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Agenda Item
ASR
Control 12-000093 |
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MEETING DATE: |
02/28/12 |
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legal entity taking action: |
Board of Supervisors |
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board of supervisors
district(s): |
All Districts |
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SUBMITTING
Agency/Department: |
Treasurer-Tax Collector (Approved) |
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Department contact
person(s): |
Shari Freidenrich (714) 834-7625 |
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Jennifer Burkhart (714) 834-6143 |
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Subject:
Approve Agreement
MA-074-12011142 with Wausau Financial Sys
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ceo Concur |
County
Counsel Review |
Clerk of the Board |
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Concur |
Approved Agreement to Form |
Consent Calendar |
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3 Votes Board Majority |
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Budgeted: Yes |
Current Year Cost:
$73,120 |
Annual Cost: |
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Staffing Impact: No |
# of Positions:
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Sole Source:
Yes |
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Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A |
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Funding Source: 100%
Investment Administrative Fees |
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Prior Board Action: N/A
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RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Authorize the County Purchasing Agent or his authorized Deputy to execute Agreement No. MA-074-12011142 with Wausau Financial Services for software and hardware maintenance services for a 5-year term commencing on 3/1/2012 through 12/31/2016 in the amount not-to-exceed $451,393 without further Board action.
SUMMARY:
The Treasurer-Tax Collector requests that the Board of Supervisors approve a renewal Agreement No. MA-074-12011142 with Wausau Financial Services to provide software and hardware maintenance services for a 5-year term.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The sole source agreement with Wausau Financial System (WFS) provides software development, maintenance and support services for the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s (TTC) Remittance processing system. The system is used to process approximately two million checks annually totaling over $3 billion received by the TTC. Over 50% of payments from taxpayers are mailed in checks. WFS is the sole provider of the ImageRPS software and is responsible for all updates and ongoing support. In addition to the software support, Wausau provides the hardware support for the equipment on which the software runs. All support-related issues are communicated to Wausau and evaluated by them to determine the appropriate party for resolution. This single point of contact resolution process provides for timely resolution of problems and mitigates the risk of long duration down time. For programming services, ImageRPS is proprietary software and programming can only be performed by Wausau Financial Systems. This contract is essential and necessary to ensure continued support for the daily processing of property tax and other revenue collection and depository functions.
WFS is one of the largest, leading providers of integrated payment processing solutions in the industry and has supported the system with upgrades, enhancements and problem-solving for over a decade. In 1998 WFS was selected through a comprehensive Request for Proposal process to provide a remittance processing system for the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office. In 2000, the Board approved a maintenance agreement for three years commencing January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002. In October 2002, the Board approved an agreement for hardware and software support renewable for four years. In November 2006, the Board approved both an upgrade to the existing ImageRPS software as well as a five year maintenance and support agreement effective through December 31, 2011. The proposed contract is for a 5 year term. WFS also offers a 3 year term, however there is a discount of 8% on software support for the 5 year option compared to a 5% discount for the 3 year option. The county can cancel at anytime with penalty and the five year contract with the higher discount would cost the County less even if the County cancels at the end of three years so we are recommending the five year contract. In addition, our remittance equipment may need to be replaced in three to five years and that is we expect to go back out for RFP for both the equipment and software to further ensure the County is receiving competitive pricing. In December 2011, the Board approved an amendment to extend the expiration of the contract to February 29, 2012. This allowed the TTC to complete negotiations with WFS to receive more competitive pricing for a five year contract. The final pricing was $97,340 less than the original proposal.
In a current effort to ensure Orange County’s pricing was competitive, the TTC reviewed a recent agreement between the City and County of San Francisco and Wausau. Wausau was selected from among five bidders through the RFP process in June 2011. The charge for maintenance of the software and hardware provided to San Francisco on a five year maintenance agreement was $551,284 compared to the cost provided to Orange County of $365,353. While the equipment covered by San Francisco’s agreement is different, the TTC reviewed components of its pricing for similar equipment and found the pricing to be comparable. In addition, the County of San Bernardino completed an RFP at the end of 2011 and selected Wausau from among four proposals. The pricing information is not yet available.
ImageRPS is proprietary software owned by WFS; therefore it cannot be updated, supported or modified by any other company. Over the past five years the TTC has added payment processing modules for OC Animal Care and Public Works’ Weights & Measures while maintaining current staffing levels. The last set-up included the ability to add new clients without significant additional programming hours. The TTC may be adding more payment modules for other agencies. The proposed contract includes 100 hours to be used for this additional minimal programming of the system to accommodate new client set-ups. Since WFS owns the source code for ImageRPS no other vendor can add clients or perform the customization required to meet this need. The custom programming hours will only be charged if they are used.
WFS has provided ongoing support and maintenance of the application versions that assist the department in functioning operationally with competitive costs. It is necessary, however, to keep up with the changes in technology. The last version upgrade for the TTC was completed in 2007. At this time the TTC is five versions behind the current release. Since the TTC is using an older version, a maintenance fee will be charged for supporting the non-current software version. The cost of not upgrading to a new release would be $659 per year for two years and increase by 5% per year thereafter. WFS is scheduled to release an upgraded version in May 2012. The functionality available in the next release will provide valuable enhancements and bring our software to a current phase. The proposed contract includes the estimated cost for upgrading the software to a more current version.
The terms and conditions of the proposed Agreement deviate from the County’s standard terms and conditions, including but not limited to, warranty, limitation of liability and insurance provisions. CEO/Risk Management has reviewed the proposed Agreement and has determined that the risks of the proposed Agreement are minimal. TTC finds it is in the County’s best interest to approve the proposed Agreement.
A copy of the Agreement is on file with the Clerk of the Board.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
N/A
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A