EOI - IT Consulting Services

1 REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT SERVICES Issued: August 13, 2021 Jonathan Storage City Manager 2 Table of Contents SECTION ONE: GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Purpose ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2. Background ....................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Current Software Overview .............................................................................................................. 3 SECTION TWO: SCOPE OF SERVICES ............................................................................................................ 8 2.1. Expectations

...................................................................................................................................... 8 SECTION THREE: INSTRUCTIONS TO FIRMS SUBMITTING PROPOSALS .................................................... 12 3.1. The Proposal ................................................................................................................................... 12 3.2. Questions About the Solicitation .................................................................................................... 13 3.3. Submission of Proposal ................................................................................................................... 13 3.4. Qualifications, Experience, and Past Performance ......................................................................... 13 SECTION FOUR: PROPOSAL EVALUATION & SHORTLIST ........................................................................... 13 4.1. Evaluation Committee .................................................................................................................... 13 4.2. Shortlisted Firm Evaluation ............................................................................................................. 13 SECTION FIVE: SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ........................................................................................................ 14 3 SECTION ONE: GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1. Purpose The City of Charleston, West Virginia, is soliciting Expressions of Interest (EOI or Proposals) from qualified firms to provide Information Technology Consultant Services to assist the City with the replacement of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and its primary tax and fee software system, known as the Revenue Tracking System (RTS). Firms interested in providing these services MUST timely respond to this solicitation to qualify. 1.2. Background The City of Charleston is West Virginias capital and largest municipality. The city limits span approximately 33 square miles, and it has a resident population of just under 50,000. The system of government is a Strong Mayor/City Council structure. The City Manager is the Chief Administrative Officer for the City and is appointed by the Mayor with approval by the Council. The City has been using the same ERP system for 18 years, and the company that supports the program will cease maintenance activity in December 2021. The ERP system lacks many features that are standard in todays ERP systems, and the program does not function as efficiently as it could. The City uses a unique system to track taxes and fees, which is known as the Revenue Tracking System. RTS is also nearly 18 years old and was custom designed for the City. The original programmer no longer has rights to the program, and much of the programming work has been outsourced to India. Changes to the system are difficult, expensive, and sometimes unworkable. 1.3. Current Software Overview ERP SYSTEM The City began using its current ERP program in 2003 to manage financials, payroll & human resources, and citizen services. DESCRIPTION OF MODULES & USES Financial Module: The Financials module is designed for fund level financial accounting. This includes paying vendors, preparing journal entries, tracking 4 expenditures/expenses, tracking revenues, billing for accounts receivables, budget preparation, accounting for fixed assets, tracking project accounting, and producing financial reports. The information entered and adjusted within the Financials module allows the Accounting Department to compile financial statements on a monthly and year- end basis. This module also accounts for inventory, capital asset additions/subtractions, and preparation of year-end 1099 tax forms. The financial module includes the following features: o General ledger o Budgeting o Accounts payable o Accounts receivable o Purchasing o Fixed assets o Project accounting Payroll, Human Resources, and Employee Self-service Modules: The Payroll, Human Resources, and Employee Self-service Modules are designed to manage employee records, a comprehensive database of employee information, process payroll, and to compile year-end tax forms (i.e. W-2). Mandi Carter, Director of Human Resources, summarized the Human Resources and Payroll module as follows: The Human Resources module acts as the master record for all employee personnel information (active, former, retiree) and includes all benefit elections and information related thereto, in addition to all standard information, including but not limited to, FLSA classification, pay grade, wage information, etc. We also track both city vehicle accidents and workers compensation claims (including OSHA reporting information). All of the employee special licensing is