Kitsap County Information Services and Purchasing
Request for Qualifications
RFQ 2000-111
Responses Due Friday, 4:00 pm, March 31st, 2000
Overview Kitsap County is proposing replacing its 15-year-old in-house developed Assessment/Taxation System (ATS) with a regional system capable of supporting multiple agencies. The existing County system resides on a Hewlett Packard HP3000/939 located in the County Courthouse and was developed using HP Image (8 databases) as the database and COBOL and Transact (a HP propriety language) as the language (approximately 326 programs).
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 1
2/16/00
Our vision is to acquire and/or develop a Land Use Information system that incorporates web based Geographic information at its core and includes property assessment/valuation, permit tracking and treasury systems. Assessment/Taxation System The existing County system consists of Property Assessment, Valuation, Billing (133,000 Tax Statements) and Tax Collection (collection over the counter and through AFTS, a billing/receipting and tax distribution service), and Permit Tracking (16,000 Building Permits), for Real Property (110,000 parcels), Personal Property (4,406 accounts), Commercial Property (5,600 accounts) and Local Improvement Districts (7,000 LID accounts). The existing ATS system allows payment of taxes over the counter by cash, check. Third party credit card processing, lock box and electronic payment processing (ACH) are also capabilities provided the taxpayer. In addition the new system will accommodate: • • • • • • • Integrated Cashiering Excise Tax Processing Automation Name and Address Standardization Generation of Overpayment Refunds Tax Omissions Tax Statement Format Changes Document Imaging
During the course of any year, Legislative action may dictate changes that must be made to the ATS application. In 1999, for example, three significant events caused changes to be incorporated into the application. Geographic Information (GIS) The existing Geographic Information System (GIS) is based on ESRI technology in a Unix environment using ArcInfo. The Assessor, Auditor, Public Works and Community Development Departments use GIS. GIS is migrating to NT using ArcSDE/Oracle. The data now includes a 60 percent completely accurate parcel base map. Multiple layers of data in areas of Parcel, Road, Election and Taxation information are included in GIS. None of this information is currently linked directly to the Assessment Taxation System. Permit Issuance and Tracking The County Permit Tracking System is a purchased Permit, Zoning, Occupational License package purchased from HTE, Inc., Lake Mary, Florida
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 2
2/16/00
and runs on a IBM AS400/620e platform. This package downloads permit information (using ODBC) to the Assessment Taxation system (HP3000). Development Preferences The County prefers a web-oriented approach, is committed to Oracle as the database of choice and prefers any new applications to be based on the Oracle product. What Kitsap County is Looking For in a New System The County is looking for a state of the art system to be built, purchased off the shelf, or in any combination, that takes advantage of Internet/Intranet technology that allow:
• •
• • •
• • •
Local secure processing for County Users; Internet access with appropriate security to allow access by taxpayers, Title companies and others needing access to public data; Provide the capacity to ultimately use the power of Geographic Information systems to display data; Provide the capacity to ultimately include Permit processing; The ability to provide the capability of the new system to be developed to not only to satisfy the requirements of Kitsap County’s Assessor and Treasurer, but be part of an advanced, web-based environmental information system that assists Kitsap County planners and decision makers in evaluating the relationship between land use decisions, infrastructure and service requirements, and the effects of land use decisions on requirements for future County services. The system would need to accommodate a large variety of land use and environmental data inputs and support ongoing integration of advanced environmental models and analytical tools (e.g. GIS, remote sensing). Developed on Oracle relational database. Integrates available commercial products to solve the business process. Incorporates the following Kitsap County staff in the development process: ½ full time equivalent (FTE) data base administrator (recruitment underway), and two FTEs (three individuals, one of whom will be the County’s full-time project manager) (one systems analyst [project manager], and two programmer/analysts [senior staff], but do not have extensive relational database/web experience.
Skill Preferences
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 3
2/16/00
Firms that specialize in only one of the above skills will be given the same consideration for pre-qualification as a firm that has all of the skills sought. Specialization may be an asset. The County may choose to ”mix and match" the firms based on a project's scope. Contract Requirements Selected firms will be under contract with the County pursuant to the terms of the RFQ response. The services rendered will be under the control and direction of: Kitsap County Information Services and Purchasing 614 Division Street (MS-21) Port Orchard, Washington 98366 Consultant Selection Process The selection of a firm shall be based on the following criteria;
• • • • •
Understanding and approach of the services to be performed; Qualifications and expertise of professional personnel involved; Expertise in the skills requested by the RFQ (see “What Kitsap County is Looking For In a New System” above); Quality control maintained by the firm and conflict of interest controls and disclosure process; Ability to meet time constraints and cost to perform services;
Responding to this Request for Qualifications is non-binding. No obligation on the part of the responding entity is created by the response. Kitsap County reserves the right to reject any or all responses in its sole discretion. Submittal Instructions Responses to this Request for Qualification will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 31st, 2000. Responses must be delivered to: Ms. R’Lene J. Orr, Purchasing Supervisor Kitsap County Information Services and Purchasing 614 Division Street (MS-21) Port Orchard, Washington 98366
Late submittals will NOT be accepted.
