Request_for_Proposals_(RFP)_for_a_Project_Manager_to_Implement_the_Electronic_System_for_the_San_Mateo_County_Assessment_Appeals_Board.pdf

County of San Mateo

Request for Proposals (RFP) for Request for Proposals

(RFP) for a Project Manager to Implement the Electronic

System for the San Mateo County Assessment Appeals

Board

County Executive's Office - Board of Supervisors

RFP No. 2025-RFP-00441

RFP Contact: Michael Jo mjo@smcgov.org

Page 2 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

1. Introduction and Schedule

The County of San Mateo (the “County” or “SMC”) covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula. The region covers 744 mi and is home to nearly 800,000 residents and 20 incorporated cities. The County provides for the health and welfare of all people within its borders and serves as the local government for the unincorporated areas. Innovation thrives here in industries including bioscience, computer software, green technology, hospitality, financial management, health care, education and transportation. The

County prides itself on how that prosperity fosters its commitment to protecting and enhancing the health, safety, welfare and natural resources of the community.

1.1. Summary

The San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board ("AAB") was established to resolve property valuation disputes between taxpayers and the San Mateo County Assessor's Office. The AAB consists of a panel of three impartial commissioners who act on behalf of the San Mateo County Board of

Supervisors and is independent from both the Assessor's and Tax Collector's Offices. The AAB acts in a quasi-judicial capacity and hears evidence from both parties before rendering their decision as to the value of a property. Their decision is final and may not be reheard by the board unless ordered by the court.

The County plans to implement a new online electronic system and is in the process of finalizing an agreement with Applications Software Technology (AST), subject to Board approval. The new electronic system for the AAB will include an online portal through which members of the public can submit applications for assessment appeals as well as appeal-related documents, and which AAB staff can enter and store appeals data as well as develop and process meeting agendas.

The County’s objective in issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to select one project manager to lead the implementation of the new AAB system for a period of approximately 18 months. The qualified

Project Manager will guide the County’s project team to assist in meeting the objectives described above.

The County’s standard contract template has been included an Appendix to this solicitation. The awarded contractor will be expected to sign an agreement prepared by the County using this template. Please ensure that your firm has completed legal review of these contract terms. If your firm wishes to request exceptions to these standard terms, submit a Contract Exceptions Request by the Deadline for Questions, Comments and Contract Exceptions listed in the Solicitation Schedule below. The County will consider

Contract Exceptions Requests but reserves the right to reject requested modifications to its standard terms.

The expected term of the contract is 18 months with an option to extend and additional 12 months.

1.2. Background

The County’s Assessment Appeals application and processing is currently a paper based manual process requiring extensive time and resources. This process will allow for the electronic submission of applications and payments, providing efficiency as well as a better user experience. The San Mateo

County Assessor's Office selected Sapient Corporation to design and implement its new Assessor

Processing Assessment System (APAS). The AAB's system will need to be able to share data with the

Sapient Corporation system to ensure the accuracy and transparency of data.

Page 4 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

1.3. Contact Information

Project Contact:

Misty Hommerding Principal Management Analyst Email: mhommerding@smcgov.org Phone: (650) 599-4283

Procurement Contact:

Michael Jo eProcurement Project Manager Email: mjo@smcgov.org Phone: (650) 599-1200

Department:

County Executive's Office - Board of Supervisors

Department Head:

Michael Callagy County Executive

1.4. Timeline

RFP Released March 26, 2025

Pre-Proposal Meeting (Non-Mandatory) April 3, 2025, 11:00am

Topic: Pre-proposal meeting for Project Manager

RFP

Time: Apr 3, 2025 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and

Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://smcgov.zoom.us/j/81562791110

Meeting ID: 815 6279 1110

Deadline for Questions, Comments and

Contract Exceptions

April 11, 2025, 5:00pm

Proposal Due Date and Time April 25, 2025, 5:00pm

Interviews (tentative) May 7, 2025 mailto:mhommerding@smcgov.org tel:(650)599-4283 mailto:mjo@smcgov.org tel:(650)599-1200 https://smcgov.zoom.us/j/81562791110

Page 5 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

Anticipated Contract Award Date May 20, 2025

2. Scope of Work

2.1. Overview

The expected tasks and deliverables for the selected project manager in connection with the AAB implementation project are described below. The selected project manager will manage a project staff of business stakeholders and users, and IT technical staff responsible for the implementation of the AAB

