 1976) at the bottom of the page. Proposers must be able to apply this data line to each notice perfectly so this font and placement is readable in the Remittance Processor used by the County. The character string will be part of the PDF. Placement and readability must be physically verified by Dane

County personnel annually using a fifty (50) bill test run before the balance of the notices are printed.

D. Proposers must have and provide sufficient on-site space for municipalities who contract with the provider to stuff and mail the subject tax bills in the first two weeks of December annually.

Neither Dane County nor the subject municipality shall be charged any fee for this access, space, or sorting.

E. Proposer must have sufficient secure space to store and protect Dane County overstock on all items for County projects, and must provide that storage at no charge to Dane County.

F. Proposer must be able to apply correct bulk mailing rates for all County mailing services. Provider may not charge more than the stamped rate for any postage fee than the

USPS rate available to Dane County to the lowest legal applicable rate for the subject mailing.

4.6. GUARANTEE TO MEET PRINTING NEEDS

The provider must guarantee the ability to print and deliver printouts for the cost submitted in the

Pricing Proposal. All print jobs must be printed and delivered to Dane County within 24 hours of notification, or mailed as directed. The ability to meet printing deadlines is a major consideration in award of this RFP. On-site pick-up of printed products may also be coordinated at the direction of Dane

County.

4.7. VOLUME OF PRINTING

The forms and volumes may change significantly over the life of this contract. The contract should be viewed as a partnership with Dane County to meet Dane County’s printing needs. The annual volume projections include 20,000 printed images of assessment rolls, 200,000 tax bills, and 63,000 printed images of second installment notices. Labels and miscellaneous reports could account for approximately 30,000 printed images.

4.8. SPECIFIC FORMS

Tax Bills – Tax Bills are currently printed on 8 ½” x 11” 24 lb. bond with micro-perforation 3-2/3” from the bottom of the page. The 3-2/3” page portion is to be mailed back by the taxpayer to the local jurisdiction with payment. The bills are printed on the blank side of page with a preprinted back page. The back page is the same for all bills; only the front changes. The front of the bill is sent in an

Adobe PDF file.

The back of the page is set up and printed in advance, must conform to the current Department of

Revenue specifications, and must be verified for accuracy each year in October in writing with the

Deputy Treasurer.

A sample run of tax bills must be completed each year at the beginning of the cycle to verify that the transfer process and printing works correctly. This includes the transfer of a PDF file from the County to the contractor, the printing of fifty samples from each file, and the return of the printed samples to

Dane County for quality assurance checking. Generally, this verification cycle takes less than five (5) days.

Some files are printed in duplicate. Most copies will be tri-folded for mailing; others will remain unfolded and be delivered as flat copies. Turnaround time on tax bills is critical. We require 24-hour turnaround times for business day processing. Files sent on Friday morning must be completed on

Monday by noon. The tax bills are generally printed during the last week in November and first two weeks in December. Tax bill files are separated into the 59 municipalities, resulting in 59 files processed during his period.

Printing of bills must be strictly accounted for. The number of bills indicated in the notification of file transmittal emailed to the provider must match the number of bills printed. Discrepancies must be investigated and reconciled between parties within 24 hours.

Contractor must provide folding and insertion into window envelopes for local municipalities who desire contract separately with the contractor for the service. Postage and delivery to the local USPS branch may also be selected. The contractor shall provide on-site sorting space, and shall separately invoice the subject municipality for the folding, insertion, and/or postage services they provide for the subject at an established rate per service. This rate shall not be different in same year for any municipality.

Contractor will securely warehouse all County overstock for use on future projects at no charge to Dane

County.

Assessment Rolls – Assessment Rolls will be printed landscape duplex on 8-1/2” x 11” 20 lb. paper and three hold punched on top 11” side. Rolls can be printed as early as January, but in some years are printed as late as June. The initial file needs to be sent to the printing company along with auxiliary reports, collated and placed in binders to be picked up by assessors. Turnaround time cannot exceed two weeks. Additional rolls may be printed throughout the year. Assessment rolls range in size from 6 printed sides to 2200 printed sides per district.

