City of Saco

Request for Proposals

Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation
The City of Saco seeks proposals for an experienced utility bill pay and data management provider to handle
all utility bills and data management, tracking, and consolidation for the City of Saco expenses. The City
collectively has 149 accounts and 153+ monthly utility bills that are reviewed and authorized for payment by
various city departments. The City seeks a program to consolidate bill payment into one platform that
would provide long-term data management for enhanced budgeting and energy efficiency planning
purposes. Potential to expand scope to the Saco Schools exists, depending on proposal price and scope.

Proposals will be accepted until 4:00 PM on Friday, May 22, 2020, by email to gsalas@sacomaine.org.
Proposals must include responses to all requirements contained within this RFP, in a PDF labeled “RFP –
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation” attached to an email with the same title

Any questions regarding the project specifications should be directed to Glenys Salas, Finance Director, at
gsalas@sacomaine.org. Deadline for questions is: Monday, May 18, 2020 at 5:00 PM.

The attached response forms must be completed and included with your proposal. Failure to
submit a complete package will nullify your proposal. The City of Saco reserves the right to accept
or reject any or all proposals or negotiate with a proposer following the public opening without
right or recourse by vendors, if it is in the best interest of the City to do so.

The City of Saco is sales tax exempt.

Reviewed and approved by:

__________________________________ ______5/1/2020_____
Glenys Salas, Finance Director Date
 City of Saco
Request for Proposals
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation

RFP Circulation Date: May 1st, 2020

Proposal Submission Due Date: May 22nd, 2020

Introduction:
The City of Saco seeks proposals for an experienced utility bill pay and data management provider to handle
all utility bills and data management, tracking, and consolidation for the City of Saco expenses. The City
collectively has 149 accounts and 153+ monthly utility bills that are reviewed and authorized for payment by
various city departments. “Utility” should be taken to include electric, fuel, water, sewer, waste disposal, and
telecom. The City seeks a program to consolidate bill payment into one platform that would provide long-
term data management for enhanced budgeting and energy efficiency planning purposes. The City, through
the Saco Energy & Sustainability Committee, seeks a qualified utility bill payment and data solutions
provider to manage these payments and this consolidation. Potential to expand scope to the Saco Schools
exists, depending on proposal price and scope.

Proposals will be evaluated on several factors including, but not limited to: ability to effectively manage
utility bill payment for all accounts on time; usability of proposed data management platform; cost of
service; proposed method of bill payment consolidation among all city accounts; other factors as indicated
in the Evaluation Criteria section of this RFP. To be considered, bidders must submit a proposal in
response to this Request for Proposals (RFP) in the manner described herein.

Background:
The Saco Energy & Sustainability Committee is an ad-hoc committee with the mission of educating and
encouraging the City of Saco on methods to effectively and efficiently conserve environmental, human,
energy and economic resources to accomplish today’s obligations and sustain our city’s vitality into the
future. Over the last several months, the Committee has researched savings opportunities for electricity
pricing, as well as options to make electronic vehicle charging stations more available to residents. The
Committee has recently been researching available opportunities to better plan for its long-term utility
expense needs. While in the process of this review, the Committee has realized that there is an opportunity
to consolidate these multiple payments and accounts decentralized and assigned to various departments
between city offices. Unfortunately, this current system has caused challenges for facility management,
budget forecasting, and long-term planning for general utility needs.