System. The project manager will be responsible for:

• Managing the County project team

• Maintaining and managing the implementation of the new AAB system in accordance with a project plan

• Working with software vendor’s project team, coordinating and aligning the work, managing the issues and risks, reviewing and accepting deliverables

• Ensuring project management, training and communication are effective (and adjusted accordingly if goals are not met)

• Reviewing and approving staffing changes of the vendor

• Serving as consultant to the project sponsor

• Escalating issues and facilitating decision processes in connection with the AAB System

Implementation

• Managing scope, schedule and budget

• Working with County Department subject matter experts to ensure business and technical requirements are met within the scope of the implementation contract.

• Completing a post implementation review, including interviews with a few operating departments, key project members, and the software vendor.

• Reviewing and recommending approval of AAB software vendor invoices

• Providing hands-on assistance with detailed tasks relating to the AAB system implementation as needed(time permitting)

• Coordinating work of other managers, leads and team members for work related to:

o Planning o Design o Configuration and Development

Page 6 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025 o Business process documentation o Testing o Data conversion and data validation o Integration testing o Change management and County readiness o Training

In addition to the foregoing, the selected project manager will be expected to execute the tasks and provide the deliverables described below. The specific deliverables described below represent ongoing categories of work to be accomplished over the course of the project.

1. Project Plan updates: The selected project manager will be responsible for working with the AAB software vendor project manager, make updates to the project plan as appropriate. Updates include recording current status on a regular basis, providing more specificity of tasks on a 90-day rolling forward basis. The project manager will also maintain executive dashboard status as reflected in the project plan.

2. Manage project scope, schedule, budget: The selected project manager will be responsible for following standard industry IT project management practices and for carefully managing the project scope, schedule and budget to deliver a quality system and efficient business processes to the County on schedule and in budget. This will require the project manager to carefully manage the relationship with the vendor who is responsible for most of the key deliverables to meet this objective. County project team roles vary depending on the project activity, sometimes the role supports the work, other times the County is responsible for the activity. The project manager will help guide the team while influencing the success of the system’s integrator and their ability to deliver.

3. Manage County project team and County assigned project activities: The selected project manager will be responsible for providing expert guidance, mentor team members and coordinate the work of

County team members for each stage of the project.

4. Effectively Navigate Implementation/Integration Requirements: The selected project manager can demonstrate fluency in the selected software, AST, and its platform Salesforce. The selected project manager shall also engage with the County’s requirement to integrate AST with other County software system including, but not limited to the Assessor Processing Assessment System (APAS), Sapient, payment processing systems, etc. Implementation and integration work shall be performed in a manner to ensure accurate and transparent transfer of data between County systems.

5. Coordinate with vendor on project activities (e.g., planning, testing, deployment) The selected project manager will be responsible for proactively working to plan the approach, strategies and specific tasks needed to be accomplished for work to be done by both the software vendor and/or the County project team. The selected project manager will be responsible for prioritizing and managing to the scope and schedule, maintaining rigor on change request review procedures, setting expectations up front for the format and content of documentation and deliverables and reviewing AAB software vendor deliverables.

Page 7 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

6. Issue and Risk Management: The selected project manager will be responsible for managing the issues log, review and assigning resources for issue resolution; assessing risks, developing risk mitigation strategies; escalating risks and issues to the County Project Sponsor, and following through and facilitating decision process.

7. Working with Stakeholders: This project requires the project manager to coordinate numerous interactions with the various County stakeholders to address concerns, manage expectations, facilitate decisions and acceptance of business process and system design.

8. Coordinate with County Departments: The project manager will coordinate project activities requiring Department involvement to ensure Department resources are available to perform tasks related to integration testing, data validation, end user testing and training to ultimately get their acceptance prior to Go Live.

9. Manage project quality: The project manager is responsible for ensuring project quality. This includes a number of aspects of quality: validating with testing that the system and custom development items work and meet the business requirements, validating that vendor deliverables meet the standards described in their contract scope of work, and other aspects of project quality needed to make this project successful.

10. Provide expert guidance for sub-project work: The project manager will be expected to bring a wealth of experience to provide strategy guidance to the team. The project manager will help team members and coordinate the work of team leads and team members for work related to:

•Design

•Testing

•Configuration and Development

•Business process documentation

•Data conversions and data validation

•Integration testing

•Change management and County readiness.