tracked in the module as well (e.g., CDL license, electrician license, etc.). Safety sensitive/drug-testing classifications for each employee are utilized in the module. We drill down into leave balances in the module, including maximum sick leave balances assigned to employees. Medicare HICN numbers for Medicare reporting purposes are also maintained in the module. Reporting utilized in the HR module are as follows: new hires, terminations, Affordable Care Act report, OSHA incidents reports, EEO-4 reports, and occupational 5 employment survey (these are all relevant to mandatory federal reporting requirements). Additionally, there is a change of status (COS) sub-module that is used to initiate all personnel changes to employee records such as new hires, job transfers, demotions, reclassifications, changes in pay, rehires, termination. Reporting utilized in the payroll module are as follows: Federal Taxes, State Taxes, Local Taxes, FICA, Medicare, Pension, Workers Comp, Unemployment, All 941 reports, ICMA Pay Period Reports, Form E-4 Annual Survey of Public Employees, Multiple Worksite Report, CPRB Pension Report, Report WV Unemployment, W-2 processing, 1099R processing, and 1095-C processing (these are all relevant to mandatory federal reporting requirements). A new ERP system would need to be compatible with the Citys timekeeping software and have the ability to process payroll checks for active employees and pension checks for fire and police pensioners. It must have the ability to utilize multiple, varied pay codes dependent upon certain departmental operations. The current Web Extensions Module is the Citys online platform for employee self-service and multiple information contained therein is gathered from the ERP such as pay stubs, W-2s, leave balances, emergency contacts, employee contact information and benefit elections. Citizen Services model: The Citizen Services module includes licensing, parcel manager, and permits/inspections. The system tracks and issues licenses for contractors, deer hunting permits, and loading zone permits. The parcel manager accounts for the physical address, type of zoning, and ownership of the parcel. The permits/inspections issues building and zoning permits. REASON FOR REPLACEMENT The most critical reason for the replacement of the ERP software is that software owner will be ceasing support for the system in December 2021. The system has been in twilight status for the last ten years, and the City of Charleston has been 6 receiving only regulatory enhancements. The system is fast becoming obsolete technology. Over time, the system has become inefficient to complete tasks and City technology staff are spending ever-increasing time maintaining its functionality. Additionally, the City of Charleston needs an ERP system that is fully compatible with geographic information system mapping (GIS). RTS SYSTEM History of System The Revenue Tracking System (RTS) is part of a triad of applications that were developed specifically for the City of Charleston. The idea to procure a revenue tracking system emerged in 2002 when the City Council discussed implementing a City Service Fee (CSF), and the RTS came into exitance in 2004 after the City Council enacted an ordinance creating the CSF. The Citys previous revenue tracking was handled via a Unix-based ITX system with COBOL programming. The program was written in-house sometime in the 1980s. The organization needed to find a fast, yet economical, solution that could handle the CSF requirements. It was determined that there were no off- the-shelf applications available that could be easily customized to suit the Citys needs and fulfill the pending city service-fee requisites. Therefore, in December 2003, Roy Gearhart of Gearhart & Associates was commissioned to convert the Citys revenue data from its antiquated COBOL system to a Microsoft SQL platform. The initial purchase agreement for the RTS build and implementation was $15,000. In addition to minor modifications and enhancements throughout the life of the product, two major change orders occurred. In February 2012, the city agreed to pay $11,750 to update RTS to: Generate viewable images of online return information relating to Business and Occupation taxes, Municipal Licenses, and CSFs. Receive a file containing payment information from the Lockbox processes. Match payment file with return data. 7 Post zero payments for online accounts that have zero payment returns. Verify the data for exception items defined by the city. Generate an online reconciliation report for balancing with the funds collected online. Generate an exception report for review. Modify the existing collection reports to provide separate totals of funds collected online. Ensure that the transaction in the history table identifies the item as being generated via the online capture application. In April of 2010, the City adopted Bill 7412 Rental Registration Properties for the purpose of creating registration and inspection procedures applicable to property owners who provide residential rental properties. As a result of the Rental Properties Ordinance, in August of 2010, the City agreed to pay $13,600 to Gearhart and Associates to develop the Rental Registration System (RRS) and the Rental Units Registration System (RUR). An additional $3,500 was agreed to in November of 2010 to add Google Chrome compatibility. As of December of 2012, Gearhart and Associates was absorbed by Strictly Business with Roy Gearhart remaining as a support consultant. Since