Scope of Services:
 Data management of current utility payments
 Consolidation of all utility payments across all city departments into one location
 Payment of utility bills on behalf of the City
 Analytics platform to easily break down utility requirements from payment data
 Consistently analyze utility payments to correct errors, in effort to save money on city utility bills
 Provide data on one platform that is easily utilized by various city departments
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 Log all bills and provide copies of each through electronic method, allowing comparisons of bills
 Track data on utility usage for each account based on location, consolidated into electronic platform
 Provide professional team that has dedicated customer service
 Proposed RFP should include cost, if applicable, for ongoing customer service needs

Proposal / Submission Requirements:

To establish a uniform review process, proposals shall be organized in the following manner, with the
following information provided:
1. Title Page – Show the proposal subject, name of proposing company, local address, telephone number, name of key
contact for proposal, and date.
2. Table of Contents – Clearly identify included materials by section and page number.
3. Letter – This letter should briefly state the Proposer’s understanding of the work to be done and give details of
anticipated project approach. Should be no more than two pages.
4. Proposed Scope of Services – clear information about how utility billing and data management will be done
5. Brief summary of past experiences providing service to at least three similar organizations – Should be
based on currently active projects.
6. References, with current contact information, from three current clients.
7. Capabilities and Customer Service Information – Should outline how the proposer works with current, similar
clients and what type of customer service the proposer provides to their client, including general response times.
8. Description about how proposer would set up system and how proposer would work among various
city departments through consolidation process
9. Example of Utility Billing Savings Statement – Should explain how proposer has saved current or previous
client(s) with implementation of their services.
10. Examples of online platform and usability of such platforms
11. Proposed timeline of setup, consolidation, and any other required function before system would
become operational and proposer would assume payment of utility billing on behalf of city
departments.
12. Cost of services, including ongoing cost of customer service, if applicable to pricing model

Please refer to the City’s website, www.sacomaine.org, throughout the process for additional
information which may become available. Submissions must be received electronically by
Friday, May 22nd, 2020, by 4 PM. Submit one proposal via email in PDF format to gsalas@sacomaine.org
labeled “Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation RFP” attached to an email with the same name.

Proposals shall not be returned, and the proposals submitted, and any ideas contained therein
shall become the sole and exclusive property of the City of Saco without further claim or demand. Proposals
must include responses to all requirements contained within this RFP. By submitting a proposal, the bidder
agrees to all applicable provisions, terms and conditions associated with this RFP. This RFP, submitted
proposal, all appendices and attachments (if applicable), and stated terms and conditions may become part
of the resulting contract.

Questions regarding the proposal specifications should be directed to Glenys Salas, Finance Director, at
gsalas@sacomaine.org. All questions must be submitted in writing no later than Monday, May 19 th, by 5:00
PM. Questions and answers regarding the RFP may be shared with all known to be interested in submitting
a proposal.

Failure to provide any of the above requested information may result in disqualification of proposal.
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The City reserve the right to request additional information pertaining to the proposal package, or any other
matters related to the Request for Proposal. Proposal documents, including the offer of
payment, must be signed by persons authorized to contractually bind the bidder.

Evaluation Criteria:
The City will only review complete proposals received before the specified deadline and per the listed
requirements. Finalists may be selected to present their respective proposals to the selection committee for
review. The evaluation and selection process is based upon Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) for
professional services. Some or all of the following criteria may be used to evaluate and compare submitted
proposals. Criteria below is not an all-inclusive list, and the order in which criteria is written does not
indicate relevance:
1. Experience / Qualifications
2. Capabilities / Ability to effectively manage utility bill payment for all accounts on time
3. Usability of proposed data management platform
4. Cost of service
5. Proposed method of consolidation among city accounts
6. Customer Service Provisions
7. References
8. Documentation of successful service to similar organizations
9. Workload Availability / Customer Service Options
10. Other factors deemed relevant to the selection committee

Selection:
A Selection Committee, consisting of City staff, Energy Committee, and School department representatives,
will evaluate the information provided, and rate each proposer by the criteria indicated above. The Selection
Committee will administer the selection procedure including any necessary negotiations.

Based upon this review, the Selection Committee may select one, some, or all proposers for
interviews. Should interviews be conducted, the person who will be responsible for managing the
contract must be present at the interview.