•Training

•Cutover planning, preparation and actual cutover

•Post-production support

11. Status Reporting and Project Documentation: The project manager must report status on a regular basis through a number of types of status and project documentation, for example: project plans, dashboard reports, issue statements/decision papers, issue logs, testing results reporting, and risk mitigation plans.

3. Submission Requirements

Page 8 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

3.1. Submission Deadline

Proposals must be electronically received by 5:00 pm, on Friday, April 25, 2025 via eProcurement system.

Allow sufficient time for the upload to complete by the Due Date and Time. Partial uploads will automatically terminate, and proposals will be rejected. The eProcurement system submission time will be the official submission time. The County will not be responsible for and may not accept proposals that are late due to slow internet connections or for any other failure of the eProcurement system.

NOTE: The County does not maintain the eProcurement system and is not liable for site failures or technical problems. To resolve technical issues, contact OpenGov Technical Support by using the real time chat located in the lower right hand corner of the screen, or via email at procurement-support@opengov.com https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/smcgov

3.2. Pre-submission Registration

Organizations or individuals interested in responding to this solicitation must register online with the

County of San Mateo at:

• https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/smcgov

It is recommended that organizations complete this registration as soon as possible. The County will not be responsible for and may not accept proposals that are late due to a failure to register in the eProcurement system.

3.3. Submission via eProcurement Portal

Required Documents

Please refer to the Technical Proposal section for submittal documents and requirements.

Electronic Submissions

Include the proposer name and the RFP title and number in each filename. Submit proposals via the eProcurement website, allowing sufficient time for the upload to complete by the Due Date and Time. As noted above, the eProcurement portal submission time will be the official submission time, and partial uploads will automatically terminate, and proposals will be rejected. Contact eProcurement Portal with technical questions regarding this site.

Conflicts between Certain Requirements

Prior to the submission deadlines and solely relating to a determination of the timeliness of questions, comments, and proposal submissions, information displayed on the eProcurement portal site will take precedence in the event of a discrepancy between that information and the information within the solicitation documents. For all other discrepancies, the information in the solicitation documents will take precedence.

Format mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/smcgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/smcgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/smcgov/projects/156659/document?section=1423546

Page 9 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

Documents should be created in the following format:

• Text should be Times New Roman (12-point minimum font size) and unjustified (i.e., with a ragged-right margin)

• Pages should have margins of at least one inch on all sides (excluding headers and footers)

• If the proposal is lengthy, a Table of Contents should be included.

• PDF format is preferred.

Errors in Proposals

The County will not be liable for any errors in proposals. Proposals may be rejected as unresponsive if they are late, incomplete, missing pages or information, or cannot be opened for any reason. The County may waive minor irregularities, but such waiver will not modify any remaining RFP requirements.

4. Minimum Qualifications and Technical Proposal

4.1. Minimum Qualifications

4.1.1. 4.1.1. Has Proposer have at least five (5) years of relevant project management experience implementing equivalent systems?**

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required

4.1.2. 4.1.2. Does the Proposer have relevant professional qualifications such as experience, education or PMP certification? *

☐ Yes

☐ No

*Response required

4.1.3. Please confirm your firm is registered with System for Award Management (SAM)*

SAM.gov

☐ Please confirm

*Response required

4.1.4. What is the registered Business Name and Unique Entity ID (UEI) No.?*

• UEI number can be obtained by registering your business through SAM.GOV

• Should you be in the process of obtaining your UEI number, please enter the digits ‘123’ temporarily for your response below in order to proceed with proposal. This temporary number should be replaced with the correct registration number for submission of the proposal.

*Response required https://sam.gov/content/home

Page 10 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025

4.2. Technical Proposal

4.2.1. Introduction and Executive Summary *

Submit a letter of introduction and executive summary of the proposal. The letter must contain:

• Name, title and contact information (email, phone, and address) for representative of proposer that is responsible for communication related to this RFP.

• Name, title, contact information, and signature of person authorized to obligate firm to perform the commitment contained in the proposal.

Submission of the letter will constitute a representation by proposer that it is willing and able to perform the commitments contained in the proposal and has not violated the terms of this RFP.

*Response required

4.2.2. Statement of Minimum Qualifications *

Describe how the proposer meets the minimum qualifications as set forth in Minimum Qualifications of this RFP.

