COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Treasurer-Tax Collector-Revenue Services

DATE:

05-21-2010

BOARD MEETING DATE:

06-08-2010

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Lee Buffington, Tax Collector/Treasurer

SUBJECT:

Request for Approval of an Amendment to an Agreement with Independent Contractor, WorldScape, Inc., for Software Programming Services.

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board of Supervisors to;

1) Waive the Request for Proposal process; and

2) Execute an amendment to an agreement with WorldScape, Inc. to provide software programming services extending the term through December 31, 2010 and increasing the amount by $30,720 to $508,800.00

BACKGROUND:

WorldScape, Inc. provides a senior software developer with experience in the programming languages and platform (IBM iSeries server) used by the Tax Collector’s Office. The Tax Collector’s Office first engaged WorldScape, Inc. in July 1999 to perform tax information system programming. The term of the last Agreement was from July 1, 2004 until June 30, 2007 in an amount not to exceed $478,080.00. Since 1999, WorldScape has been instrumental in the construction and maintenance of the Tax Collector and Controller’s tax collection, payment and management systems including the back-end processing for the web site as well as additional applications provided to San Mateo Medical Center and Revenue Services to improve payment processing and collections. This includes the Tax Collector’s e-commerce web-site applications that allow taxpayers to pay on-line by credit card or by e-check (ACH transaction) for any combination of property taxes (current or delinquent). Most importantly, the contractor supplied by WorldScape developed the system that creates the Secured Tax Roll for the Controller’s Office as well as the system that prints the Secured Tax Bills for the Tax Collector.

DISCUSSION:

The Tax Collector’s office currently has one vacant Information Technology Analyst position. The Office has recently been granted permission to fill this position by the County Manager and Human Resources Departments to replace the roll played by the WorldScape programmer/analyst. In order to conduct a proper recruitment to fill this position and allow a thorough knowledge transfer from the WorldScape contractor to the successful candidate, the Tax Collector’s Office is requesting a six month extension of the WorldScape, Inc. contract. It is critical to the continuity of business that the WorldScape contractor be available during the building and billing of the new Secured Tax Roll during this period. For this reason, we believe a contract amendment extending the current contract and a waiver of request for proposal process would be in the best interests of the County.

The Contractor has assured compliance with the County's Contractor Employee Jury Service Ordinance, as well as all other contract provisions that are required by County ordinance and administrative memoranda, including but not limited to insurance, hold harmless, non-discrimination and equal benefits.

ISD has reviewed and approved the information technology content of this Contract.

County Counsel has reviewed and approved the Resolution and Amendment as to form.

This agreement contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 for a collaborative community by providing software programming services to other County departments such as the Controller, Assessor and the San Mateo Medical Center as well as the school districts.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2008-09
Actual

FY 2009-10
Projected

What/How Much We Do

Percent of funds received that are processed and banked within 24 hrs.

99%

99%

FISCAL IMPACT:

The appropriation for this contract has been included in the Tax Collector's FY 2010-2011 Recommended Budget. The contract amount is $508,800 which reflects a $30,720 increase over the original contract amount of $478,080 to cover the extended term. The Contractor’s rate remains the same ($80.00/hr.)