he built the application, Mr. Gearhart was the go-to person for support. However, Mr. Gearhart permanently retired approximately two years ago. Since then, RTS support has been outsourced by Strictly Business to a team in India. RTS Uses Vendor and financials tracking is a critical component of the Citys daily operations. The City Collectors Office is the primary department that maintains and uses the RTS/RRS/RUR applications. However, most, if not all, city departments rely on the RTS application to determine if vendors are in good standing with the City prior to conducting business with them. The systems are critical for tracking rental registration, business licensing, business and occupation taxes, contractor statuses, and service fees. The system also generates notification letters to constituents, vendors, and businesses. Essentially, RTS maintains all taxpayer/feepayer data and tracks the resulting collection of revenue. The system has served the City well throughout the past 18 years, but the proprietary nature of the products, lifecycle limitations, and the limited expertise available to support the programs requires the City to face system replacement. 8 The products end-of-life is most apparent by the limitations of support. The City is currently paying $14,720 annually for support and sometimes additionally invoiced for services not covered by support. Requests for help, modifications, and additions, are channeled to a support center in India. There is generally a 24- to-36-hour turn-around for a response and recently they have not been capable of fulfilling minor change requests. As noted by the City Collector Christina Merbedone-Byrd, there are several specific concerns with RTS: RTS cannot accommodate any changes to City policies or procedures. Additionally, processes cannot be streamlined or made more efficient due to system limitations. RTS is unable to incorporate additional taxes such the Hotel/Motel, Amusement, and Public Utility. Also, other City fees are excluded from RTS. Other systems have been created to house data that RTS cannot maintain. RTS does not allow for workflows, automation, or interfaces. SECTION TWO: SCOPE OF SERVICES 2.1. Expectations The City is requiring that responding firms assist with the procurement of a complete ERP and RTS solution, including software, hardware specifications, project management, business process improvement, and other technology services for the entire scope of the project. NOTE: THE SELECTED FIRM MAY NOT OWN ANY SOFTWARE SYSTEM THAT IT WILL RECOMMEND TO THE CITY FOR PROCUREMENT. The following definitions should be considered relative to the list below: Core Features: Components of the solution that MUST be addressed by the responding firms. Expanded Features: Components of the proposed solution that may be optionally proposed by responding firms but are not mandatory to include in the response. 9 SOFTWARE: An outline of the required software system solution is as follows: ERP SYSTEM o Core Features Financial Management General ledger Budgeting Accounts payable Accounts receivable Purchasing Fixed assets & general inventory management Project accounting Payroll, HR, and Employee Self-service Employee information database FLSA classification Pay grade & wage information Vehicle accident reports Workers compensation claims (including OSHA reporting information) Employee special licensing (e.g., CDL license, electrician license, etc.) Safety sensitive/drug-testing classifications for each employee Leave balances (sick and vacation) Medicare HICN numbers New hires & terminations Affordable Care Act reporting OSHA incidents reports EEO-4 reports Occupational employment survey Federal Taxes, State Taxes, Local Taxes, FICA, Medicare, Pension, Workers Comp, Unemployment All 941 reports ICMA (457 Plans) Pay Period Reports Form E-4 Annual Survey of Public Employees Multiple Worksite Report CPRB Pension Report WV Unemployment Report 10 W-2 processing 1099R processing 1095-C processing All relevant to mandatory federal reporting requirements Employee Self-service module Citizen Services Contractor licensing Deer hunting permits Loading zone permits Parcel management: physical address, type of zoning, and ownership of the parcel. Building Permits/inspections Zoning permits o Expanded Features: Cash receipting Treasury Management Electronic supporting documentation for purchase orders stored in the ERP system Paperless requisition process Automated/system generated length of service increases API integration with current timekeeping software Improved compatibility and workflow between modules Modules for rental registry, inspections, vacant structures, and property maintenance User-defined reporting Multi-format export and printing of information. Ability to record searchable notes in the ERP system Ability to identify vendors being paid, but not registered, within RTS Automated notifications when new permits are issued Automated posting of revenues to eliminate the revenue import Improve ability to search vendor records Improvements to GIS compatibility Improve ability to securely store documents Ability to update parcel data with information from County Assessor Master indices of city street names 11 Electronic process for code enforcement action Ability for employees in the field to access information via smartphone or tablet Automated staff notifications when renewal fees are due Improved integrated credit card transaction options Utility billing module RTS SYSTEM O Core