Final Installment Notices – Notices for the final tax payment installment are printed in May and mailed to all taxpayers who have not fully paid their taxes for the prior year. The Notice must be printed portrait one-side on 8-1/2” x 11” 20 lb. bond with a perforation 3-2/3 from the bottom; the lower page portion is to be detached and mailed with payment to Dane County. Final Installment Notices must be printed with an OCR-A font (ISO 1073-1; 1976) at the bottom of the page. Proposers must be able to apply the data line to each notice perfectly so this font and placement is readable by the Remittance

Processor used by the County. The character string will be part of the PDF. Placement and readability must be verified before notices are printed annually. Contractor will add a 2D barcode to the documents to be used for machine sorting by an exact match on both the name and mailing address.

These sorted notices must be inserted into window envelopes along with blue preprinted #9 return envelopes. This mailing must be done on the same day at the same United State Post Office branch.

Double-window Envelopes for Tax Bill and Final Installment Notice Mailing

This envelope must provide complete visibility of the entire taxpayer mailing address and the County return address, conforming exactly to the folded notice inside.

The provider will obtain, provide and warehouse overstock on double-window envelopes and #9 return envelopes suitable for mailing tax documents.

A. Annually, in October, the Deputy Treasurer will order double window envelopes in boxes of

500. In cases of five boxes to one case, to be delivered to the County during the last week of

November. Provider will bill County for such stock.

B. Contractor will hold prescribed cases from this stock for subject municipalities who contract with the provider to insert and mail the subject’s bills. This will occur at the local municipalities’ who contract with the provider to insert and mail the subject’s bills. This will occur at the local municipalities’ option in the first two weeks of December annually.

C. Annually in April, the Deputy Treasurer will order and contractor will obtain envelope stock

(white double-window and blue #9 pre-addressed return), to be used in insertion and mailing final installment notices for the County. The preaddressed blue #9 envelope with County return address will be verified with a written acceptance of a proof copy by the Deputy

Treasurer. Contractor must provide sufficient on-site space for Dane County staff to sort and prepare final installment notices. Dane County shall not be charged any fee for this access, space, or sorting.

D. Contractor will securely warehouse all County overstock for use on future projects at no charge to Dane County.

4.9. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS

The following reports may also need to be printed by the successful vendor, but portions may be printed in-house at Dane County.

Assessor’s labels – Approximately 60,000 labels are printed each year. These are printed in January or

February. The labels are printed on 1.33” x 4” sized labels.

Change of Assessment Notice – Printed on 8-1/2’ x 11” 2- lb. bond.

Cross Reference Reports – Printed on 8 ½” x 11” 2- lb. bond. These reports are printed sporadically throughout the year. They will range from several hundred pages to several thousand pages.

Mail Labels – Printed sporadically throughout the year. These are printed on 1”x4” sized labels.

4.10. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

The local assessors may require assessment notices to be sent by the contractor. Terms will be agreed upon between the assessor and contractor.

The local assessor or local municipality may require shipment of certain reports. Contractor will charge the requesting local assessor or local municipality for the service. The County will not be responsible for report shipping charges incurred.

5. RFP Response Requirements & Evaluation Criteria

1. RFP Response - Proposers shall upload and submit their proposal response document(s) to Section 1 of the Vendor Questionnaire.

• The RFP Response shall be organized to comply with the section numbers and names as shown below. Each section heading shall be clearly marked.

o If applicable, the Local Vendor Preference section is answered within the Vendor

Questionnaire and doesn't need to be included in the RFP Response document.

• Cover Letter / Cover Page o Provide a Cover Letter or Cover page and at minimum should include:

▪ Contact Person for the RFP process

▪ RFP Title

▪ RFP #

▪ Name of Proposer

• Table of Contents may be included but is not required.

• Graphics may be included but are not required.

2. Cost Proposal Response

• Complete the Pricing Table if there is one located within the RFP Posting.

• If there is no Pricing Table within the RFP Posting:

o Download and complete the Pricing Section document from the Attachment Section of the

RFP Posting.

o Upload the completed Pricing Section document to Section 1 of the Vendor Questionnaire.

3. Document Formatting - The RFP Response and Cost Proposal (if applicable) documents must be saved in PDF format unless otherwise specified within the RFP document and the file name shall include the

RFP# and name of business submitting proposal.

• Example of how to name the files:

o RFP Response Document: "2023-RFP-025 – Vendor Name" o Cost Proposal Document (if no pricing table): "2023-RFP-025 – Vendor Name - Cost

Proposal"

4. Evaluation Criteria - each section includes the Point Value assigned to it for evaluation purposes.

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. ORGANIZATION CAPABILITIES

Describe the firm’s experience and capabilities in providing similar services to those required. Be specific and identity projects, dates, and results. Provide specific examples of direct experience serving local government agencies similar in size to Dane County in the production of tax and assessment documents.