Submission of the Minimum Qualifications checklist is not a substitute for providing a detailed written response.

*Response required

4.2.3. Project Approach*

This section should correlate to the Scope of Work . Proposer should give a short summary describing how it will perform the relevant work

*Response required

4.2.4. Scope of Work tasks/milestones*

Describe your proposed approach to tasks/milestones

*Response required

4.2.5. Proposed schedule *

Attach proposed schedule reference ability to complete the project within the County's required time frame

*Response required

4.2.6. Firm Qualifications *

Attach information regarding background and qualifications, including the following:

• A brief description of the proposer and relevant qualifications and experience of the proposed project manager. Also, include a resume of the proposed project manager as an attachment to the proposal and description of the proposer’s organization, including names of principals, number of employees, longevity, client base, areas of specialization and expertise and any other pertinent information in such a manner that proposal evaluators may reasonably formulate an opinion about the stability and financial strength of the organization

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• A description of not more than three (3) projects similar in size and scope conducted by the proposer, including the client, reference and telephone numbers, primary staff members involved, budget, schedule, and project summary. Descriptions should be limited to one (1) page for each project.

*Response required

4.2.7. Fee Proposal*

Propose hourly rate for professional services, inclusive of any expenses, assuming 3,120 hours of services

(approximately 18 months), with an option for up to an additional 2,080 hours (approximately 12 months). The County anticipates entering into a time and materials contract with a cap on the County’s maximum fiscal obligation (do not exceed) amount for a set period of time.

The Fee Proposal should be submitted as a separate PDF file from the Technical Proposals detailed in

Required Documents.

The County reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer and to reject any proposals that are not responsive to this request.

*Response required

5. Evaluation and Selection Criteria

The proposals will be evaluated by a selection committee with relevant expertise. The County intends to evaluate the proposals generally in accordance with the criteria itemized below. Proposers with the highest scoring proposals may be interviewed by the committee to make the final selection.

5.1. Phase 1

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Project Approach

1.1 Demonstrates a clear understanding of the

project/proposed services detailed in Section II

- Scope of Work and the tasks to be performed.

1.2 Plan for achieving performance measures.

1.3 Reasonableness of proposed staffing level

and allocation plan.

1.4 Strategy for successful engagement with the

County.

1.5 Effective and cost saving innovations.

Points Based 35 (35% of Total)

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2. Project Management Qualifications

2.1 Relevant expertise, education and

experience, including demonstrated history of successfully managing other projects with local governments; demonstrated experience integrating systems; demonstrated ability to work with varying personalities and work approaches with vendors and client teams; and demonstrated experience with a variety of system implementation methodologies and industry best practices.

2.2 Quality of recently completed projects, including adherence to schedules and budgets.

2.3 Results of reference checks

Points Based 40 (40% of Total)

3. Fee Proposal

Hourly rate for professional services, inclusive of any expenses, assuming 3,120 hours of services (approximately 18 months), with an option for up to an additional 2,080 hours

(approximately 12 months). The County anticipates entering into a time and materials contract with a cap on the County’s maximum fiscal obligation (do not exceed) amount for a set period of time.

Points Based 25 (25% of Total)

5.2. Phase 2

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Interview

Interviews to be determined at a later date.

Points Based 10 (100% of Total)

6. Instructions to Proposers

6.1. Instructions

Proposers are encouraged to attend a pre-proposal conference on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 11:00 am, to be held at Topic: Pre-proposal meeting for Project Manager RFP Time: Apr 3, 2025 11:00 AM Pacific

Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://smcgov.zoom.us/j/81562791110 Meeting ID: 815

6279 1110. All questions will be addressed at this conference and any available new information will be provided at that time. If you have further questions regarding the RFP, please post them on the eProcurement portal.

6.2. Communications

A. As of the issuance date of this RFP and continuing until it is canceled or an award is made, no proposer or person acting on behalf of a prospective proposer may discuss any matter relating to

Page 13 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025 the RFP with any officer, agent, or employee of the County, other than through eProcurement portal, to the Authorized Contact Person, or as outlined in the evaluation or protest procedures.

B. Proposers (including any agent, owner, employee, board members, or other such affiliates) shall not offer any gift, favor, or other personal benefit to any County officer or employee during the procurement process for this agreement, including during the solicitation period and contract negotiations.