Features: Tax & fee tracking Collection process that generates notices and maintains a tracking history Reporting capabilities Manual and imported payment input ability Receive a file containing payment information from Lockbox process and online payments Ability to match payment file with return data Automated computation of penalties, interest, and fees GIS capability Audit Trail Automated billing/notices Limited-access status report capability or non-Collectors Office employees to determine whether the City can or cannot conduct business with a vendor Ability to detect anomalies or create smart-reports that help identify potential errors or entities that should be audited o Expanded Features: Separate test system Viewable images Improved compatibility with other systems Automatic system alerts Improved ability to identify delinquent accounts Automatic integration and posting of payments received online and via Lockbox Workflow approval process for manual entries SERVICES: An outline of the required services is as follows: Project management Software installation Data conversion 12 Report development Integration and interface development Software modifications Implementation and training services Change management System documentation development Operational redesign assistance Ongoing support and maintenance services User training Administrator training Technical Features High-level requirements for ERP and RTS o System audit trail and reporting o Data encryption and protection o Role-based user management o SAML compatible o Secured and redundant cloud infrastructure Regulatory Compliance References o NIST 800-53 o HIIPA o PCI-DSS o GDPR SECTION THREE: INSTRUCTIONS TO FIRMS SUBMITTING PROPOSALS 3.1. The Proposal Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing straightforward, concise descriptions of the firms capabilities to satisfy the Citys service needs. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content. Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originated and prepared for the City pursuant to this solicitation will belong to the City and are subject to the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act, unless the content is proprietary in nature such that it is excluded from production. All pages or sections of submitted documents considered by the firm to be proprietary in nature should be clearly labeled. 13 3.2. Questions About the Solicitation All questions must be transmitted according to established deadlines to Ms. Jamie Bowles, Purchasing Director, by emailing Jamie.Bowles@cityofcharleston.org. 3.3. Submission of Proposal All proposals must be submitted in writing and in electronic format as a PDF file readable with Adobe Acrobat software. Proposals must be transmitted according to established deadlines to Ms. Jamie Bowles, Purchasing Director, by emailing Jamie.Bowles@cityofcharleston.org. 3.4. Qualifications, Experience, and Past Performance Firms should provide information regarding its employees, such as staff qualifications and experience in completing similar services; copies or descriptions of any staff certifications or degrees applicable to this solicitation; proposed staffing plan; descriptions of past services completed, including the location of the client, project manager name and contact information, type of services provided, and the service goals and objectives and how they were met. Firms must submit at least 3 current client references, 1 of which must be a municipality. SECTION FOUR: PROPOSAL EVALUATION & SHORTLIST 4.1. Evaluation Committee All proposals will be reviewed by an Evaluation Committee, which will consider the statements of qualifications and performance data and other material submitted by the interested firms. The Evaluation Committee will select no more than 3 firms that, in the committees opinion, are the best qualified to perform the desired services. The shortlisted firms will be invited to participate in interviews. 4.2. Shortlisted Firm Evaluation The City of Charleston will evaluate the firms that have been determined most qualified and able to perform the desired services. The evaluation criteria are based on a 100-point total score: mailto:Jamie.Bowles@cityofcharleston.org mailto:Jamie.Bowles@cityofcharleston.org 14 Evaluation Criteria Implementation Services.55 pts Project management approach Including project management, training, and data conversion Project team Timeline Software support Access to broad property & casualty insurance marketplace Current workload and ability to complete work Location of where services will be performed Experience & Qualifications.45 pts Professional competence Financial stability of firm References Organizational chart Experience providing services to comparable municipalities SECTION FIVE: SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Release of the EOI................................................................................................................8/13/21 Written Questions Submission Deadline..............................8/30/21, 4:00 PM (EDT) Addendum Issued ....9/3/21 Expressions of Interest Due Date...........................................................9/10/2021, 4:00 PM (EDT) Estimated Date for Interviews of Shortlisted Firms........................................September / October NOTE: This schedule is subject to change. Please visit the following City website for updates: https://charlestonwv.gov/bids-purchasing/current-bids https://charlestonwv.gov/bids-purchasing/current-bids