Points Based 10 (9.5% of Total)

2. STAFF QUALIFICATIONS

Provide resumes describing the educational and work experiences for each of the key staff who would be assigned to this project. Please upload resume's via question #1.4 of the

Vendor Questionnaire.

Points Based 25 (23.8% of Total)

3. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

Proposers must include in their proposals a written statement of how each mandatory requirement in section 4.5 is currently being met. Include specific examples of providing similar work. The proposer must be able to perform/provide each mandatory task/requirement at the time of submitting a response to this RFP. Future capacity and/or planned improvements are not considered compliant.

Points Based 35 (33.3% of Total)

4. Cost Points Based 30 (28.6% of Total)

5. Local Vendor Preference Points Based 5 (4.8% of Total)

6. Pricing Proposal

LASER PRINTING SERVICES

Pricing shall be inclusive of all labor, delivery costs and other expenses necessary to provide product in accordance with the specifications and terms and conditions of this RFP and your proposal.

Line Item Description Unit of Measure Cost per 1,000

1 Merge Excel data into fields of a Microsoft Publisher postcard template.

PER 1,000

2 Laser print portrait duplex on 8-1/2 x 11" 24 lb. bond with a horizontal perforation 3-2/3" from the bottom of the form.

PER 1,000

3 24 lb. White-wove Double-window 4-1/8" x 9-1/2"

OSDIS

PER 1,000

4 24 lb. Blue return envelope 3-7/8" x 8-7/8" Self-addressed with County PO Box

PER 1,000

5 Laser print portrait single-side on 8 1/2" x 11" 20 lb.

bond with a perforation 3-2/3" from the bottom.

PER 1,000

6 Laser Print duplex portrait on 8-1/2" x 11" with a perforation 3-2/3" from the bottom (perforated lower

1/3" is a postcard).

PER 1,000

7 Laser Print merged data landscape duplex onto 8-1/2” x

11” cardstock.

PER 1,000

8 Cut 8-1/2” x 11” cardstock into 4 postcards. PER 1,000

9 Laser print landscape duplex on 8-1/2" x 11" 20 lb Bond with a three hole punch on top.

PER 1,000

10 Laser print portrait single-side on 8-1/2" x 11" 20 lb.

Bond

PER 1,000

11 Laser print 1.33" x 4", 1" x 4" or 2" x 4" labels PER 1,000

12 Fold 8-1/2" x 11" forms in thirds PER 1,000

13 Insert single page, folded 8-1/2" x 11" form in double-window envelopes.

PER 1,000

Line Item Description Unit of Measure Cost per 1,000

14 Insert single page, folded 8-1/2" x 11" form along with a return envelope in double-window envelopes

PER 1,000

15 Apply postage to envelopes, and deliver to the USPS PER 1,000

ADDITIONAL COSTS

List any and all additional costs in the area provided below:

Line Item Description Description Unit of Measure Unit Cost

16 Provide description in next column: EA

17 Provide description in next column: EA

18 Provide description in next column: EA

19 Provide description in next column: EA

PRICING FOR FUTURE TERMS

The pricing for Term 1 shall remain firm. If there are any price increases for term 2-5, please list below as a percent increase.

Line Item Description Unit of Measure Percentage

20 Percent Increase for Term 2: January 1, 2026-December

31, 2026

21 Percent Increase for Term 3: January 1, 2027-December

31, 2027

22 Percent Increase for Term 4: January 1, 2028-December

31, 2028

23 Percent Increase for Term 5: January 1, 2029-December

31, 2029

7. Vendor Questionnaire

7.1. RFP DOCUMENT UPLOADS

7.1.1. Single Proposal Submission*

Only 1 proposal is allowed to be submitted per Vendor Account. This means if you are submitting multiple proposals, you must follow the instructions set forth within the Section 2.2 RFP Guidelines and

Overview - Multiple Proposals & Acceptance.

It is understood that if multiple proposals are uploaded using 1 vendor account, the entire submission will be subject to disqualification.

☐ Please confirm

*Response required

7.1.2. RFP Response Document - Upload your Proposal*

Please DO NOT include Cost information in this section.

*Response required

7.1.3. RFP Response -…