Verification_of_Employment_and_Income_Services_(Addendum_#1_Revision).pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL - GOODS AND SERVICES

RFP GGS-25-0719

VERIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME

SERVICES

City of Phoenix

Finance Central Procurement

251 W Washington St

Phoenix, AZ

85003

RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2025

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: May 15, 2025

RESPONSE DEADLINE: May 29, 2025, 2:00 pm

City of Phoenix

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL - GOODS AND SERVICES

RFP GGS-25-0719

Verification of Employment and Income Services

1. INTRODUCTION

2. INSTRUCTIONS

3. SCOPE OF WORK

4. EVALUATION PROCESS

5. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

6. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

7. DEFENSE AND INDEMNIFICATION

8. INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

9. SUBMITTALS

10. PRICING PROPOSAL

Attachments:

A - Acceptance_of_Offer_Form_2026

E - Exhibit A. Fair Credit Reporting Act

Request For Proposal - Goods and Services #RFP GGS-25-0719 Title: Verification of Employment and Income Services

1. Introduction

1.1. Contact Information

Chad Elms

Finance Central Procurement

Email: chad.elms@phoenix.gov

Phone: (602) 261-8053

1.2. Schedule of Events

The City reserves the right to change dates, times, and locations, as necessary. The City does not always hold a Pre-Offer Conference or Site Visit. All times in the Schedule of Events are

Local Phoenix, AZ Time.

To request a reasonable accommodation or alternative format for any public meeting, please contact the Procurement Officer (Chad Elms) at (602) 261-8053/Voice or 711/TTY, or chad.elms@phoenix.gov, no later than two (2) weeks prior to the meeting.

Solicitation Issue Date: April 28, 2025

Pre-Offer Conference (Non-Mandatory): May 6, 2025, 2:00pm https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Z i00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%

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Written Inquiries Due Date: May 15, 2025, 2:00pm

Offer Due Date: May 29, 2025, 2:00pm https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTQ1YjU4MDctYTM0Zi00NjgwLTk5MzQtYTlmNTA2OTMxZGEz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2296b9695c-4f0e-42bd-8adf-ba755760346b%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f64e87ae-5447-45df-a47a-63aaf2ed7fb8%22%7d

2. Instructions

2.1. City’s Vendor Self-Registration and Notification

Vendors must be registered in the City’s OpenGov e-Procurement Portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix to respond to solicitations and access procurement information.

Vendors must also be registered in the City’s procurePHX Self-Registration System at https://www.phoenix.gov/procure prior to contract execution.

The City may, at its sole discretion, reject any offer from an Offeror who has not registered.

2.2. Preparation of Offer

All forms provided must be completed and submitted with the Offer. The signed and completed

Conflict of Interest and Transparency form must be included, or your Offer may be deemed non-responsive.

It is permissible to copy Submittal forms if necessary. Erasures, interlineations, or other modifications of the Offer must be initialed in original ink by the authorized person signing the

Offer. No offer will be altered, amended or withdrawn after the specified offer due date and time.

The City is not responsible for Offeror’s errors or omissions.

All time periods stated as a number of days will be calendar days.

It is the responsibility of all Offerors to examine the entire solicitation and seek clarification of any requirement that may not be clear and to check all responses for accuracy before submitting an offer. Negligence in preparing an offer confers no right of withdrawal after due date and time. Offerors are strongly encouraged to:

A. Consider applicable laws and/or economic conditions that may affect cost, progress, performance, or furnishing of the products or services.

B. Study and carefully correlate Offeror’s knowledge and observations with the solicitation and other related data.

C. Promptly notify the City of all conflicts, errors, ambiguities, or discrepancies that Offeror has discovered in or between the solicitation and other related documents.

D. The City does not reimburse the cost of developing, presenting or providing any response to this solicitation. Offers submitted for consideration should be prepared simply and economically, providing adequate information in a straightforward and concise manner. The Offeror is responsible for all costs incurred in responding to this solicitation. All materials and documents submitted in response to this solicitation become the property of the City and will not be returned.

E. Offerors are reminded that the specifications stated in the solicitation are the minimum level required and that offers submitted must be for products or services that meet or exceed the minimum level of all features specifically listed in this solicitation. Offers https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix https://www.phoenix.gov/procure offering less than any minimum specifications or criteria specified are not responsive and should not be submitted.

