RFP_WS_57-26.Scope.docx

PERFORMANCE BASED BILLING AUDIT OF OKALOOSA COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT

RFP WS 57-26

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Okaloosa County, on behalf of Okaloosa County Water & Sewer (OCWS), is requesting proposals from qualified entities to review water and sewer accounts, reduce apparent revenue losses, and ensure that customers are billed appropriately for services received. It is anticipated that the fee for the proposed work will be a portion of actual increases in revenues to OCWS resulting from the work. All companies submitting proposals must agree to comply with any applicable state or local government rules, laws, ordinances, and regulations.

2. SCOPE OF SERVICE

OCWS currently provides services to more than 34,000 customers. Appropriate and accurate metering/billing of these customers is essential to ensuring that water and sewer resources are utilized reasonably, that there is equity among users, and that customers are billed for services in a manner consistent with OCWS Ordinances. We require a firm experienced with these issues to review metering and billing of existing accounts and provide recommendations for possible adjustments.

3. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

1. Proposer should provide a letter of introduction and interest, signed by an officer of the proposing firm, and providing a brief description of the firm.

2. Proposer should describe the proposed approach to the work. Including properly executed and included required forms. Overall “mythology” to include a detailed plan for data collection, verification and report to OCWS.

3. Proposer should describe qualifications and experience of critical team members.

4. Proposer should provide summaries of five projects of similar size and complexity to that anticipated by OCWS. These summaries should include contact information for a responsible party for each project that will serve as a reference for the proposing firm, and should demonstrate a minimum of ten years of experience in investigating apparent revenue loss. Reference checks will be completed.

5. Proposer should identify the specific individuals to be assigned to the project if the firm is selected, their role in the project, and a preliminary schedule for the work.

6. Proposer should discuss proposed payment for the work.

4. TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS:

Respondent agrees to pay all sales, use, or other taxes, assessments and other similar charges when due now or in the future, required by any local, state or federal law, including but not limited to such taxes and assessments as may from time to time be imposed by the County. Respondent further agrees that it shall protect, reimburse and indemnify County from and assume all liability for its tax and assessment obligations.

5. TERM OF CONTRACT AND RENEWAL OPTION:

The limited contract term is anticipated to be one (1) year of investigation with three (3) years of payback., No renewals will be available with this contract.

Note: failure to provide all the required information, in the required format, may disqualify the vendor from further consideration.

6. PROPOSAL PREPRATION INSTRUCTIONS

The response (Response) to the RFP and all supporting documentation is required and must be signed by a company official with the power to bind the company in its contract. The Response should be narrative in form and must be completely responsive to the RFP guidelines for consideration by the County.

The submittals will be reviewed by a Selection Review Committee appointed by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC). Responses should be responsive to the items identified in this RFP and contain no more than 5 pages, 12 font minimum. The 5-page maximum excludes the cover, table of contents, and copies of required forms. The response submitted should be one (1) completed document, unless otherwise specified within the document.

The Committee will review the Responses received unless determined to be non-responsive or non-responsible. The Committee will rank each Response based on the scoring criteria provided below which demonstrate firm’s capabilities, ability, and adequacy of personnel, past record, recent experience, current workload, and the overall adherence to the RFP. At the sole discretion of the Selection Review Committee, oral presentations may be requested from the top ranked firms.

The top ranked firm will be recommended to the BCC for approval. If the BCC agrees with the Selection Review Committee’s recommendation, contract negotiations will begin between the selected firm and Okaloosa County. Should contract negotiations fail, negotiations will begin immediately with the next highest ranked firm.

At such time when an approval is granted by the BCC, notification will be provided to each firm in accordance with the County’s Purchasing Manual. Failure to file a protest within the time prescribed in accordance with the County’s Purchasing Manual, Section 30, or failure to post the bond or other security required by law within the time allowed for filing a bond shall constitute a waiver of such proceedings under law.

Response to the RFP shall be submitted in the format described below:

Letter of Interest shall include location of the firm’s office that will be the lead office for this contract and any anticipated sub-consultants.

Contracts will be awarded to an Agency, or multiple Agencies, whom are responsive, and responsible bidders meeting the specifications, terms and conditions and is determined to be the most advantageous to the County. Evaluation of proposals shall be based on the evaluation factors set forth below and any other relevant information obtained through the evaluation process.

Financial Stability - In the case of Federal and/or Florida State funded procurements, prior to awarding this contract, the top respondents will be required to submit to a soft credit pull for purposes of the County's Risk Assessment consideration; objections by any respondent will disqualify them from consideration. Bad credit indicating you are a high risk may impact your application. Responses will not be considered from respondents who are currently involved in official financial reorganization or bankruptcy proceedings.

7. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS:

The proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

· Approach to project - 25 Points – proposed scope of services

· Firm Experience/References – 25 Points – previous proposer projects and owner comments

· Staff Experience – 20 Points – qualifications and experience of proposer team members

· Proposed Schedule and Personnel Assignment – 10 Points – anticipated schedule and specific team members to be assigned to project

· Proposed Pricing – 20 Points Comment by CeCelia VandenBroeck: Purchasing will provide points for costs

Procurement Scheduled (ANTICIPATED)

Oral Presentations *if needed

Contract Negotiations

Finalize/Execute Agreement by BOCC