The Utility Billing and Licensing division currently generates approximately 286,140 utility bills, delinquent notices, and business and dog license renewal notices annually. Of these, approximately 212,211 (74%) are printed and mailed, while 73,927 (26%) are delivered electronically.
In January 2021, the Finance Department completed the formal competitive procurement process to procure for utility bill printing and mailing services. Infosend, Inc. was selected as the successful bidder, and the City entered into a five-year agreement for these services. With the current agreement approaching expiration in November 2026, staff evaluated options for continuing these essential services. The City of Compton recently completed a formal competitive procurement process for similar printing and mailing services and awarded a three-year agreement, with two optional one-year renewals to Infosend, Inc. The competitively procured agreement is available for cooperative use, allowing the City of Kingman an opportunity to continue services with its existing provider under competitively established terms and conditions without the time and administrative costs associated with conducting a separate solicitation.
Pricing for services negotiated for the City of Kingman under the proposed agreement is $0.02 less per item than the pricing established under the City of Compton agreement. The lower rate is primarily attributable to differences in applicable taxes between California and Arizona.
The estimated cost of Infosend's bill printing and mailing services over the potential five-year term is $197,544. Postage is estimated at an additional $891,782 over the five-year term, bringing the combined cost to $1,089,326. These estimates assume an annual 4% increase for both service costs and postage.
Postage is billed at the applicable USPS bulk rate, without markup, and based on actual usage. The current bulk postage rate is $0.62 per item, compared with the regular postage rate of $0.82 per item. For the same mailing volume and service level, postage costs would be the same regardless of the bill printing vendor selected, as postage is billed at the applicable USPS rate without markup.
The breakdown of estimated cost is as follows:
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
| Infosend Services | $36,472 | $37,931 | $39,448 | $41,026 | $42,667 |
| Postage cost | $164,647 | $171,233 | $178,082 | $185,206 | $192,614 |
| Total | $201,119 | $209,164 | $217,530 | $226,232 | $235,281 |
The Water Operating Fund will experience an estimated fiscal impact of $24,315 for bill print services and $109,765 for postage costs in FY27 (partial year cost with services starting in November), and $173,229 for bill print services and $782,017 for postage costs in FY28-FY32.
Approve Authorizing the Mayor to Execute a 3-Year Agreement with Two Optional 1-Year Renewals with Infosend, Inc. to Continue Providing the Utility Billing and Licensing's Bill Print and Mailing Services
Approve Authorizing the Mayor to Execute a 3-Year Agreement with Two Optional 1-Year Renewals with Infosend, Inc. to Continue Providing the Utility Billing's Bill Printing and Mailing Services