Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  23-001090

 

MEETING DATE:

01/23/24

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

All Districts

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

Auditor-Controller   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Andrew Hamilton (714) 834-2457 

 

 

Laurence McCabe (714) 796-0310

 

 

Subject:  Approve Contract with ARK Technologies for Property Tax System Technical Support

 

      ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

          Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: Yes

Current Year Cost:   $320,988

Annual Cost: FY 2024-25 $770,370

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:            

Sole Source:   Yes

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

   Funding Source:     GF: 100%

County Audit in last 3 years: No

   Levine Act Review Completed: Yes

 

    Prior Board Action:         N/A

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

Authorize the County Procurement Officer or Deputized designee to execute contract with ARK Technologies for Property Tax System Technical Support, effective February 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, for a total amount not to exceed amount of $1,091,358.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Approval of contract with ARK Technologies will assist the County in implementing a planned disaster recovery system for the Property Tax System, a planned upgrade of aging hardware and software, and providing critical maintenance and support.

 

 

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

The Auditor-Controller, Treasurer-Tax Collector, and Clerk of the Board collaboratively use the County’s Property Tax System to administer property taxes for the County of Orange.  This system is critical to the operation of the County and its taxing agencies, as it is used to levy over $8 billion annually (approximately $8.7 billion FY 2022-23).  These property taxes and special assessments are apportioned to the County, cities, school districts, community colleges, redevelopment trust funds, and special districts. 

 

Due to the unique nature of California property tax law and the lack of a viable commercial off-the-shelf system, the County found it necessary to build and maintain its legacy Assessment Tax System (ATS) over a 35-year period, utilizing the services of ARK Technologies.  The County undertook a five-year project to perform a major upgrade of ATS by re-architecting it from the IBM mainframe to an open system platform, referred to as the Property Tax System (PTS). ARK Technologies provided technical and operational expertise to the County on this effort.  The upgraded PTS went live on September 19, 2022.  Since going live, the County was named a 2023 Achievement Award Winner by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for this project.  The NACo Achievement Awards recognize innovative County government programs from across the United States.

 

The County must continue to advance this critical system and complete two planned projects related to PTS over the next two years. First, PTS does not have a disaster recovery site. This state must be addressed on this critical tax system. The Auditor-Controller is in the process of implementing a new disaster recovery system in the current FY 2023-24 and will complete FY 2024-25. Second, the PTS production system’s hardware and software platform is reaching a point where it needs to be replaced. After using this platform for five years in the development of the upgrade system and then two years in its production operations, the platform must be refreshed. The platform replacement is scheduled for FY 2024-25. ARK Technologies’ services will be critical on both efforts. In addition, ARK Technologies will also provide continued technical support.

 

This contract is a sole source agreement. ARK Technologies’ long history of assisting the County in building, supporting, and upgrading PTS has given them a broad technical and functional knowledge of the County’s property tax processes and systems.  Through the years, ARK has acquired intimate knowledge of the tax system programs and the County’s complex property tax processes and procedures. Their knowledge and expertise will be crucial for the successful completion of the upcoming Property Tax System projects.

 

This agreement (Attachment A) includes the County's General Terms and Conditions including Article K, Termination - In addition to any other remedies or rights it may have by law, County has the right to immediately terminate this Contract without penalty for cause or after 30 days’ written notice without cause, unless otherwise specified.  Cause shall be defined as any material breach of contract, any misrepresentation or fraud on the part of the Contractor.  Exercise by County of its right to terminate the Contract shall relieve County of all further obligation.  This Contract was brought to the Board within 30 days of expiration in order to allow staff to negotiate the Scope of Work of the Contract with the Contractor.

 

 

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

Appropriations for this contract are included in the FY 2023-24 Budget for Budget Control 015, Property Tax System Centralized Support, and will be included in the budgeting process for future years. A breakdown of estimated costs is provided in Attachment B, Contract Summary Form.

 

 

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A - Contract MA-003-24010749
Attachment B - Contract Summary Form