Indigent Burial and Cremation Services

Pinellas County, Florida, is conducting a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP 26-0292-RFP) to solicit comprehensive indigent burial and cremation services from qualified providers located within the county. The procurement seeks to serve approximately 1,060 calls for service annually, with an estimated 720 claimed and unclaimed human remains requiring disposition processing, comprising 650 adults, 50 veterans, and 20 stillborn or infant cases. The scope of services encompasses a detailed menu of individual line items including administration and eligibility determination, direct cremation for various body types, body embalming, cremains urns, burial containers, refrigeration and storage, body removal and transport, cremains scattering, cemetery lots, hearse services, and three bundled package options for direct adult cremation, direct infant cremation, and veteran burial services. Qualified bidders must hold a current Florida funeral director license, maintain an FDEP-certified incinerator facility, provide minimum refrigerated storage capacity for up to 100 concurrent bodies, and demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience performing similar services for a governmental organization. Proposals will be evaluated based on qualifications (35 percent, 350 points), scope of work (25 percent, 250 points), deliverables (25 percent, 250 points), and compensation (15 percent, 150 points). Proposers must submit questions by March 31, 2026, at 12:00 PM, with proposals due on April 14, 2026, at 3:00 PM via the OpenGov procurement website. The contract term is five years from the date of award, with no scheduled site visits or pre-conference meetings.

Prospective contractors must comply with multiple compliance requirements and maintain specific insurance coverage to be considered for award. Bidders are required to submit a Foreign Countries of Concern Affidavit certifying that the contractor is not owned by or controlled by entities from designated foreign countries, a Human Trafficking Affidavit attesting to non-use of coercion for labor or services, a Common Carrier Attestation confirming compliance with Florida Statutes regarding unauthorized alien transportation, and execute a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement for protection of protected health information. Bidders must carry commercial general liability insurance of $1,000,000, professional liability insurance of $1,000,000, and workers' compensation insurance as required by Florida law. The annual funding estimate does not exceed $550,000, with pricing capped at a total annual bid amount of $30,000, which includes provisions for unexpected conditions or events requiring county authorization, and all submitted pricing must remain fixed regardless of whether actual annual case volumes exceed or fall below projected numbers. The solicitation is open to all qualified providers meeting minimum qualifications without reported set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises, and no incumbent vendor or current contractor information is referenced in the available documentation.