F. Offer responses submitted for products considered by the seller to be acceptable alternates to the brand names or manufacturer’s catalog references specified herein must be submitted with technical literature and/or detailed product brochures for the

City’s use to evaluate the products offered. Offers submitted without this product information may be considered as non-responsive and rejected. The City will be the sole judge as to the acceptability of alternate products offered.

G. Prices will be submitted on a per unit basis by line item, when applicable. In the event of a disparity between the unit price and extended price, the unit price will prevail unless obviously in error.

2.3. Fixed Offer Price Period

All offers shall be firm and fixed for a period of 180 calendar days from the solicitation opening date.

2.4. Exceptions

Offeror must not take any exceptions to any terms, conditions or material requirements of this solicitation. Offers submitted with exceptions may be deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration in the City’s sole discretion. Offerors must conform to all the requirements specified in the solicitation. The City encourages Offerors to send inquiries to the

Procurement Officer rather than including exceptions in their Offer.

2.5. Inquiries

All questions that arise relating to this solicitation should be directed via City’s OpenGov e-

Procurement Portal and must be received by the due date indicated in the Schedule of Events.

The City will not consider questions received after the deadline.

No informal contact initiated by Offerors on the proposed service will be allowed with members of City’s staff from date of distribution of this solicitation until after city council awards the contract. All questions concerning or issues related to this solicitation must be presented in writing.

The Procurement Officer will answer written inquiries in an addendum and publish any addenda on the City’s OpenGov e-Procurement Portal.

2.6. Addenda

The City of Phoenix will not be responsible for any oral instructions made by any employees or officers of the City of Phoenix regarding this solicitation. Any changes will be in the form of an addendum. The Offeror must acknowledge receipt of any/all addenda by signing and returning the document with the Offer submittal.

2.7. Business in Arizona

The City will not enter contracts with Offerors (or any company(ies)) not granted authority to transact business, or not in good standing, in the state of Arizona by the Arizona Corporation

Commission, unless the Offeror asserts a statutory exception prior to entering a contract with the City.

2.8. Licenses

If required by law for the operation of the business or work related to this Offer, Offeror must possess all valid certifications and/or licenses as required by federal, state or local laws at the time of submittal.

2.9. Certifications

By signature in the Offer section of the Offer and Acceptance page(s), Offeror certifies:

• The submission of the Offer did not involve collusion or other anti-competitive practices.

• The Offeror must not discriminate against any employee, or applicant for employment in violation of Federal or State Law.

• The Offeror has not given, offered to give, nor intends to give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant in connection with the submitted Offer.

2.10. Submission of Offer

Offers must be in possession of the Department on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events. Late offers will not be considered. The prevailing clock will be the

City Department’s clock.

Offers should be submitted electronically via the City’s e-Procurement Portal by clicking on

“Draft Response” via https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/160725. Offerors that are unable to submit electronically should contact the Procurement Officer to discuss the logistics of hard copy submittals. Offerors must be registered with OpenGov by signing up via https://procurement.opengov.com/signup. Vendor training guides can be found at: https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

Any original documents (such as bonds, guaranties, powers of attorney), if required by the solicitation, must be separately delivered to and received by the City on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events, with a clear indication of the Offer for which it is attributed.

It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the Offer is timely and to confirm that there are no technical reasons that any offer submitted electronically may be delayed. The date and time on the upload as received/stamped by the City’s e-Procurement Portal will provide proof of submission and verification whether the Offer was received on or prior to the exact time and date indicated in the Schedule of Events.

For assistance with submittals, vendors are welcome to use the OpenGov support chat (blue chat bubble in the bottom right corner) to connect with a member of OpenGov's support team who will be able to assist you with your submission.

Please DO NOT submit links to Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, or similar services. Your offer may be deemed non-responsive if your offer is supplied utilizing these services.

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/160725 https://procurement.opengov.com/signup https://opengov.my.site.com/support/s/article/ca6d1285-1e48-4a21-bb0d-715edb7794ed

2.11. Withdrawal of Offer

At any time prior to the solicitation due date and time, an Offeror (or designated representative) may withdraw the Offer by clicking “Unsubmit Response” on the Offer submission via the City’s e-Procurement Portal.

2.12. Offer Results

Offers will be opened on the offer due date, time and location indicated in the Schedule of

Events, at which time the name of each Offeror, and the prices may be read. Offers and other information received in response to the solicitation will be shown only to authorized City personnel having a legitimate interest in them or persons assisting the City in the evaluation.

Offers are not available for public inspection until after the City has posted the award recommendation on the City’s website.

