RFP - Delinquent Toll Account Recovery and Management Services for the Harris County Toll Road Authority

The Harris County Toll Road Authority seeks qualified firms to provide comprehensive delinquent toll account recovery and management services for a two-year contract beginning August 1, 2026, with three optional one-year renewals. This Request for Proposal encompasses identification, management, and resolution of delinquent accounts across HCTRA's 132-mile toll road system processing over 1.2 billion transactions annually through early-stage collection activities (accounts aged 60-120 days) and late-stage services including administrative hearings, litigation, and post-judgment enforcement across multiple Texas counties. Eligible vendors must demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience managing toll, utility, or municipal debt collections with documented annual recoveries of at least $5 million, provide three public sector client references involving $2 million or more in recovered revenue within the past five years, and maintain operational capability to handle daily placement volumes of at least 5,000 accounts segmented by delinquency age and jurisdiction. Required qualifications further include active SOC 2 Type II and PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance certifications and ability to interface with HCTRA's Back Office System through Secure File Transfer Protocol and RESTful APIs. The compensation model combines flat fees for early-stage outreach activities and contingency-based fees for recovery, with payment made upon HCTRA's receipt of funds and subject to fee caps established by Harris County Commissioners Court; case expenses up to $50 per case are reimbursable for litigation support activities. Performance metrics include 90% contact rates within 30 days, 99.5% system availability, five-day dispute resolution times, and recovery rates of 20% in Year 1 and 30% in subsequent years, with failure to meet these targets for three consecutive months triggering corrective action plans and potential liquidated damages not exceeding 50% of unpaid transaction values. Proposals must be submitted via Bonfire or sealed hardcopy delivery to 1111 Fannin, 12th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002 by March 16, 2026; a pre-proposal conference is scheduled for February 18, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. CST via Microsoft Teams, and written questions must be submitted through Bonfire by the deadline specified in the Event schedule.

Harris County has established a 13.30% Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise participation goal; vendors unable to meet this goal must submit comprehensive documentation of good faith efforts prior to the proposal submission deadline or face rejection as non-responsive, including direct solicitations to M/WBE firms at least 15 calendar days prior to submission and broad-based advertising with follow-up communications at least seven days before submittal. Recognized M/WBE certifications include those from the City of Houston, Texas Unified Certification Program, U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) program, Houston Minority Supplier Development Council, National Minority Supplier Development Council, Women's Business Enterprise Alliance, and Women's Business Enterprise National Council, with M/WBE firms required to demonstrate Significant Local Presence either through a business address in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, or Galveston counties or through completion of at least three contracts or subcontracts in the market area within the previous three years. All vendors must comply with Harris County's minimum wage policy requiring $21.65 per hour for workers directly assigned to the contract, maintain minimum insurance coverage including $1,000,000 in workers' compensation, $1,000,000 combined single limit automobile liability, $2,000,000 commercial general liability aggregate, and $1,000,000 umbrella/excess liability with Harris County named as additional insured, and submit a bid bond or cashier's check equal to five percent of the total proposed contract value at submission with a fidelity bond of at least ten percent of estimated annual toll revenue collections required within ten days of award. Evaluation will be based on technical approach and methodology (25%), relevant experience and past performance (30%), key personnel qualifications (25%), and pricing (20%), with the contract award value dependent on actual collections and performance; no guaranteed minimum volumes exist as compensation is entirely contingency-based upon successful delinquent account recovery and HCTRA receipt of funds.