Pitney Bowes Mail Meter Postage FY 27

The State of Illinois, through the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), is procuring postage services via a sole source award to Pitney Bowes, Inc. under bulletin reference 26-478HFS-PERSA-B-52192. The procurement involves the download of postage onto HFS-owned or leased Pitney Bowes postage meters for mail items sent via the United States Postal Service (USPS), with an estimated monthly requirement of $670,000 to $700,000 consisting of approximately $600,000 for mass mailings and $70,000 for postage used by local and regional offices. The contract term is one year, commencing July 1, 2026, and concluding June 30, 2027, with an estimated total contract value of $8,400,000. HFS justified the sole source award based on equipment compatibility, as Pitney Bowes is the only vendor authorized to download postage onto Pitney Bowes meters due to proprietary restrictions, and the company's unique ability to bill in arrears for exact postage used through its Power Purchase program without additional rates, fees, or interest charges. The procurement was posted on April 29, 2026, with a public hearing scheduled for May 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. via WebEx; however, the hearing was canceled as no interested parties submitted written comments or requested a hearing by the May 8, 2026, deadline at 4:00 p.m. Inquiries should be directed to Dianne Richman, Chief Procurement Office for General Services, at Dianne.Richman@illinois.gov or 217-622-1857.

No set-aside designations or restrictions on organization types have been identified in this sole source procurement. Pitney Bowes has served as the incumbent vendor for HFS postage services since at least 2019, with prior annual contracts valued at approximately $6,000,000 per year. The existing infrastructure consists of HFS-owned or leased Pitney Bowes postage meters that require ongoing compatibility with Pitney Bowes' proprietary systems. HFS determined that Pitney Bowes offered superior value compared to the alternative bid from NeoPost (Quadient), which submitted a lower proposal by approximately $10,000 annually but required third-party financing and a 30-day deployment period versus Pitney Bowes' seamless transition, one-week meter deployment, and zero percent upfront financing. The contract will be jointly funded through State appropriated funds and Federal funds, and the State Purchasing Officer approved the sole source determination on April 27, 2026, with the Chief Procurement Officer authorizing the agency to proceed on May 13, 2026. Failure to approve this procurement would result in potential loss of federal funding and expose the State to litigation for failure to provide mandated services, as the majority of mail processed contains federally and statutorily mandated client information that is time-sensitive.