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Standard Terms and Conditions:
The City of Saco reserves the right to amend this RFP prior to the proposal due date.
All amendments and additional information will be posted on the City’s website: www.sacomaine.org.
The City and Saco Schools reserve the right to waive any informality in proposals, to accept the proposals or
portions thereof, and to reject any and all proposals, should it be deemed in the best interest of
the City and/or Schools to do so. The City reserve the right to substantiate Proposer’s qualifications,
capability to perform, and availability and past performance record.

The cost of developing the proposal is the sole responsibility of the Proposer. All proposals
submitted become the property of the City.

The apparent successful organization will be required to sign a Contractual agreement. Prior to
award, the apparent successful organization may be required to enter into discussions with the City to
resolve any contractual differences. These discussions are to be finalized and all exceptions
resolved with one (1) month of notification. If no resolution is reached, the proposal may be
rejected and discussions may be initiated with the second highest scoring organization. The City / Schools
may extend the one (1) month timeline if it is deemed appropriate.

The duration of the contract shall be determined by negotiation. The City reserves the
right to negotiate an additional three (3) year extension with the selected organization. The City
shall announce its intention prior to the end of the contract period.

The Purchasing Agent can cancel any contract if funds are not appropriated or otherwise made available to
support continuation of performance in any fiscal year. Re-evaluation of the contract will be upon
expiration. The City will make a determination at that time of whether any contract will be renewed.

Pursuant to Saco City Code, the City reserves the right to cancel any contract immediately for cause, or for
convenience on thirty days prior written notice to the contracted organization. The City also reserve the
right to include in the contract for services other terms and conditions not specifically set forth herein,
including but not limited to terms and conditions required by non-City funding sources. All work performed
under contract to the City / Schools becomes the property of the City / Schools in the format specified by
the City.

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 City of Saco
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation
RFP Response Form

Please complete the following response form. Amounts are to be shown in both words and figures. In the
case of a discrepancy, the written word shall apply.

Total Contract Sum per Year (based on 153 utility bills per month)

$________________________

Total Contract Sum (in words):

______________________________________________________________Dollars

Quotes shall be honored for ninety (90) days.

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 City of Saco
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation
Vendor Information Form

Please complete the following. Attach additional sheets as necessary.

Our Company is: A corporation ______ A partnership _____

Individually Owned ______ Other:

SS or Fed I.D. No:

(Submission is
voluntary)
Company Name and
Address:

Name of Principal:

Telephone Number:
Facsimile Number:
E-mail Address:

References
(List Three
References, with
names, address and
telephone numbers)

Date of Delivery

All sections above must be completed. All deviations from the specifications must be fully explained in
writing on the following Statement of Compliance/Deviations Form.

Proposers understand that the City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, reject any or all items,
and delete any item or parts of items.

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 City of Saco
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation
Statement of Compliance/Deviation
The proposal includes the following deviations from the Specifications, which the vendor represents and
warrants as being fully equal or superior to the requirements of the Specifications, for the reason(s) set forth
fully below. If there are no deviations, please state so below.

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 City of Saco
Utility Bill Pay and Data Consolidation
Proposal Agreement
The undersigned, by submitting a proposal, declares as follows:
1. The only parties interested in the RFP are the principals named herein.
2. This proposal is made without collusion with any other person, firm, or corporation.
3. No officer, agent, or employee of the City of Saco is directly or indirectly involved with the proposal.
4. All deviations from the specifications must be fully explained in writing and included on the Statement
of Compliance/Deviations Form provided.

Proposers understand that the City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, reject any or all items,
and further, reserves the right to delete any item or parts of items.

DATE:_______________________ PROPOSER: __________________

(Company Name)

BY: ________________________
(Authorized Company Representative)

ATTEST: _____________________ Its: _______________________

(Title)

Signature below by the City of Saco represents acceptance of the above Proposal Agreement in accordance
with the contract specifications. Upon execution by the city, this official RFP form, any attached documents
and such other documents (instructions, general specifications, technical specifications) shall serve as the
contract.

DATE: _______________________ BY: _______________________

Glenys Salas, Finance Director

ATTEST: _____________________