25PP-112 - Lockbox Processing and Scanning

Agency:	New Castle County
State:	Delaware
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	D - Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunication Services
Posted:	Apr 3, 2024
Due:	Apr 24, 2024
Solicitation No:	25PP-112 - Lockbox Processing and Scanning
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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New Castle County

Purchasing Division

87 Reads Way

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 395-5250

Bid# 25PP-112

Lockbox Processing and Scanning

New Castle County is seeking priced proposals to provide Lockbox Processing and Scanning

Services.

Interested parties are asked to submit a priced proposal to New Castle County, Procurement

Division, New Castle County Government Center, 87 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720, stating

their interest and qualifications. Proposals must be received by 2pm on Wednesday, April 24th,

2024, and must include one (1) printed hard copy and one (1) USB drive containing an

electronic version of the proposal within a sealed envelope. The electronic submission will be

considered the original, and must replicate the printed hard copy, with all appropriate signed

documents. If there are any discrepancies between the two submissions, the original

(electronic) submission is considered the official version for purposes of evaluation. The hard

copy is only reviewed if the electronic version cannot be viewed due to a technical issue.

Delivery Method for Bid Submission Options:

- You can mail your bid submission to 87 Reads Way, New Castle, Delaware. However, it is

recommended to use a carrier that can guarantee delivery and provide tracking

information, so your bid submission packet arrives at the deadline date and time.

- You can deliver your bid submission packet in person prior to the Bid Opening to the

Government Center, located at 87 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720 between the hours of

8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

You can go inside the building to the lobby area and do either of the following:

1) call a member of Administrative Services at 302-395-5965 from the Lobby

Phone or your cell phone, and have a Procurement representative meet you in the lobby and

accept your bid packet and provide a receipt, or

2) you can ask the Receptionist to contact Procurement.

Please remember on the bid opening date, your bid submission must be turned in no later than

2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 to be accepted and you are welcome to attend the

bid opening meeting at that time.

Questions concerning the project should be submitted in writing via email to Frank Penta at

frank.j.penta@newcastlede.gov no later than end of the day on Friday, April 12th, 2024.

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Bid# 25PP-112

Page 1 of 17

New Castle County

Purchasing Division

87 Reads Way

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 395-5250

Bid# 25PP-112

Lockbox Processing and Scanning

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

➢ Sealed proposal envelopes must clearly display Bid# 25PP-112. Lockbox Processing and

Scanning in the lower left quadrant on the front.

➢ Facsimile and email transmissions of proposals are unacceptable and will be rejected

without any notice to the bidding vendor.

➢ Bidders are responsible to retrieve the bid specifications and all addendums from the

New Castle County Purchasing website at www.newcastlede.gov/Bids.aspx.

➢ Bidders must complete and submit with their proposal both the Non-Collusion

Statement/Signature Page and the Authorized Representative Procurement Affidavit

which are located as the final pages of the bid specifications. Failure to sign and return

these documents could result in your bid submission being rejected.

➢ Proposals shall be no more than 20 pages in length excluding Procurement forms

(Signature Page and Affidavit).

Pursuant to New Castle County Code and Delaware Law, each bidder must submit proof

satisfactory to the County or its designated representative that the bidder and every

subcontractor possesses valid and effective licenses required by the United States, State of

Delaware, County and any applicable political subdivision in which the project is located to do

business within each such jurisdiction and to perform the labor and/or supply the materials

involved in the performance of the contract. No contract will be executed prior to the

submission of such proof and the acceptance thereof by the County or its designated

representative.

Awards, if any, will be made in conjunction with the Delaware Code, Subchapter 2, Chapter 69,

Title 29, and the New Castle County Code.

4/5/24

Bid# 25PP-112

Page 2 of 17

New Castle County

Purchasing Division

87 Reads Way

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 395-5250

Bid# 25PP-112

Lockbox Processing and Scanning

BACKGROUND

New Castle County (“County”) is the northernmost of three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware.

As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware

with nearly 60% of the state’s population. New Castle County is the primary economic center

representing a major portion of the state’s taxable base and serving as its leading business, service,

and industrial center. Please visit our website, www.newcastlede.gov to obtain more information

regarding our organization.

