MEDINA COUNTY SANITARY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR UTILITY BILLING SOFTWARE Dated: October 28, 2014

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1 MEDINA COUNTY SANITARY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR UTILITY BILLING SOFTWARE Dated: October 28, 2014 SUMMARY SUBMITTAL INFORMATION Proposal Due Date: Submit Proposals To: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014, 11:00 AM ET Jeremy Sinko, P.E. Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department 791 W. Smith Road Medina, Ohio Phone: (330) Submit: One (1) original and four (4) complete copies of the Proposal. All submitted Proposals must be sealed and noted with the time and date due. Estimated Timetable for RFP Process (subject to change as required) Release of RFP...October 28, 2014 Proposal due date by 11:00 am...november 20, 2014 Short list vendors determined & notified december 1, 2014 Meeting with short list vendor's December 8-12, 2014 Anticipated selection of Vendor... December 17, 2014 Note: The County publishes information on the County's internet website at and the Sanitary Engineer's website at

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents... 2 Introduction... 2 Medina County Sanitary Engineering Overview... 2 Delivery Requirements... 3 Contact Information... 4 Scope of Services... 4 Required Functionality... 4 Vendor Requirements... 5 Proposal Submission Format Requirements... 5 Proposal Evaluation and Award Criteria...7 Appendix A: Billing Requirements...9 Appendix B: System Functional Requirements Introduction Medina County Sanitary Engineers (MCSE) is requesting sealed proposals from interested and qualified vendors for Utility Billing. The proposed solution should accommodate all current MCSE utility billing processes and procedures and accommodate the changes to the utility rates as the concurrent Utility Rate Study is concluded. The selection and implementation of new utility billing software should also be seen as an opportunity to improve MCSE business functions, productivity and the use of new and future technology. Overview The Medina County, Ohio, Water System and the Sanitary Sewer System are managed for the County Board of County Commissioners by the Sanitary Engineering Department. The County Sanitary Engineering Department was created in The Director of the Sanitary Engineering Department is responsible for total District, System and Department management, under policies established by the Board of Medina County Commissioners and State law to assure that operations, projects and programs are properly established and maintained within appropriate guidelines. The County provides a high quality and dependable potable water supply to its residents and businesses. The County also provides water and sanitary sewer services for both residential and commercial customers. The Billing Department performs the billing for water and sewer accounts. It has seven fulltime staff members responsible for Utility Billing functions. The County has approximately 43,000 customer billing accounts for water, sanitary sewer or both water and sanitary sewer services. The County has 92 separate meter reading routes and 2 billing cycles. Most meters are read bi-monthly and utility bills are mostly generated bi-monthly. The County s water rate structure consists of a bi-monthly commodity charge, which is based on the amount of water used. Residential sewer charges are billed based upon a flat rate per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU). Commercial sewer rates are billed as a flat rate, but the flat rate is determined by water consumption. Meter reading is accomplished on a master calendar also known as the route schedule that is currently maintained outside of the billing system. Water meter routes are manually downloaded to handheld devices and laptops, electronically read and manually uploaded into the utility billing system. The County utilizes Sensus AutoRead and Sensus RadioRead devices to read water meters. Currently, the County uses an in-house developed application based on Cobol as the utility billing software platform. Daily payment processing is accomplished through a variety of methods. These include automated clearing house payments (ACH), cash, check, money order, and payments posted through online bill Page 2 of 35