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 4
2/16/00
One original and 4 copies of the proposal shall be submitted in a sealed container, clearly marked on the outside as follows: Assessment Taxation System Project Team Statement of Qualifications (NAME OF PROPOSING FIRM) Proposals must be on 8 1/2 by 11 paper, bound on the left hand side, and organized into numbered sections as described below. Overly elaborate proposals are discouraged. A. Title Page Show the RFQ subject, the name of the firm, local address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail, name of the contact persons and the date. B. Table of Contents Include a clear identification of the material by section and by page number. C. Letter of Transmittal (Limit to two pages). 1. State the names of the persons who will be authorized to make representations for the firm and the titles. 2. State that the person signing the letter will be authorized to bind the firm. D. Understanding and Approach (Limit to two pages) 1. State your understanding of the services to be provided. 2. State the approach to be exercised by the firm to accomplish the services to be performed. E. Profile and Qualifications of the Firm 1. State the location of the office from which the work is to be performed and the number of partners, technical and other professional staff employed at the office. 2. List and describe recent experiences similar to those requested in this proposal. 3. Provide names, addresses and telephone numbers of client references. Limit to three. 4. Provide the names of the persons that will be assigned to this project along with concise statement of qualifications
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 5
2/16/00
and experiences. Resumes should be included in an appendix. 5. State the relevant staff training employed by the firm and name the various professional organizations for which membership is maintained. 6. Comment on firm's computing and software capabilities and whether the firm is willing to provide training, documentation and compatible software to allow the County to provide this service in the future. F. Time frame and Cost Proposal 1. Make a statement of the firm's commitment to perform work within the time period specified. 2. Provide a schedule of fees and costs on an hourly and/or unit basis. Include staff rates, applicable multipliers and any other cost items such as incidentals, copying, couriers, etc. 3. State whether the firm has been involved in contracts in which some costs have been disallowed. G. Litigation Any business related litigation, bankruptcy, or defaults on loans by the respondent or its principals within the past five (5) years must be disclosed; as well as if the respondent or any of its principals are the subject of any investigations or hearings by any Federal, State, or local regulatory agency. If not, a statement to that effect must be included. Terms and Conditions A. Contract Agreement/Compensation The fee for the services to be rendered will be negotiated with the firm selected and the successful firm will be required to enter into a formal agreement with the County. Separate Work Authorizations with separate ”Scopes of Work “ will be issued under the Agreement on an as-needed basis. The County reserves the right to delete or amend any of the services as listed and described herein. B. Acceptance/Rejection of Proposals
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 6
2/16/00
The County reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this request, and to waive any informalities, defects, or irregularities in any proposal. C. Proposals To be considered, respondents must submit a complete response to the RFQ using the format provided in the Submittal Instructions. The respondent shall furnish such additional information as may be reasonably required. The County reserves the right to investigate the qualifications of the respondent as deemed appropriate and to reject any or all Qualifications and to waive technicalities and informalities. D. Oral Presentations Respondents who submit Qualifications may be required to make an oral presentation of their proposal to the County. Such presentation shall provide the opportunity for the respondent to clarify his proposal to insure through mutual understanding. E. Proposal Contents All material submitted becomes the property of the County. F. Contract The selected respondent will be expected to enter into a formal agreement at the time of selection. The selected respondent(s) will also be expected to submit a scope of service for each Work Authorization issued under the formal contract. Scope of Services shall be negotiated and decided prior to award of each Work Authorization and become part of the contract document at award. RFQ Questions and Clarification In order to ensure consistent responses and to ensure consistent and correct information to all interested parties, potential respondents must submit all questions and requests for clarification in writing to Dick Harty, Application
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 7
2/16/00
Services Manager, Kitsap County Information Services and Purchasing via facsimile number (360) 337-4638 or e-mail dharty@co.kitsap.wa.us. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Questions deemed to be of general interest, and the response, will be posted on the County web page via www.wa.gov/kitsap. No questions will be accepted after 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27th, 2000. All responses will be posted by 4:30 p.m. on March 31st, 2000.
C:\TEMP \RFQ - Kitsap County Assessment Taxation System .doc 8
2/16/00