The City will post a preliminary offer tabulation on the Solicitation's Public Page:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/160725 within five business days of the offer opening. The City will post the information on the preliminary tabulation as it was read during the offer opening. The City makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information on the preliminary tabulation. Once the City has evaluated the offers, the City will post an award recommendation on the website. By signing and submitting its Offer, each Offeror agrees that this posting of the award recommendation to the City’s website effectively serves as the

Offeror’s receipt of that notice of award recommendation. The City has no obligation to provide any further notification to unsuccessful Offerors.

2.13. Pre-Award Qualifications

Offeror must have been in operation a minimum of ten years. The Offeror’s normal business activity during the past ten years will have been for providing the goods or services in this solicitation.

Upon notification of an intent to award, the Offeror will have ten calendar days to submit a complete certificate of insurance in the minimum amounts and the coverages as required in the

Insurance Requirements of this agreement. Insurance requirements are non-negotiable.

2.14. Certificates of Insurance

Upon notification of a recommended award, the Offeror will have 14 calendar days to submit a complete certificate of insurance in the minimum amounts and the coverages as required in the

Insurance Requirements of this solicitation. Insurance requirements are non-negotiable.

2.15. Award of Contract

Unless otherwise indicated, award(s) will be made to the most responsive, responsible

Offeror(s) who are regularly established in the service, or providing the goods, contained in this solicitation and who have demonstrated the ability to perform in an acceptable manner.

A. Factors that may be considered by the City include:

1. Technical capability of the Offeror to accomplish the scope of work required in the

Solicitation. This may include performance history on past and current government or industrial contracts; and, https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/phoenix/projects/160725

2. Demonstrated availability of the necessary manpower (both supervisory and operational personnel) and necessary equipment to accomplish the scope of work in the Solicitation; and,

3. Safety record; and,

4. Offeror history of complaints and termination for convenience or cause.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this solicitation, the City reserves the right to: (1) waive any immaterial defect or informality; or (2) reject any or all offers or portions thereof; or (3) reissue a solicitation.

C. A response to a solicitation is an offer to contract with the City based upon the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in the City’s solicitation. Offers do not become contracts until they are executed by the Chief Procurement Officer or Department

Director. A contract has its inception in the award, eliminating a formal signing of a separate contract. For that reason, all of the terms, conditions and specifications of the procurement contract are contained in the solicitation, and in any addendum or contract amendment.

2.16. Solicitation Transparency Policy

Commencing on the date and time a solicitation is published, potential or actual Offerors or respondents (including their representatives) shall only discuss matters associated with the solicitation with the Mayor, any members of City Council, the City Manager, any Deputy City

Manager, or any department director directly associated with the solicitation (including in each case their assigned staff, except for the designated Procurement Officer) at a public meeting, posted under Arizona Statutes, until the resulting contract(s) are awarded to all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the

Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or similar solicitation.

As long as the solicitation is not discussed, Offerors may continue to conduct business with the

City and discuss business that is unrelated to the solicitation with the City staff. Offerors may not discuss the solicitation with any City employees or evaluation panel members.

Offerors may discuss their proposal or the solicitation with the Mayor or one or more members of the Phoenix City Council, provided such meetings are scheduled through the Procurement

Officer, and are posted as open meetings with the City Clerk at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled meetings. The City Clerk will be responsible for posting the meetings. The posted notice shall identify the participants and the subject matter, as well as invite the public to participate.

With respect to the selection of the successful Offerors, the City Manager and/or City Manager's

Office will continue the past practice of exerting no undue influence on the process. In all solicitations of bids and proposals, any direction on the selection from the City Manager and/or

City Manager's Office and Department Head (or representative) to the proposal review panel or selecting authority must be provided in writing to all prospective Offerors.

This policy is intended to create a level playing field for all Offerors, assure that contracts are awarded in public, and protect the integrity of the selection process. OFFERORS THAT

VIOLATE THIS POLICY SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED. After official Notice is received by the City for disqualification, the Offeror may follow the Protest process, unless the Solicitation is cancelled without notice of intent to re-issue.

“To discuss” means any contact by the Offeror, regardless of whether the City responds to the contact. Offerors that violate this policy will be disqualified until the resulting contract(s) are awarded, or all offers or responses are rejected and the solicitation is cancelled without any announcement by the Procurement Officer of the City’s intent to reissue the same or a similar solicitation. The City interprets the policy as continuing through a cancellation of a solicitation until Council award of the contract, as long as the City cancels with a statement that the City will rebid the solicitation.