3 payment providers. The billing department provides printing and mailing service for all customer bills and delinquency notices. The County is currently in the process of completing a Utility Rate Study, the outcome of which may impact the billing system by implementing a flat fee plus consumption for water billing on a monthly basis. Responses to this RFP shall address flexibility in tailoring the installation to meet the needs of the District. Delivery Requirements Responses to this RFP shall be submitted in a sealed package addressed as noted below, and clearly identify the vendor making the submission. The package must be marked as CONFIDENTIAL Utility Billing RFP. One (1) original and four (4) copies must be submitted by each vendor. Please review the RFP fully, complete all responses and submit the package so that it is received and stamped by Medina County Sanitary Engineering office no later than 11:00 A.M. on November 20, Responses received after this date/time will not be considered. Postmark date will not constitute timely delivery. Vendors are solely responsible for ensuring timely receipt of their responses. Delivery by fax or is not acceptable. Mail or Hand-Deliver to: Medina County Sanitary Engineers c/o Utility Billing RFP 791 W. Smith Road Medina, Ohio Copies of the RFP Utility Billing Documents are on file and may be obtained from Jeremy Sinko, P.E., Engineering Supervisor, Medina County Sanitary Engineers at the address listed above, or by calling (330) ; downloaded from the County's website at or from the Sanitary Engineer's website at In order to ensure that vendors receive information relative to the RFP due date and addenda, if any, please register vendor's interest by submitting name of company, contact name, address, phone and fax numbers to Jeremy Sinko at jsinko@medinaco.org with Utility Billing RFP in the subject line. Medina County Sanitary Engineers may reject a proposal if: The vendor fails to acknowledge receipt of an addendum or if The vendor misstates or conceals any material fact in the proposal or if The proposal does not strictly conform to the law or requirements of proposal. MCSE may also waive any minor informalities or irregularities in any proposal. If revisions become necessary to the RFP, MCSE will provide addenda to all vendors who have received the RFP. All addenda issued by MCSE must be so noted on any proposals that are submitted. Vendors shall contact Jeremy Sinko, P.E. to ascertain whether any addenda have been issued. Failure to do so could result in an unresponsive proposal. Those submitting proposals do so entirely at their expense. There is no expressed or implied obligation by MCSE to reimburse any individual or firm for any costs incurred in preparing or submitting proposals or providing additional information when requested by MCSE or for participating in any selection interviews. Page 3 of 35

4 Contact Information Questions regarding this Request for Proposals should be submitted to: Jeremy Sinko, P.E. Engineering Supervisor Medina County Sanitary Engineering E Mail: jsinko@medinaco.org Scope of Services MCSE desires a utility billing software application that will meet current core functions and future needs of the Department, and will integrate all aspects of utility services, including maintaining accounts, payment interfaces, billing and collection, interface to meter reading system both manual and automated, service order processing, water and sewer connection permits, GIS parcel ID, and customer web access. Additionally, MCSE desires to implement improvements to reporting functions, proactive e notify billing and delinquency alerts, the ability to bills (paperless billing) and improving the automation and streamlining of the utility billing process. In addition to utility billing software, the vendor must lead the on premise installation of the new software and, the conversion of current utility billing data to the new software database. MCSE also requires the vendor to train all key users and to extend technical support throughout the duration of the project. At the end of the successful completion, implementation and conversion, the Department will enter into a maintenance agreement with the selected vendor. Required Functionality The current Utility Billing processes and the County s Rate Structure for Water & Sewer Service are described in Appendix A. The responses to this RFP should address the following minimum System Functional requirements described further in Appendix B: General Functional Requirements A. General Functionality Must be compatible with current IT infrastructure: MCSE will purchase required hardware/software to meet the billing systems requirements. B. Customer Account and Location Management This includes the creation, maintenance, and use of customer accounts, including balance transfers, deposit transfers and payment transfers. C. Rates and Fees Management This includes the maintenance and application of all utility rates, miscellaneous charges and fees. D. Meter Reading and Inventory This includes meter inventory, meter reading and consumption history. E. Billing Management This includes the calculation of bill. F. Delinquency Management This includes penalties, payment plans, shut offs and collections. G. Service Order Management This includes creating, completing and managing service orders such as, but not limited to, account openings, account closings, service shut-off and meter re-reads. H. Customer Self Service This includes customer s ability to setup paperless billing, online bill payment and view and print account history. I. Reporting Page 4 of 35

