VILLAGE OF CARY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR Utility Billing Audit

Transcription

1 1 VILLAGE OF CARY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR Utility Billing Audit Sealed proposals will be received at the Village of Cary, 655 Village Hall Drive, Cary Illinois, 60013, until July 24, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. for utility auditing services. The Village of Cary is seeking proposals from firms to conduct an analysis on utility bills to ensure that all electrical, telecommunication, and/or thermal energy accounts are correctly billed and error free and that the Village receives the most advantageous rates available to them in the marketplace. The Request for Proposal is available on the Village s website. The successful offeror must be an equal opportunity employer. The Village of Cary reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive any informalities in the proposal process, or accept the proposal deemed to be in the best interest of the Village. An original proposal must be delivered, along with five (5) additional paper copies in a sealed package, plainly marked "Proposal for Utility Billing Audit" and addressed to Mary Ventrella, Finance Manager, Village of Cary, 655 Village Hall Drive, Cary Illinois In addition, one (1) electronic copy should be forwarded to mventrella@caryillinois.com or included in the proposal packet. I. Statement of Purpose The Village of Cary is seeking proposals from firms to conduct an audit of utility bills to ensure that all electrical, telecommunication and/or thermal energy accounts are correctly billed and error free and that the Village receives the most advantageous rates available in the marketplace. The Contractor shall be responsible not only to review and audit invoices, but also for final recovery of all amounts owed to the Village. If fees are not recovered, the Village shall not be responsible for payment of services rendered. The Village reserves the right to reject any or all proposals if it determines that select proposals are not responsive to the RFP or if the proposals themselves are judged not to be in the best interests of the Village. The Village reserves the right to reconsider any proposal submitted at any phase of the procurement. The Village reserves the right to meet with the Respondent at any time to gather additional information. Furthermore, the Village reserves the right to delete or add services up until the final contract signing. Proposer shall provide a proposed schedule for completion of the audit. Proposer can propose pricing on electrical, telecommunication and/or thermal energy utilities. The Audit shall cover utility bills from a to be determined period prior to contract award, not less than 3 years.

2 II. Background The Village is a full service organization consisting of approximately 61 full time employees and 11 parttime employees. The Village is made up of five departments including Administration, Community Development, Finance, Public Works and Police Department. The Village of Cary is located in McHenry County, Illinois and lies approximately 50 miles northwest of the City of Chicago. The Village of Cary covers a broad geographical area and, per the 2010 Census, has a population of 18,271 residents. Located within commuting distance of Chicago and its suburbs, the Village of Cary has experienced considerable growth over the past twenty years in both population and in taxable valuation related to new residential, industrial and commercial property. According to the 2010 Census, the Village of Cary had a median household income of $87,138. This compares to $77,314 for McHenry County and $55,222 for the State of Illinois. The Village operates on a May 1 April 30 th fiscal year. The budget, in the amount of $21,081,354 was approved by the Mayor and Village Board in April of The Village has access to, and will provide to the winning firm, a large percentage of its utility bills from prior years. However, it is the winning firm s responsibility to conduct a comprehensive billing audit that may require the collection of other bills and information from the utilities serving the Village directly. III. Scope of Work 1. Contractor shall review and evaluate for errors the bills from all utility providers that the Village pays for electricity, thermal energy, and/or telecommunications. Including identifying facilities that should be added to or removed from the Village utility franchise agreements. 2. Contractor shall compile historical data (at least 36 months) and conduct a comprehensive review of the billing information. 3. Contractor shall compare usage and electric demand amounts to prior periods and other like locations to determine if the quantities billed are reasonable. 4. At a minimum, Contractor shall identify errors related to: Meter reading errors Rates not in accordance with Village s contracts Charges billed for incorrect or non existent equipment Meter malfunctions Wrong meter types installed by the utility 2

3 Clerical errors in bill computations Wrong factors applied Incorrect tax charges 5. In addition to error detection, the Contractor shall analyze rates, looking for other solutions that will reduce on going costs. Cost savings recommendations are always subject to the review and approval of Village prior to implementation. Cost saving recommendations may include: Alternate rates and riders offered by existing suppliers that may result in lower costs Combination or splitting of meters for billing purposes Correction of power factor penalties Negotiation of special contracts to eliminate punitive clauses 6. After approval by the Village of particular recommendations, the contractor shall act as a representative for the Village to specified utility providers to obtain any available refunds for past overcharges and communicate to the companies providing utility services any correction or execute changes necessary to realize future savings from incorrect billing of charges, rate, or tariff application. 7. In addition to recovering refunds, Contractor will identify in the report possible cost saving recommendations that will result in reduced expenses for the Village in the future, such as through the identification of alternate tariffs and the usage of other rates that may be available. The Village is under no obligation to implement the recommendations of the Contractor. After approval by the Village of particular recommendations, the Contractor shall assume full responsibility for the implementation of such, or shall provide assistance if the Village prefers to implement them on its own. 8. Contractor shall review current Village process for intake, review, processing, and record keeping of utility bills and offer guidance on process improvements that could increase efficiency, ability of staff to identify billing errors, reader friendliness of records, and best practices for data entry of utility bills. This shall include but is not limited to creating a Microsoft Excel template for inputting and tracking pertinent utility bill information for each utility reviewed. Contractor may also recommend software solutions for tracking utility bill information. 9. Contractor shall submit to the Village, at the end of the review and evaluation period, a report detailing its findings. At a minimum, the report should identify: a. Utility bills that have been reviewed and evaluated b. Refunds due to the Village 3 c. Current list of all accounts/meters/buildings/facilities covered under utility franchise agreements. List shall include, but is not limited to, facility name, address, and utility usage and meter number(s) servicing facility.