Violation of the foregoing prohibitions may result in a proposer being found non-responsible and barred from participating in this or future procurements.

6.3. Contract Award

A. Award Procedure

Contract negotiations are neither an offer nor guarantee that a contract will be executed. A contract award, if any is made, will be to the responsive, responsible proposer offering the overall best value to the County for the services and goods described in this solicitation, or as applicable, for a specific portion of the services and goods described. Any agreement reached will be memorialized in a formal agreement using the attached template, executed by the appropriate authority.

B. Notice of Intent to Award

If a decision is made to take steps to enter into an agreement with one or more proposers, the

County will post a Notice of Intent to Award or otherwise notify proposers the remaining proposers of their non-selection. Notice may instead be provided by including approval of the agreement as an item on an agenda for a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

C. Commencement of Performance

After all parties have signed the agreement, the County will notify the contractor and performance may proceed. Prior to execution of the agreement by the County, no County employee may authorize work under the agreement. Any work performed prior to the full execution of the Agreement may not be compensated.

6.4. Term

County Executive's Office - Board of Supervisorsis issuing Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2025-RFP-

00441 for Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Project Manager to Implement the Electronic System for the

San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board.

The agreement shall have a term of eighteen months. In addition, the County shall have one (1) option to extend the term for an additional period not to exceed one year, which the County may exercise in its sole, absolute discretion. To exercise this option, the County shall provide written notice to the Contractor at least thirty days before the end of the agreement’s term.

The County’s standard contract template has been included with this solicitation. The awarded contractor will be expected to sign an agreement prepared by the County using this template. Please ensure that your firm has completed legal review of these contract terms. If your firm wishes to request exceptions to these

Page 14 of 17 Release date of March 26, 2025 standard terms, submit a Contract Exceptions Request by the Deadline for Questions, Comments and

Contract Exceptions listed in the Solicitation Schedule below. The County will consider Contract

Exceptions Requests but reserves the right to reject requested modifications to its standard terms.

7. Terms and Conditions for Receipt of Proposals

7.1. Errors, Omissions and Inquiries regarding the RFP

Proposers are responsible for reviewing all portions of this RFP. Proposers are to notify the department, in eProcurement portal, if the proposer discovers any ambiguity, discrepancy, omission, or apparent error in the RFP. Such notification should be made promptly after discovery, but in no event later than five business days prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals. Modifications and clarifications will be made by addenda as provided below.

Inquiries regarding the RFP should be lodged in eProcurement portal.

7.2. Objections to RFP Terms

Should a proposer object on any ground to any provision or legal requirement set forth in this RFP, the proposer must, not more than ten calendar days after the RFP is issued, provide written notice to the department, via eProcurement portal, setting forth with specific grounds for the objection.

7.3. Addenda

The County may cancel, revise, or reissue this RFP, in whole or in part, for any reason. Revisions will be posted as Addenda on eProcurement portal. No other revision of this RFP is valid. Proposers shall be responsible for ensuring that their proposals reflects any and all Addenda issued by the County prior to the proposal due date regardless of when a proposal is submitted. Therefore, the County recommends that proposers consult eProcurement portal frequently, including shortly before the proposal due date, to confirm that all Addenda have been downloaded.

7.4. Term of Proposal

Submission of a proposal signifies that the proposed services and prices are valid for the duration of the proposed agreement term and that the quoted prices are genuine and not the result of collusion or any other anti-competitive activity.

7.5. Revision or Withdrawal of Proposal

A proposer may revise a proposal on the proposer’s own initiative at any time before the deadline for submission of proposals. The proposer must submit the revised proposal in the same manner as the original on or before the proposal due date.

A proposer may withdraw a proposal at any time before the deadline for submission of proposals. After that time, whether or not a new RFP is issued for the same subject matter, withdrawal of a proposal may preclude the proposer from participating in the procurement as a proposer or subcontractor, except that an original equipment manufacturer may participate indirectly through a reseller.

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7.6. Errors and Omissions in Proposal

The County will not be liable for any errors in proposals. Proposals may be rejected as unresponsive if they are incomplete, are missing pages or information, or cannot be opened for any reason. The County may waive minor irregularities, but such waiver will not modify any of the remaining RFP requirements.

7.7. No Commitment

Neither submission of a proposal nor the County’s receipt of proposal materials confers any right to the proposer nor any obligation on the County. This RFP does not commit the County to award a contract.