2.17. Protest Process

Offeror may protest the contents of a solicitation no later than seven days before the solicitation deadline when the protest is based on an apparent alleged mistake, impropriety or defect in the solicitation. Protests filed regarding the solicitation may be addressed by an amendment to the solicitation or denied by the City. If denied, the opening and award will proceed unless the City determines that it is in the City’s best interests to set new deadlines, amend the solicitation, cancel or re-bid.

Therefore, unless otherwise notified by a formal amendment, the Protester must adhere to all solicitation dates and deadlines, including timely filing of an offer, regardless of filing a protest.

Offeror may protest an adverse determination issued by the City regarding responsibility and responsiveness, within seven days of the date the Offeror was notified of the adverse determination.

Offeror may protest an award recommendation if the Offeror can establish that it had a substantial chance of being awarded the contract and will be harmed by the recommended award. The City will post recommendations on the City’s website to award the contract(s) to an

Offeror(s). Offeror must submit award protests within seven days after the posting of the award recommendation, with exceptions only for good cause shown, within the City’s full and final discretion.

All protests will be in writing, filed with the Procurement Officer identified in the solicitation and include the following:

• Identification of the solicitation number;

• The name, address and telephone number of the protester;

• A detailed statement describing the legal and factual grounds for the protest, including copies of relevant documents;

• The form of relief requested; and

• The signature of the protester or its authorized representative.

The Procurement Officer will render a written decision within a reasonable period after the protest is filed. The City will not request City Council authorization to award the contract until the protest process is complete. All protests and appeals must be submitted in accordance with the

City’s Procurement Code, (Phoenix City Code, Ch. 43) and any protests or appeals not submitted within the time requirements will not be considered. Protests must be filed with the

Procurement Officer.

2.18. Public Record

All Offers submitted in response to this solicitation will become the property of the City and become a matter of public record available for review pursuant to Arizona State law. If an

Offeror believes that a specific section of its Offer response is confidential, the Offeror will isolate the pages marked confidential in a specific and clearly labeled section of its Offer response. An Offeror may request specific information contained within its Offer is treated by the

Procurement Officer as confidential provided the Offeror clearly labels the information

“confidential.” To the extent necessary for the evaluation process, information marked as

“confidential” will not be treated as confidential. Once the procurement file becomes available for public inspection, the Procurement Officer will not make any information identified by the

Offerors as “confidential” available to the public unless necessary to support the evaluation process or if specifically requested in accordance with applicable public records law. When a public records request for such information is received, the Procurement Officer will notify the

Offeror in writing of any request to view any portion of its Offer marked “confidential.” The

Offeror will have the time set forth in the notice to obtain a court order enjoining such disclosure.

If the Offeror does not provide the Procurement Officer with a court order enjoining release of the information during the designated time, the Procurement Officer will make the information requested available for inspection.

2.19. Late Offers

Late Offers must be rejected, except for good cause. If a late Offer is submitted, the Department will document the date and time of the submittal of the late Offer, keep the Offer and notify the

Offeror that its Offer was disqualified for being a late Offer.

2.20. Right to Disqualify

The City reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror who fails to provide information or data requested or who provides materially inaccurate or misleading information or data. The City further reserves the right to disqualify any Offeror on the basis of any real or apparent conflict of interest that is disclosed by the Offer submitted or any other data or information available to the

City. This disqualification is at the sole discretion of the City. By submission of a solicitation response, the Offeror waives any right to object now or at any future time, before any agency or body including, but not limited to, the City Council of the City or any court as to the exercise by the City of such right to disqualify or as to any disqualification by reason of real or apparent conflict of interest determined by the City. The City reserves the right to replace the disqualified

Offeror.

2.21. Contract Award

The City reserves the right to award a contract by individual line items, by group, all or none, or any other combination most advantageous to the City. The City reserves the right to award multiple contracts.

2.22. Determining Responsiveness and Responsibility

Offers will be reviewed for documentation of minimum qualifications, completeness, and compliance with the Solicitation requirements. The City reserves sole discretion to determine responsiveness and responsibility.

Responsiveness: Nonresponsive Offers will not be considered in the evaluation process. The solicitation states criteria that determine responsiveness, and the solicitation includes terms and conditions that if included or excluded from Offers (as the case may be) will render an Offer nonresponsive.

Exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings are presumed to be unacceptable, and an Offer that includes unacceptable exceptions, conditions, reservations, or understandings may be rejected as nonresponsive. Alternatively, the City in its sole discretion may instruct in writing that any Offeror remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so in writing, the City may determine the Offer to be nonresponsive.

Responsibility: To obtain true economy, the City must conduct solicitations to minimize the possibility of a subsequent default by the Contractor, late deliveries, or other unsatisfactory performance that may result in additional administrative costs. It is important that the Offeror be a responsible Contractor. Responsibility includes the Offeror’s integrity, skill, capacity, experience, and facilities for conducting the work to be performed.

The Procurement Officer will review each Offer to determine if the Offeror is responsible. The

City’s determination as to whether an Offeror is responsible will be based on all information furnished by the Offeror, interviews (if any), and information received from Offeror’s references, including information about Offeror’s history, terminations for convenience or cause, contract breach lawsuits or notices of claim and any other sources the City deems appropriate. Award of the Contract resulting from the solicitation will not be made until any necessary investigation, which each Offeror agrees to permit by submitting its Offer, is made by the City as it deems necessary. A review of responsibility may occur up to contract award.

The Offeror’s unreasonable failure to promptly supply information about an inquiry with respect to responsibility may be grounds for a determination of non-responsibility with respect to such

Offeror.

2.23. Equal Low Offer

Contract award will be made by putting the names of the tied vendors in a cup for a blind drawing limited to those bidders with tied offers. If time permits, the offerors involved will be given an opportunity to attend the drawing. The drawing will be witnessed by at least three persons, and the contract file will contain the names and addresses of the witnesses.

2.24. Evaluation of Competitive Sealed Offers

The City will use its discretion in applying the following processes to this solicitation. Any ties in scoring will be resolved with a best and final price request and the lowest price will prevail.

2.25. Detailed Evaluation of Offers and Determination of Competitive Range

During deliberations, the Evaluation Panel will reach a consensus score for each evaluation criterion except price. The Procurement Officer will score the price, which will be added to the overall consensus score. The overall consensus scores will determine the Offerors’ rankings and which offers are within the Competitive Range, when appropriate.

2.26. Offers Not Within the Competitive Range

The City may notify Offerors of Offers that the City determined are not in the Competitive

Range.

2.27. Discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range

The City will notify each Offeror whose Offer is in the Competitive Range or made the ‘short list’ and provide in writing any questions or requests for clarification to the Offeror. Each Offeror so notified may be interviewed by the City and asked to discuss answers to written or oral questions or provide clarifications to any facet of its Offer. The Offerors in the competitive range may be required to provide a demonstration of their product.

Demonstrations - Offerors in the competitive range may be invited to construct a hands-on sample or presentation of their solution at the City of Phoenix. In addition, each finalist may prepare and deliver a presentation of their proposed solution based on the script developed by the evaluation panel. The City may also require a hands-on lab demonstration designed specifically for the evaluation panel. The results of the surveys will be tabulated and delivered to the evaluation team for the final review and solution selection session(s).

If an Offer in the Competitive Range contains conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings to or about any Contract or Solicitation Scope requirement, the City may discuss or negotiate the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings during these meetings. But the City in its sole discretion may reject any and all conditions, exceptions, reservations and understandings, and the City may instruct any Offeror to remove the conditions, exceptions, reservations or understandings. If the Offeror fails to do so, the City may determine the Offer is nonresponsive, and the City may revoke its determination that the Offer is in the Competitive Range.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the City will not provide any information, financial or otherwise, to any Offeror about other Offers received in response to this solicitation. During discussions with Offerors in the Competitive Range, the City will not give Offerors specific prices or specific financial requirements that Offerors must meet to qualify for further consideration.

The City may state that proposed prices are too high with respect to the marketplace or otherwise unacceptable. Offerors will not be told of their relative rankings before Contract award.

2.28. Best and Final Offers (BAFO)

A BAFO is an option available for negotiations. Each Offeror in the Competitive Range, which is determined in the City’s sole discretion, may be afforded the opportunity to amend its Offer and make one BAFO.

If an Offeror’s BAFO modifies its initial Offer, the modifications must be identified in the BAFO.

The City will evaluate BAFOs based on the same requirements and criteria applicable to initial

Offers. The City will adjust appropriately the initial scores for criteria that have been affected by offer modifications made by a BAFO. Based on the criteria defined in the solicitation as weighted, the City will then perform final scoring and prepare final rankings.

