ORDINANCE approving and authorizing Director of the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department, Houston Public Works, and Finance Department to extend various contracts between the City of Houston and 1) PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT LLC, A DUNCAN SOLUTIONS INC COMPANY (“DUNCAN SOLUTIONS”), GILA LLC d/b/a MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUREAU, and GC SERVICES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (“GC SERVICES”) for Unpaid Parking Citation Collection Services for Administration and Regulatory Affairs; 2) GC SERVICES AND MSB for Unpaid Utility Bills Collections Services for Houston Public Works; and 3) LINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR & SAMPSON LLP, DUNCAN SOLUTIONS, and MSB, for Various Unpaid Account Collection Services for Finance (as approved by Ordinance No. 2013-0131) - Revenue

Prior to the initial term of the master agreements, a team of personnel from the Legal and Finance Departments was tasked to conduct a city-wide data and performance review of account receivables and the collections operations.  This review included an assessment of the City’s third-party collection contracts as well as a review of other collection contracts used in other municipalities.  Part of the finding from this review concluded that various collection contracts were under-performing and that other collection models could help the City improve its collection recovery rate.

Each contract includes multiple vendors.  The master agreements include the scope of services, maximum fees, term and other provisions such as the City’s right to reassign accounts from one vendor to another.  Each Department Director is authorized to issue specific Letters of Engagement to vendors assigning accounts, establishing fees and setting out metrics for achieving acceptable collection rates or reassignment of accounts to another vendor. The Letter of Engagement provides details of the work the Vendor will do, which may include all or a portion of the tasks set out in the Master Agreement. A Letter of Engagement may have a term of up to three years with two 1 year renewal options. The master agreements also allow the addition of other vendors who meet the minimum standard set out in Ordinance No. 2013-0131.

Fiscal Note

There is no impact to the FY18 Adopted Operating Budget for this item. Therefore, no fiscal note is required as stated in the Financial Policy Ord. 2014-1078 as an Operating Budget Item.

Pay or Play Program:

The proposed contract requires compliance with the City's "Pay or Play" ordinance regarding health benefits for employees of City contractors. In this case, the contractor will provide health benefits to eligible employees in compliance with City policy.

M/WBE Subcontracting:

A 15% M/WBE goal has been established for this contract.  The contractors employ the following certified firms to achieve their goal:

Ordinance No. 2013-0131

Date: February 13, 2013

ARA: Maria Irshad (832-393-8643)

Finance: Arif Rasheed (832-393-9013)