Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AWARDING A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH TURBO DATA SYSTEMS, INC. FOR PARKING CITATION PROCESSING (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The current Citation processing Agreement with Turbo Data Systems Inc. will expire on June 30, 2021. Staff has conducted a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify qualified vendors for citation processing services. Staff is now seeking City Council approval to award a new contract to the top ranked respondent to the RFP, Turbo Data Systems, Inc.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. AWARD a three-year contract to Turbo Data Systems, Inc. to provide parking citation processing services to the City of Carson, for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024, for a total cost not-to-exceed $254,208.00.
2. AUTHORIZE the Mayor to execute the agreement, following approval as to form by the City Attorney.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
1. TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate that is consistent with the requirements of law.
IV. BACKGROUND
On March 15, 2016, Turbo Data Systems (TDS) replaced the City’s previous citation processor, Clancy Systems International, primarily due to citation ticket tracking issues. Turbo Data was awarded a three-year parking citation processing service contract with two one-year options to extend based upon performance. Based on excellent citation processing services and technologically advanced services, the City exercised the two one-year options to extend the contract and pursuant to Section 1.8 of the Contract, the term of the contract was extended to June 30, 2021.
Pursuant to CMC Section 2611(b), on February 4, 2021, a Request for Proposal was issued to solicit qualified firms to perform citation processing services beginning July 1, 2021. The RFP invitation was extended to CiteZone, Phoenix Group Information System, Turbo Data Systems, Inc., Xerox State and Local Solutions, and Data Ticket among all other vendors on Planet Bids. On Feb 8 and 9, the City received 45 questions from prospective bidders, all of which were answered by February 11. A request for an extension of the proposal due date was also submitted and on February 16, 2021, the City extended the proposal submission deadline to February 25, 2021. The City received three proposals at the close of the RFP on February 25, 2021. There were no firms identified within the City of Carson that provide the required service and there were no firms located within the City that responded to the RFP. The three firms that submitted proposals are:
1. Turbo Data Systems, Inc.- $233,640.00/3 years
2. Wise Choice, Inc. - $212,550/year
3. Asian Star, Inc. - $781,000/3 years
The RFP responses were reviewed and evaluated by staff from Public Safety, Information Technology and Community Development. The criteria used to choose the most responsive and responsible vendor included compliance with RFP requirements, qualification & experience, comparison of cost, financial health of the vendors, client references and their ability to provide the services as requested by the City. Of the three submitted proposals, two were missing required information requested and were considered as unresponsive. The unanimous choice, by the reviewing staff, as the most responsive and responsible vendor to provide citation processing services is Turbo Data Systems, Inc. (TDS)
TDS is the current vendor to the City who provided a proposal cost significantly lower than the two other vendors whose proposals were considered unresponsive. TDS is a 100% woman-owned company, a certified State of California small business with 35 years in the California parking industry. More so, TDS has access to law enforcement data in all fifty states through the National Law Enforcement Terminal System (NLETS). NLETS is the premiere interstate law enforcement and public safety network in the nation for the exchange of law enforcement, criminal justice, and public safety-related information. All potential strategic partners with NLETS must go through a rigorous technical and financial vetting process, pass a full security audit before establishing connectivity to NLETS, obtain approval from the NLETS Technical Operating Committee and/or the Board of Directors, and pay an initial set-up fee and monthly membership charges. This strategic partnership allows TDS to access law enforcement data in all fifty states, Washington D.C. and Canada, and enhances their ability to pursue delinquent violators in a way that other vendors cannot. TDS also has a comprehensive program to pursue delinquent violators, including placing a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hold on offenders’ vehicle registrations, interfacing with the California Franchise Tax Board to place a lien on any tax refunds that may be due to offenders, and credit bureau notifications of outstanding debt.
Of the vendors that responded to the RFP, Asian Star, Inc. has little to no experience in municipal citation processing and failed to submit a proposal in the requested format thus omitting many key elements needed to evaluate their services. Their three-year contract pricing was not competitive; Wise Choice Inc., while having minimal experience, failed to provide total contract pricing for the second, third, fourth and fifth years of the proposed contract. Based upon their initial first year total for the proposed contract, their contract pricing was not competitive.
TDS has been in the citation processing business longer than any of the responding vendors, with a 150 client base exclusively in California. As a result of their pricing, their excellent service to the City, their high collection rate with comparable clients, their unique ability to pursue delinquent citations, their positive references and their experience, TDS has been unanimously selected by staff as the top-ranked respondent to the RFP.
Staff is now seeking City Council approval to award a three-year contract to Turbo Data Systems, Inc., to provide citation processing services to the City of Carson, for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024, for a total three year cost not-to-exceed $254,208.00 with two one-year options to extend the term.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
There will be no current fiscal impact for staff’s recommendation. $254,208.00 will be included in the proposed FY 2021/22 budget for Turbo Data Inc.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Proposed Contract - pages 4-35
Prepared by: Gina Trinidad, Administrative Analyst / David C. Roberts, Jr., Assistant City Manager