The Evaluation Panel will recommend the Offer that is the best value and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria.

The City reserves the right to make an award to an Offeror whose Offer is the highest rated, best value, and most advantageous to the City based on the evaluation criteria, without conducting written or oral discussions with any Offeror, without negotiations, and without soliciting BAFOs.

3. Scope of Work

3.1. Deliverables

The Contractor shall transmit, in the Contractor’s online format, the employment and income data provided by the City with respect to its current and former employees to third-party verifiers, including but not limited to lenders, background check firms, property managers, prospective employers and social service agencies. The City agrees to make reasonable efforts to refer all third-party verifiers to Contractor’s Services.

3.2. Technical Requirements

A. Contractor shall begin system implementation not later than February 1, 2026. System implementation and testing shall be complete no later than April 15, 2026.

B. The Contractor shall upload two complete calendar years of data and year-to-date payroll history.

C. Contractor shall upload the biweekly data files received from the City within two days of file receipt.

D. Contractor shall provide an online website to receive all types of verification requests.

E. Contractor shall provide a toll-free number for all verifications.

F. Contractor shall use social security numbers and names as the primary identifiers.

G. Contractor shall display only the last four digits of social security numbers in any reports.

H. Passwords will adhere to reasonable industry standards and are not provided verbally.

I. Contractor shall ensure the system automatically times out after 20 minutes of inactivity.

J. Contractor shall protect administrative and support offices with a security system monitored 24/7 by a professional monitoring station that is U.L. listed, FM approved and

IQ certified.

K. No electronic or hard copy employee data shall be stored at Contractor’s support offices or workstations.

L. Following use by Contractor, hard copy documents are deposited in a locked storage container managed by a National Association of Information Destruction certified document destruction firm and shredded on-site.

M. Confidential employee data is not stored on Contractor’s workstations and as a safeguard, Contractor’s workstations are password-protected, timeout after inactivity, and contain encrypted hard drives.

N. Contractor’s employees are provided with ongoing training to heighten awareness of confidential data-handling best practices to prevent unauthorized release of data.

O. Contractor’s employees and subcontractors sign confidentiality statements and data security policy.

3.3. Administrative Requirements

A. Contractor shall provide the City a referral script for City staff to reference.

B. City and Contractor shall establish a process for social service requests, at no charge to the agency or to the employee, and hard copy requests received by City.

C. Contractor provides City with draft location rollout email.

D. City distributes rollout email to locations.

E. Contractor will provide verbiage for City’s web site.

3.4. Training Requirements

A. During implementation, Contractor will provide a strategy for the City to use for referring all verifiers and employees to Contractor for assistance. Contractor will work with verifiers and employees before, during and after the verification process is completed.

B. Contractor shall train City staff on Contractor’s verification portal.

3.5. Customer Support Requirements

The Contractor shall have established service level requirements that include but are not limited to:

A. Contractor’s customer service centers and representatives shall be 100% based in the

United States. There shall be no offshore call centers.

B. Contractor’s customer service representatives shall be available by phone, email and fax between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Voice messaging, email and fax services must be available 24/7.

C. All messages received during regular business hours will be responded to within 30 minutes. All messages received during non-business hours will be responded to within 4 hours of the opening of the next business day.

D. System Availability: the System shall have a minimum up-time of 98.5%, measured monthly, excluding scheduled maintenance windows.

E. Incident Response Time: The Contractor shall respond to reported incidents within a specified timeframe. For critical or high-priority incidents (Level 1) resulting in Service degradation and citizen impact of any nature, the response time shall not exceed thirty

(30) minutes during business hours and one (1) hour during non-business hours. For non-critical incidents (Level 2) resulting in no impact to citizens, the response time shall not exceed one (1) hour.

F. Incident Resolution Involving a Security Breach: Refer to Section 6.28 Data Protection for response criteria.

G. Incident Resolution Time Not Involving a Security Breach: The Contractor shall resolve critical or high-priority incidents (Level 1) within a maximum timeframe of 2 hours during business hours and four (4) hours during non-business hours. Non-critical incidents

(Level 2) shall be resolved within a maximum timeframe of twenty-four (24) hours.

H. Regular Backups: The Contractor shall perform regular data backups to prevent data loss. Backups shall be conducted at least once a day, with backup copies stored securely offsite.

I. Disaster Recovery: The Contractor shall have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place to minimize data loss and ensure prompt System recovery in the event of a disaster. The plan shall include backup and restoration procedures, as well as procedures for System data recovery.