The County receives much of its income from property taxes, sewer service charges, and transfer

tax. The County uses its resources to provide services to County residents, including police

protection, emergency medical services, land use, parks, recreation programs, senior services,

libraries, sewer services, and code enforcement.

SCOPE

With over 200,000 tax parcels and over 125,000 sewer customers, the County’s Office of Finance

processes payments for property tax, sewer service, and other miscellaneous payments through

various means with a recent emphasis on electronic payments. Electronic payments, debit cards,

credit cards, digital wallet payments, and eChecks, are processed through an online portal using

Paymentus as a merchant processor. Bank checks are received electronically through the county’s

banking service provider. Paper checks are processed through a third-party lockbox provider and

the County’s administrative offices in our Government Center. The scanners used in the

Government Center are a series of Cannon CR-120s.

Paper checks processed over the last five fiscal years are as follows:

Fiscal Year

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Paper Check Processing

LockBox Service

151,199

157,654

165,898

139,797

112,955

Government Center

32,907

29,432

11,918

31,133

26,697

Total

184,106

187,086

177,816

170,930

139,652

4/5/24

Bid# 25PP-112

Page 3 of 17

New Castle County

Purchasing Division

87 Reads Way

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 395-5250

Bid# 25PP-112

Lockbox Processing and Scanning

The County has two peak collection periods each year. Property taxes are billed annually with a

due date of September 30th and sewer services are billed annually for residential customers with a

due date at the end of February. Interim bills are generated monthly for commercial and industrial

sewer customers and new and delinquent property owners.

Paper checks processed in fiscal 2023 by month for tax, sewer, and miscellaneous are provided

below.

FY2023

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

Tax

203

20,764

28,431

1,790

1,997

460

238

992

424

339

422

155

56,215

Lockbox

Sewer

661

3,526

498

230

2,541

333

751

33,830

3,672

1,989

2,490

999

51,520

130

118

183

3,426

692

262

5,220

Government Center

All Checks

1,315

3,733

8,085

1,263

1,186

1,164

876

3,619

1,639

1,001

1,295

1,521

26,697

4/5/24

Bid# 25PP-112

Page 4 of 17

New Castle County

Purchasing Division

87 Reads Way

New Castle, DE 19720

(302) 395-5250

Bid# 25PP-112

Lockbox Processing and Scanning

OBJECTIVE

The County wishes to eliminate its third-party lockbox service by bringing lockbox services into the

Government Center. Our objective is to pursue high-speed scanning for imaging and processing

paper checks with high-quality MICR encoding via an intelligent user-driven platform. Minimum

requirements include:

• Inputs - Remittance Stub and Check:

o Ability to read existing OCR scanlines on remittance stubs, representing tax, sewer, and

MC payments for full and partial payments, single and multiple stubs, and single and

multiple checks. Remittance stubs are heretofore known as Exhibit 1 (Tax Bill and

Remittance Stub), Exhibit 2 (Sewer Bill and Remittance Stub) and Exhibit 3

(Maintenance Corp Bill and Remittance Stub) related to this RFP and can be found on

our website.

▪ Single stub/single check full payment

▪ Single stub/single check partial payment or overpayment

▪ Single stub/multiple check payments

▪ Multiple stub/single check payments

▪ Multiple stub/multiple check payments

▪ No stub/check-only payments

o Checks:

▪ Business and personal checks, handwritten and typed.

▪ Compare a check’s handwritten or typed courtesy amount (“CAR”) and legal

amounts (“LAR”) alerting an operator to non-matches and providing an

opportunity to correct the payment amount during processing or to suspend

the transaction for further investigation and processing. Or explain the non-

necessity of this process.

▪ Compare a check’s CAR / LAR to the remittance stub alerting an operator to

non-matches and providing an opportunity to correct the payment amount

during processing or to suspend the transaction for further investigation and

processing.

• Matches of the CAR / LAR to a check stub can be processed without

operator intervention.

• Verify the check’s payee.

4/5/24

Bid# 25PP-112

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This is the opportunity summary page. You are currently viewing an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation. For more information, please visit the Publication URL Web page.

Bid Title:	25PP-112 - Lockbox Processing and Scanning
Category:	Professional Services (RFPs)
Status:	Open

25PP-112 - Lockbox Processing and Scanning

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