HomeMy WebLinkAbout6. MANAGERS REPORT 12/06/05
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
Village of Mount Prospect
Mount Prospect, Illinois
FROM: DEPUTY FINANCE DIRECTOR
TO: FINANCE DIRECTOR DAVID ERB
DATE: NOVEMBER 23, 2005
SUBJECT: PROPOSAL FOR UTILITY BILLING SERVICES
PROPOSAL
The Finance Department is requesting Village Board approval to enter into a three-year
contract for the printing and mailing of the Village's utility bills
BACKGROUND
Since the year 2000 when the Village implemented new software, we have outsourced the
printing and mailing of the bills. This arrangement has provided us with the ability to
include important information to residents on the bill itself and also include inserts with the
bills. We took advantage of this in October and November when we included information
on the Combined Sewer Project.
In December of 2005 our second three-year contract with Third Millennium Associates will
expire. I recently sent out a request for proposal to four local companies who provide
printing and mailing services to municipalities. I received two proposals back.
The first proposal was from the Direct Response Resource. This company has provided
the printing and mailing for the Village's vehicle and dog licenses over the past six years.
They have provided excellent service to the Village and have the ability to meet the
Village's needs for both vehicle billing and utility billing.
Our current vendor, Third Millennium Associates, was the second respondent. Third
Millennium has many municipal clients in the Chicago area for both vehicle sticker and
utility billing. Third Millennium has also given the Village very good service over the past
six years.
Both vendors offer an E-Payoption. Direct Response Resource partners with another
vendor to offer this service and the user is directed to another screen to input their
payment. Third Millennium Associates has developed their own software that would
Utility Billing
November 23, 2005
Page 2
provide a seamless interface to the Village's utility bill. These options and others could be
explored in the near future.
The costs over the three-year contract for all paper and envelope stock and the processing
and mailing (postage is not included in the proposal) were $47,281.40 for Direct Response
and $43,956.00 for Third Millennium. Both companies guaranteed that the costs would not
increase over the life of the contract. See the attached spreadsheet for detailed
information on each proposal.
The Finance Department is currently in negotiations with Third Millennium regarding direct
billing of refuse in 2006. This would be either an amendment to the current contract or an
additional contract. The Village could realize significant savings by having Third Millennium
process the billing rather than ARC.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the proposals received, it is recommended that we renew our contract with Third
Millennium Associates for another three years. They have provided excellent service to the
Village over the past six years and have been reliable and responsive to our needs. In
addition the Village will realize a savings of $18,720 over the life of the contract compared
to our current pricing. There are funds available in the water budget for these services.
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Carol L. Widmer "
Deputy Finance Director
Village of Mount Prospect
Utility Billing Proposals
November 10, 2005
Direct Third
Associated Costs Response Millennium
Cost per bill (for envelopes and invoice) $ 0.0597 $ 0.1980
Cost per ru n $ 467.75 -D-
One time set up fee $ 350.00 -0-
Summary of Costs Over Three-Year Contract
Total cost of envelopes and invoices based on 74,000 per year
or 222,000 total
$ 13,253.40 $ 43,956.00
24 runs per year or 72 total over three-year period
$ 33,678.00
One-time fee
$
350.00
Three year total
$ 47,281.40 $ 43,956.00