J. Security Measures: The Contractor shall implement and maintain appropriate security measures to protect the System and the data it contains. This includes encryption of sensitive data, access controls, regular security audits, and compliance with relevant data protection regulations.

K. Scheduled Updates and Maintenance: The Contractor shall provide advance seventy-two (72) hour notice to the customer of any scheduled maintenance windows or updates that may result in temporary unavailability. Maintenance activities shall be scheduled and approved with the City to minimize the impact on System availability.

3.6. Verification Service Requirements

A. Contractor shall respond only to verifiers who provide a person’s name and social security number and state the “City of Phoenix" as the employer on a per request basis.

Bulk processing is not permitted.

B. Contractor shall provide in response to employment verification requests: request date, requester name, purpose of verification, date information updated, last four digits of social security number, employer names, employer address, dates of employment, job title, last day paid, most recent start date, total time with employer, employee’s home address and date of birth, and status of employment (active or inactive) for current and former full-time or part-time City employees and retirees.

C. Contractor shall provide in response to income verification: all the information required in section B. above plus income for two years, if available, including base pay total, overtime total, other income, and total for each year; current/last pay rate annualized;

last day paid; average hours per week; last increase data; and income by pay period for the past two years including pay date, base pay, overtime, and other income.

D. Contractor shall provide, at the request of an employee or former employee, verifications and/or letters of employment and/or income, loan forgiveness and other verification-related requests, to the employee/former employee, free of charge and they will never be expected to pay, either through the self-service employee portal or through the customer support department.

E. Contractor shall respond to hard copy requests for verifications within 24- hours.

F. Contractor shall reimburse the employee if any verifier attempts to pass the fee onto the employee for requesting an employment and/or income verification, within 24 hours of the notification of the charge, in an amount equal to the charge, provided the employee can provide evidence of the charge. The amount of the reimbursement to the employee by Contractor will not exceed the amount of the original Contractor’s transaction charge to the verifier.

G. Contractor shall not complete searches or respond to debt collection firms who provide only social security numbers.

3.7. Reporting Requirements

A. Contractor shall provide standard reporting on a quarterly basis to City.

B. Contractor shall provide a minimum of three administrative users who can access the

Contractor’s employer portal on a real-time basis to run reports or view data.

C. Contractor shall provide the option to download reports using Excel.

D. Contractor shall provide reports which can identify the types of verifications (commercial vs social service), purpose of verification, and which can be run by selected dates.

3.8. Data Backup Services

The Contractor shall provide an annual Disaster Recovery Action Plan that outlines that year's disaster recovery implementation schedule, and the most recent Disaster Recovery Action Plan should be available to the City upon request. City may appoint a representative(s) that shall have access to the Contractor's disaster recovery status update meetings. Disaster recovery will be performed on a best-efforts basis and the Contractor will provide communication available to the City as to the status of the recovery process.

3.9. Data Security

A. Contractor to provide secure, encrypted, web-based authentication and access using

SAML authentication.

B. Solution to include SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) at minimum 256-bit encryption for data transmission.

C. Contractor to provide a formal security incident response process as part of this process which includes responding to security incidents and notifying customers proactively during the incidents (i.e. quantify using SLA’s, timeframes, and root cause analysis).

D. Contractor to notify the city upon security vulnerability alerts within 8-hours of discovery. Contractor to provide support and remediate the vulnerabilities within (1) business day.

3.10. Fair Credit Reporting Act Requirements

Contractor shall provide all services within the guidelines of the Fair Credit Reporting Act attached as Exhibit A. Also, these requirements are currently listed at https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act/545a_fair-credit-reporting-act-0918.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act/545a_fair-credit-reporting-act-0918.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act/545a_fair-credit-reporting-act-0918.pdf

4. Offer Evaluation Criteria

In accordance with the Administrative Regulation 3.10, Competitive Sealed Proposal awards shall be made to the responsive and responsible Offeror(s) whose Offer is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the City based upon the evaluation criteria listed below.