4 d. Correspondence from the utility provider(s) agreeing to the amount of the refund due to the Village, and the method to be used to refund the moneys owed the Village, (e.g.; cash refund check or percentage discount from monthly utility bills for a specific period of time, etc.). e. Recommendations and guidance on industry best practices for utility bill intake, processing, data entry and record keeping. f. User friendly guide to identifying common utility bill errors for each type of utility bill reviewed to be used by the Village for staff training purposes. g. Recommendations of other cost saving measures that should be considered by the Village. 10. The Village reserves the right to add categories of billing for review and evaluation by the vendor under the same terms and conditions as the original contract. Five (5) bound, hard copies and one (1) electronic file of the draft report shall be submitted to the Village at a date to be proposed by the respondent. Five (5) copies of the final report will be due at a date to be proposed by the respondent. IV. Village Resources The Village maintains physical copies of each utility bill for the current and past two fiscal year on site. Older invoices may be stored off site. The selected contractor will be provided access to these invoices electronically or in hard copy. Utility contact information shall be provided to the winning firm. V. Proposal Content Requirements All proposals must be submitted in the following format and include all of the required information. Proposal Part 1: Introduction On a cover sheet to the proposal, provide the official name, address, phone number, address and website of the applicant, as well as the name of the principal contact person and the name of the person authorized to execute the contract. Proposal Part 2: Business Proposal Provide the following information for your firm: (1) Complete Legal Name (2) Full Street Address (3) Website (4) Contact Person (5) E mail Address (6) Telephone Number 4

5 Provide a brief overview of your firm, including the year established, the number of years providing these Audit services, the utility you propose auditing, and ownership structure. Please provide a summary of your utility Audit experience over the last two (2) years. Please describe the elements of your utility Audit services that distinguish you from other firms, such as special expertise or value added services. Will any other organization be providing services under this engagement as a subcontractor? If yes: (1) Please provide contact information for each subcontractor, and include a description of each subcontractor s capabilities and experience. (2) Describe your oversight of the subcontractor and the controls in place to ensure that expected performance levels are maintained. (3) Do you take responsibility for any subcontractor performance that is below expected performance levels? Identify the project team that would conduct the utility audit for the Village of Cary. Please provide background information on each individual and an organization chart of your project team. Detail any Village resources that shall be necessary to successfully conduct this project, including any required employee participation in the project. The Village expects some staff involvement throughout the project term. Provide a minimum of three references of current clients, complete with personal contacts, phone numbers and addresses, of companies for which your firm has performed similar services. Please include local government references, if any. Proposal Part 3: Scope of Services/Technical Proposal Provide a comprehensive work plan for the project that addresses each of the criteria outlined in Section III, Scope of Work. For purposes of evaluation, respondents should submit Proposals that provide specific responses to EACH of the following Technical Proposal questions: Describe in detail how your firm would conduct a utility audit on behalf of the Village of Cary. Describe the main technology(ies) used to conduct the audit. If any sampling is to be used in the project, please explain the sampling methodology to be used. Provide any performance metrics to which the Contractor commits. 5