7.8. Financial Responsibility

The County shall have no financial responsibility for any costs incurred by a firm in responding to this

RFP or participating in any presentations or negotiations.

7.9. Estimated Quantity

If the RFP results in an indefinite quantity or a requirements agreement, the goods and services actually requested by the County may be less than the maximum value of the agreement and there is no guarantee, either expressed or implied, as to the actual quantity of goods and services that will be authorized under the agreement.

7.10. Public Record

A. General

1. All proposals, protests, and information submitted in response to this solicitation will become the property of the County and will be considered public records. As such, they may be subject to public review.

2. Any contract arising from this RFP will be a public record.

3. The County is not seeking proprietary information and will not assert any privileges that may exist on behalf of the proposer.

4. Submission of any materials in response to this RFP constitutes:

▪ Consent to the County’s release of such materials under the Public Records Act without notice to the person or entity submitting the materials; and

▪ Waiver of all claims against the County and/or its officers, agents, or employees that the

County has violated a proposer's right to privacy, disclosed trade secrets, or caused any damage by allowing the proposal or materials to be inspected; and

▪ Agreement to indemnify and hold harmless the County for release of such information under the Public Records Act; and

▪ Acknowledgement that the County will not assert any privileges that may exist on behalf of the person or entity submitting the materials.

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7.11. Reservations of Rights by the County

The issuance of this RFP does not constitute an agreement by the County that any contract will actually be entered into by the County. The County expressly reserves the right at any time to:

• Waive or correct any defect or informality in any response, proposal, or proposal procedure;

• Reject any or all proposals;

• Reissue an RFP;

• Prior to submission deadline for proposals, modify all or any portion of the selection procedures, including deadlines for accepting responses, the specifications or requirements for any materials, equipment or services to be provided under this RFP, or the requirements for contents or format of the proposals;

• Procure any materials, equipment or services specified in this RFP by any other means; or

• Determine that no project will be pursued.

7.12. No Waiver

No waiver by the County of any provision of this RFP shall be implied from any failure by the County to recognize or take action on account of any failure by a proposer to observe any provision of this RFP.

7.13. Cooperative Agreement (Piggyback)

This competitive solicitation is being conducted as a Cooperative Procurement. The services, terms and conditions of any agreement resulting from this solicitation may be used by other organizations as a

Cooperative Agreement.

This provision in no way commits any affiliate to procure services from any awarded contractor, nor does it guarantee that any additional orders will result. At their discretion, and subject to their own procurement policies, interested organizations may make use of this competitive procurement and contract directly from the awarded contractor.

8. Protest Procedures

8.1. Protest of Non-Responsiveness Determination

Within five (5) working days of the County's issuance of a notice of non-responsiveness, any firm that has submitted a proposal and believes that the County has incorrectly determined that its proposal is non-responsive may submit a written notice of protest. Such notice of protest must be received by the County on or before the fifth working day following the County's issuance of the notice of non-responsiveness. The notice of protest must include a written statement specifying in detail each and every one of the grounds asserted for the protest. The protest must be signed by an individual authorized to represent the proposer, and must cite the law, rule, local ordinance, procedure or RFP provision on which the protest is based. In addition, the protestor must specify facts and evidence sufficient for the County to determine the validity of the protest.

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8.2. Protest of Contract Award

Within five (5) working days of the County's issuance of a notice of intent to award the contract, any firm that has submitted a responsive proposal and believes that the County has incorrectly selected another proposer for award may submit a written notice of protest. Such notice of protest must be received by the

County on or before the fifth working day after the County's issuance of the notice of intent to award.

The notice of protest must include a written statement specifying in detail each and every one of the grounds asserted for the protest. The protest must be signed by an individual authorized to represent the proposer, and must cite the law, rule, local ordinance, procedure or RFP provision on which the protest is based. In addition, the protestor must specify facts and evidence sufficient for the County to determine the validity of the protest.

8.3. Delivery of Protests

All protests must be received by the due date. If a protest is mailed, the protestor bears the risk of non-delivery within the deadlines specified herein. Protests should be transmitted by a means that will objectively establish the date the County received the protest. Protests or notice of protests made orally

(e.g., by telephone) will not be considered. Protests must be delivered to:

Protests@smcgov.org

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Project Manager to Implement the Electronic System for the San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board, 2025-RFP-00441