The evaluation factors are listed in the relative order of importance and more details are provided in Scope of Work. The following evaluation criteria will be used to evaluate all Offers:

Phase 1

No. Evaluation Criteria Scoring Method Weight (Points)

1. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q1

The implementation timeline is very tight for both services and must be completed by April 15, 2026. Will your firm be able to meet this deadline with full cooperation from the City?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

2. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q2

With what frequency is your firm willing and able to receive and upload file transfers?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

3. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q3

Due to the short implementation timeline, the City requires Offerors to accept the

City's TXT file format. Will your firm accept this file format?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

4. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q4

Due to the highly confidential data to be shared and short implementation timelines, Contractor must not take any exceptions to any terms, conditions or material requirements of this Solicitation. Offers submitted with exceptions will be deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration. Please confirm that your firm understands this condition.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

5. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q5

What is the number of implementations that the implementation manager assigned to City of Phoenix will be responsible for in

2026? How will the firm ensure the needs to the City are met?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

6. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q6

List all data expected to be received in a file feed for verification of employment and income.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

7. Method of Approach - Implementation

Q7

Provide a detailed description of the implementation process and schedules for this program. Include all key personnel involved in implementation, and indicate system requirements, setup and acceptance-testing activities.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

8. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q1

How do you ensure your IT systems, processes, and environment are in compliance with applicable standards?

Describe your policies, procedure, and the attestation of your compliance.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

9. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q2

Is your disaster plan and/or business continuity plan tested annually? How are these plans tested?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

10. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q3

What steps are taken by your firm and staff to ensure the privacy and security of City of

Phoenix’s Personally Identifying

Information (PII)? What does your organization do to ensure that your staff understands and enforces these steps?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

11. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q4

Describe the preventative measures taken to secure your physical facilities.

12. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q5

Describe how paper documents containing

PII are maintained in a secure environment, tracked and destroyed when no longer needed.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

13. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q6

How do you control the addition of USB devices to your workstations and network?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

14. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q7

Is PII data encrypted in transit (while being transmitted) and at rest (while on your storage devices)?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

15. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q8

Describe your procedures for limiting PII data access to only authorized individuals, including password policies.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

16. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q9

How do you manage business associates

(third parties) that provide IT services?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

17. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q10

Do you have a written risk management policy? Does it include an annual review by senior management?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

18. Method of Approach - IT/Security Q11

Is there an audit trail of all access to PII data?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

19. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q1

Describe your organization’s overall approach to providing efficient verification of employment and income services?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

20. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q2

What would the proposed service delivery model be for ongoing support for City of

Phoenix? Will the same team responsible for implementation also form the basis for the ongoing service delivery team?

21. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q3

Describe your online capabilities and how you handle hard copy forms and telephonic requests for verification.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

22. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q4

What information (social security number, PIN, passcode, etc.) is an employee/former employee required to provide to a verifier to request a verification?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

23. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q5

What is the standard time your firm takes to upload a file transfer?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

24. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q6

What is the standard response time for verifications of employment and income during customer service center hours?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

25. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q7

What is the standard response time for requests made via voice mail, hard copy, fax, etc. outside of customer service center hours.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

26. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q8

How does the firm ensure the standard response time is met?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

27. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q9

Provide samples of verification of employment and income documents provided to verifiers.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

28. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q10

Confirm that only the last four digits of a social security number will be displayed on any response.

29. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q11

Confirm Scope of Work; in particular, Items

1.8 through 2 requirements will be met.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

30. Method of Approach - Service Delivery

Q12

Confirm Scope of Work item 2.

Administrative Requirements will be met.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

31. Method of Approach - Reporting Q1

Describe your reporting capabilities for verification of employment and income.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

32. Method of Approach - Reporting Q2

Include samples of the standard reports, frequency of routine reporting, and availability on the employer portal.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

33. Method of Approach - Reporting Q3

Include samples of the non-standard reports that are available to the employer on the employer portal.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

34. Method of Approach - Reporting Q4

Include samples of performance standards reports available to the City.

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

35. Method of Approach - Reporting Q5

May the client obtain custom and/or ad hoc reports? If yes, what is the cost for the reports?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

36. Method of Approach - Reporting Q6

What is the guaranteed turnaround time for the report requests?

0-5 Points 12.5 (1.7% of Total)

37. Qualifications and Experience Q1

Where is your headquarters located?

Please list the cities and states of the customer service centers.

0-5 Points 24 (3.2% of Total)

38. Qualifications and Experience Q2

Identify any overseas offices by location and function.

0-5 Points 23 (3.1% of Total)

39. Qualifications and Experience Q3

How many years has the company been in the business of providing verification of employment and income services?

0-5 Points 23 (3.1% of Total)

40. Qualifications and Experience Q4

What are the total number of company employees?

0-5 Points 23 (3.1% of Total)

41. Qualifications and Experience Q5

Is your company public or privately held?

What other…