6 Provide a project timeline that illustrates major milestones and deliverables. Detail steps required prior to the commencement of the audit and the level of involvement of Village staff before, during and after the audit. List the standard reports to be provided to the Village over the course of the project, and their frequency. Provide a document similar to the report described in 9 above that summarizes audit findings from a similar local government engagement. Provide a timeline that demonstrates the ability to meet the schedule in Section VII, below. Identify the key individual(s) who will have primary responsibility for the development, implementation and management of this project, and state their relationship to your firm. Include resume(s) highlighting experience, as well as extent of time (number of hours) to be spent on the project and job responsibilities. Proposal Part 4: Exceptions Alternatives to Scope of Work If the offeror cannot provide a service as it is described in Section III Scope of Work, but believes it can offer equivalent or superior results by some other means, the offeror must identify the services and state what it is offering as an alternative. The proposal should describe the alternative thoroughly and should clearly state how the alternative achieves equivalent or superior performance results. Proposal Part 4: Required Forms This section of the Proposal shall include a completed cost proposal using the enclosed form (Page 8), Tax Collusion/Debarment/Prevailing Wage/Legal Status of Employees Affidavit, form, and a copy of your standard contract document which will be amended to mirror the terms provided in your proposal. VI. Proposal Evaluation A selection committee made up of representatives from the Village Administrator s Office and Finance department will evaluate the proposals. The following factors shall be considered in evaluation: 1. The proposed approach to the scope of work 2. The level of experience of the individual(s) identified to work on this project 3. The entity s experience with similar projects 4. The responses from references. References demonstrating experience and familiarity with Illinois local governments are preferred. 5. The proposed cost. 6

7 VII. Project Schedule (subject to change as necessary) Release of RFP June 22, 2015 Questions due to Mary Ventrella, Finance Manager s Office July 2, 2015 Via only: mventrella@caryillinois.com Response to Questions Posted on Village Website July 8, 2015 Proposals due to Finance Manager July 24, :00am Review of Proposals/Presentations*/Negotiations July / August, 2015 *The Village may request finalists to present its proposal to the Selection Committee Approval by Village Board August, 2015 Project Commences August, 2015 Draft Report Due to Village of Cary (To be proposed by respondent) September 30, 2015 Final Report Due to Village of Cary (To be proposed by respondent) October 30,

8 VILLAGE OF CARY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR Utility Billing Audit Services COST PROPOSAL Contractor shall propose a percentage of the refund amounts actually received as a result of their initial audit, and the percentage of the verified first two years cost savings, resulting from any of Contractor s recommendations which the Village chooses to implement, to be paid to the Contractor as the Contractor s sole compensation for completing the scope of work herein. Proposer can propose pricing on either utility (electricity, thermal energy, or telephone). For purposes of completing the Price Sheet Summary, the Village will agree to payments based on the following: A. The Contractor s proposed percentage of refunds collected, to be paid by the Village to the Contractor as a one time fee based on the refund savings actually received by the Village. Put this percentage in the blank beside Item 1 of the Pricing Summary. B. The Contractor s proposed percentage of future savings which will be generated due to the implementation, at the Village s option, of any Contractor recommendations, to be paid to the Contractor as the savings are received by the Village over a period not to exceed twenty four months. Put this percentage in the blank beside Item 2 of the Pricing Summary. Price Sheet Summary The fees for providing the required service are: Item 1. Percentage of one time Village received refunds, as a result of initial audit, to be paid to the Contractor % Item 2. Percentage of verifiable cost savings received by the Village, resulting from Contractor recommendations, to be paid to Contractor as they are received % (please provide example of how such cost savings would be calculated and how the Contractor percentage of such would be applied) for a period of months (not to exceed twenty four months). Vendor Name: Utility Proposed: 8

9 9 VILLAGE OF CARY, ILLINOIS TAX/COLLUSION/DEBARMENT/PREVAILING WAGE/LEGAL STATUS OF EMPLOYEES AFFIDAVIT State of ss. County of, being first duly sworn, hereby deposes and states: (1) That s/he is the of the party making the foregoing bid. (2) That the proposer is not barred from contracting with any unit of local government for any reason, including but not limited to debarment as a result of a violation of 720 Illinois Compiled Statutes, Section 5/33E 3 or 5/33E 4, as amended. (3) That no collusion or agreement among other proposers or prospective proposers to bid a fixed price or otherwise restrain competition by agreement has taken place. (4) That the proposer is not delinquent in the payment of any tax administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue unless there is a pending proceeding contesting any such tax. (5) That the proposer hereby certifies: [check all that apply] proposer has not received any notices of violations of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130/0.01 et seq.) in the event any such notice has been received by proposer, a copy of any such notice is attached hereto. in the event that proposer has received such a notice, any documentation demonstrating the resolution of any such notice is attached hereto. for each such notice received by proposer, the matter has been resolved as follows: (6) That the proposer hereby certifies that it shall comply with the provisions of the Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130/0.01 et seq.). (7) That the proposer hereby certifies, represents and warrants that all of proposer's

10 employees and/or agents who will be providing products and/or services with respect to the subject bid and contract are and shall be legal residents of the United States, and are and shall be legally authorized to perform any such applicable work and/or services. Signature of Proposer, if an individual: Signature of Proposer, if a partnership: (indicate General or Limited) Subscribed and sworn to Partner before me this day of, 20 Signature of Proposer, if a corporation: My commission expires: President Secretary Signature of Proposer, if a limited liability company: Member or Manager S:\RFP\Utility Billing Auditing Services.docx 10