Tax Bill Printing and Mailing Services

The County of San Mateo Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office is seeking a Request for Proposals (RFP) from interested and qualified providers of printing and mailing services for Property Tax Bills, related bill inserts, envelopes, and other products related to the mailing of Property Tax Bills, as well as Certified Mail and other correspondence related to Secured, Supplemental, and Unsecured property taxes in San Mateo County. The target start date and term for the proposed services is April 27, 2026 through April 26, 2029, with the option to extend for up to 2 years, subject to negotiation of a final agreement. The period of the term is also subject to change, however the term itself will not exceed three years from the start date to end date.

San Mateo County is the 14th largest County in the State of California, with a population of approximately 725,000. The Treasurer-Tax Collector is responsible for printing and mailing over 220,000 bills annually. The Treasurer-Tax Collector is seeking a reliable partner for printing and mailing services. The chosen solution should maximize efficiencies, reduce costs, facilitate annual changes to bills, enhance written communications regarding amounts due, align with current technology, streamline existing processes, and suggest improvements for cost-effectiveness and reduced postage expenses. The Treasurer-Tax Collector requires a company with a proven track record, demonstrating experience and capacity to accurately print and mail the County’s bills and notices in a timely matter. The precision in processing each bill or notice with accurate data and meeting assigned deadlines is critical for ensuring efficient revenue collection and deposit.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector handles three primary types of property tax bills: annual Secured property tax statements, annual Unsecured property tax statements, and monthly Supplemental property tax statements. Additionally, bill types include escape assessment bills, daily name/address change bills, twice yearly delinquent bills, and other bills as necessary. The Treasurer-Tax Collector is also responsible for generating annual Redemption notices and various Certified Mailings related to prior year taxes. Due to the diversity of bill types, printing and mailing services may be required as frequently as daily. However, there is a keen interest in streamlining and consolidating mailing to reduce postage and processing costs.

Our current system operates files in TXT, RTF and PDF formats. The selected contractor must be capable of receiving data files conforming to the existing file formats, and utilizing the data to print a variety of bills, notices, and letters. Additionally, proficiency in designing and generating bills that conforms to our current standards is essential. In addition, the Treasurer-Tax Collector is also exploring system upgrades during the contract period, which may impact the delivery format of files to the Contractor.

In an effort to clarify any questions regarding this RFP, we will respond to questions that are presented in writing only. These questions will be answered and posted through this posting in OpenGov for all respondents to review.

All proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by an RFP evaluation committee. The Treasurer-Tax Collector reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received as a result of the RFP process. Any proposal judged to be incomplete will be rejected.

Except as otherwise set forth in the applicable Additional Terms, nothing in the Master Agreement will be construed to preclude the provider from providing to, or the County from another entity products and services similar to the Products and Services requested in this RFP.

Unless stated otherwise, all deadlines in this RFP are in Pacific Standard Time.