P034-26 Printing and Mailing Services for Utility Bills and Reminder Notices

Location:	Texas
Posted:	Mar 25, 2026
Due:	Apr 8, 2026
Agency:	Brownsville Public Utilities Board
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	D - Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunication Services S - Utilities and Training Services
Solicitation No:	P034-26
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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LEGAL NOTICE

AND

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

P034-26

The Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) is requesting Competitive Sealed or

Electronically submitted Proposals (hereon styled “RFP”) for Printing and Mailing Services for

Utility Bills and Reminder Notices. BPUB’s Purchasing Office located at 1155 FM 511, Olmito,

Texas, will accept RFP’s from qualified firms until 5:00 PM, April 8, 2026. RFP’s received

after this time will not be considered.

RFP’s will be publicly opened and read aloud on April 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM. Firms can

call in at 10:00 AM, April 9, 2026 to (956) 214-6020 to listen to the proposal opening.

Brownsville Public Utilities Board utilizes the Texas Purchasing Group to post Request for

Proposals (RFP) and bid opportunities. Registration is available at

https://www.bidnetdirect.com/texas/brownsville-pub, if you haven’t already registered.

Detailed specifications may be obtained at Brownsville Public Utilities Board website at

https://www.brownsville-pub.com/rfp_status/open/.

Please mark on the outside of the envelope and on any carrier’s envelope: “Sealed

Proposal for Printing and Mailing Services for Utility Bills and Reminder Notices, P034-26,

April 8, 2026, 5:00 PM”, c/o Diane Solitaire, Purchasing Department, 1155 FM 511, Olmito,

Texas 78575.

The BPUB will not be responsible in the event that the U.S. Postal Service or any other

courier system fails to deliver the sealed proposal package to the BPUB Purchasing Office by the

given RFP deadline above. Bids will be accepted via electronic transmission only through

Bidnet.

BPUB reserves the right to reject any or all responses and to waive irregularities contained

therein and to accept any response deemed most advantageous to the BPUB.

Diane Solitaire

Purchasing and Materials Manager

Brownsville Public Utilities Board

(956) 983-6366 - Phone

INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS

Please submit this page upon receipt.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM

P034-26 Printing and Mailing Services for Utility Bills and Reminder Notices

For any clarifications, please contact Marisela Gaytan at the Brownsville Public Utilities Board,

Purchasing Department at (956) 983-6365 or via e-mail at MaGaytan@brownsville-pub.com.

Please e-mail this page upon receipt of the legal notice.

Check one:

( ) Yes, I will be able to send a RFP; obtained RFP package from website.

( ) Yes, I will be able to send a RFP; please email the RFP package.

Email:

( ) No, I will not be able to send a RFP for the following reason:

If you are unable to send your proposal, kindly indicate your reason for “No response” above and

return this form via email to MaGaytan@brownsville-pub.com. This will ensure you remain

active on our vendor list.

Date:

Company:

Name:

Address:

City:

Phone:

Fax:

Email:

State:

Zip Code:

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Printing and Mailing Services for Utility Bills and Reminder Notices

GENERAL BACKGROUND

The Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) is a municipally owned utility, currently providing

electric, water and wastewater utility services to approximately 73,500 customers, generating an

equal number of bills every month. The customers are offered the option of receiving their bill via

email or thru regular mail. Every month approximately 62,500 bills are sent out by mail.

Additionally, BPUB sends out, by mail, reminder notices to past due accounts, amounting to

approximately 13,300 notices a month. On average BPUB mails 75,800 mail pieces per month.

There are 20 billing cycles in a month. Commonly, cycles are billed daily from Monday through

Friday, and are printed and sent out the following business day. Approximately 3,000 bills and

reminder notices are printed every day. The bills past due date is set 20 days after the bill generated

date. To comply with city ordinance the bills must be sent out to the customers (issued) no later

than 5 days after billed (City of Brownsville, Texas - Code of Ordinances, Chapter 102 – Utilities,

Article III. - Rates and Charges, Division 1. – Generally, Section 102-76. - Penalty for delinquent

payment, “The net due date of the utility bill will be 15 calendar days after issuance”).

PURPOSE

It is the intention of the BPUB to contract with a qualified Firm to provide all labor, equipment,

materials, configuration of bills and reminder notice reports, system interfacing, printing and mail

services for utility bills and reminder notices for non email billed BPUB customers.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

1. Print and mail an estimate amount of 750,000 bills and 160,000 reminder notices in a 12

month period, following a billing schedule composed of 20 cycles per each month. The

bills and reminder notices must be printed and sent out to the post office the following

business day after the generation date.

a. BPUB handles approximately 75,800 mail pieces per month, distributed throughout

the month, ranging in production from 500 to 8,500 mail pieces in one day.

b. Amount of daily mail pieces may be increased up to 10 times.

2. Approximatly 90% of bills are 2 sheets/4 pages, 9% are 3 sheets/6 pages and 1% is more

than 3 sheets or requires to be household merged/purged into the same envelope.

3. The printing and mailing of utility bills and reminder notices must include:

a. Print file manipulation

b. Equipment

c. Materials

d. Laser or Inkjet printing

e. Payment of all required postage

f. Return of final digital file for each bill.

4. Bills typically include an insert/flyer or additional information of up to 4 pages. Insert/flyer

must be printed and placed in the bill.

5. The selected Firm must conform with automation criteria for postal discount rates, apply

the minimum required postage for Bulk Rate Mail, or provide the most economical method

for the utility bills and reminder notices, and shall inform BPUB of any changes in postal

regulations and rates. Postage shall be billed at actual cost. To ensure the fastest delivery

to the residents of Brownsville, the Firm is required to utilize the closest United States

Postal Service (USPS) Distribution Center.

6. The BPUB may also require special off-cycle (outside of the routine utility billing cycle)

mailings to customers which may amount to less than 500 bills for one day.

7. As a quality control measure, the BPUB will provide the totals and counts with each file

sent for production. Selected Firm will implement a program to ensure output matches the

totals and provide confirmation of the completion.

8. The BPUB does not guarantee to purchase any minimum or maximum quantity but does

contemplate purchasing exclusively during the term of the contract from the successful

Firm(s).

SPECIFICATIONS

The Firm must meet, or exceed, the following requirements:

1. The Firm’s business shall be located in an established business location

2. All work shall be done at a location that provides security and supervision from start to

finish, including a well-defined quality control assurance program

3. Ability to furnish all printing and mailing preparation services and deliver to United States

Postal Service (USPS)

PRINTING & INSERTING

1. Must have multiple page and selective inserting capabilities

2. Ability to household merge/purge multiple statements into the same envelope

3. Imaging resolution used in printing must be 600 DPI or better

4. Ability to print in color

5. Ability to add a customizable message to utility billing statements

6. Ability to identify different format bills depending on customer class and selected language

7. Ability to pull out printed bills from the batch, if requested by BPUB, if the bill has not

been sent to the Post Office

MAILING

1. Ability to produce multiple cycle runs of approximately 75,800 mail pieces per month

2. Turnaround-Billing delivered to USPS within 24 hours of receipt of data

3. Delivery to USPS mail processing center with maximum three business days delivery to

Brownsville, Texas

4. Multiple statements to the same customer and mailing address must be matched and

inserted in the appropriate size envelope, metered first-class separately, and delivered to

the USPS at the same time all other bills are delivered

5. Ability to presort and mail pieces at bulk mailing rate whenever applicable

TECHNOLOGY/HARDWARE

1. Ability to recognize and produce bills, reminder notices, and letters in English and Spanish,

depending on the BPUB customer language selection

2. Ability to provide consumption bar graph for previous 12 months on each billing statement

3. Ability to accept data transmission anytime during the 24 hours of the day

4. Provide the BPUB a secure means to transfer utility data

5. Ability to write, print, fold, insert, and deliver bills, reminder notices and letters to USPS

within 24 hours of receipt of data file, or by the next business day

6. Capability to perform custom programming as needed

7. Capability to manipulate the data, if requested by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board

8. Must have an emergency back-up plan to maintain the Turnaround-Billing time within 48

hours

9. Capability to confirm daily with BPUB the receipt of the file and verify proper file was

received by matching the file to billing to calendar and expected document counts

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

P034-26 Printing and Mailing Services for Utility Bills and Reminder Notices

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