5 This includes standard and user created reports to query data. J. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System This includes, but not limited to, making automated phone calls to notify customer s of delinquent bills, boil alerts and shut-off notification. K. Electronic Credit Card Processing This includes a full-service vendor experienced in the development, installation and operation of a credit and debit card processing service for the County. L. Backflow Data Management Program A backflow prevention device tracking and management program. Vendor Requirements The Proposal shall include, as a minimum (these are mandatory statements): 1. A statement that this RFP shall be incorporated in its entirety as a part of the Consultant s quote. 2. A Statement of Qualifications applicable to this project including the names, qualifications, and proposed duties of the Consultant s staff to be assigned to this project; a listing of recent similar projects completed including the names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of the appropriate persons which the County can contact. 3. A statement that all charges for services will be a Not To Exceed fee, as submitted with and made part of said Consultant s quote. 4. A copy of the Consultant s hourly rate schedule and a written statement that said hourly rate schedule is part of the Consultant s quote for use in invoicing for progress payments and for extra work incurred that is not part of this RFP. 5. A written statement by the Consultant that all federal laws and regulations shall be adhered to notwithstanding any state or local laws and regulations. In case of conflict between federal, state, or local laws or regulations, the strictest shall be adhered to. 6. A written statement by the Consultant shall allow all authorized federal, state, and county officials access to place of work, books, documents, papers, fiscal, payroll materials, and other relevant contract records pertinent to this project. All relevant records shall be retained for at least three years. 7. A written statement that the Consultant will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, sex, disability, military status or national origin as defined in section of the Ohio Revised Code. 8. A written statement that the Consultant shall comply with the Ohio Revised Code. Proposal Submission Format Requirements The submitted proposal must address all categories and performance expectations within this RFP. Before submitting a proposal, vendors shall examine the specifications in order to understand all existing conditions and limitations. The vendor shall indicate in the proposal the total sum to cover the cost of all items included in the RFP. 1. Executive Summary Provide a concise overview describing the proposed approach to completing the work. 2. Description of Organization and Qualifications Provide a description of the major business functions, history and structure of the organization. Include a profile of the office location, staff and services that will be assigned to the County s account. Specify the number of years the vendor has been in the public sector software business. Provide a brief Page 5 of 35

6 statement of the company s background demonstrating longevity and financial stability. Describe internal performance metrics used to quantify key customer support responsiveness, such as issues resolved on first call or average time to reach issue resolution. Provide the following background information on the proposed utility billing software: original development, date of first release and date of most recent release. 3. Experience on Similar Projects Provide summaries or brief descriptions of a minimum of three (3) projects performed which are most related to the requirements of this project. Limit descriptions to those most relevant to this project and most representative of the vendor s capabilities. References must be for software and services provided within the last two years, including anyone currently going through the implementation process. Include the name of the client and a contact person, date of installation, software installed, any installation issues, and custom features or extensive report capabilities. 4. Detailed Description of Proposed Solution Describe how the vendor will meet all of the functionality requirements listed in all of the appendices. Indicate for each of the requirements whether the software is fully compliant, requires a modification or is not available. Provide a timeline with proposed dates beginning with contract execution and ending with full implementation. 5. and Hardware Platform Describe the software and hardware platform required and provide a brief explanation of any exceptions to the County s standards. 6. Data Conversion Describe how the vendor will convert all current Utility Billing data into the new Utility Billing software. Conversion should include at least three (3) years of historical water consumption, the sanitary sewer ERU change history and financial data currently in the existing Utility Billing database. The vendor shall also submit the incremental increase in cost if the request is extended beyond the three (3) years for a total of five (5) years of historical water consumption data. 7. Implementation and Training This proposal shall include a detailed schedule including project tasks and milestones, identification of project manager, team members, and key personnel with resumes attached for all personnel involved. Provide an installation plan as part of this proposal. This plan shall be detailed enough so that the County will know every step of the installation process. Each task shall be broken out and described in detail. Describe the approach and resources needed to implement the proposed software. Provide user training approach that will properly prepare staff, supervisors and other personnel on the day to day use of the new utility billing software. Provide training approach that will properly prepare County Information Technology staff in the administration, management and any planned and unplanned maintenance of the new utility billing software. 8. System Testing and Acceptance The County cannot accept the software until it has validated that the vendor has met all requirements stated in this RFP. The vendor shall provide all labor and supervision for the installation, testing, and final implementation. The County, working with the vendor, will develop acceptance procedures to ensure the software is installed properly and accepted. All software provided shall be tested to confirm that it is compliant with the current specification. All software is to be free from defects in design, material, workmanship, and is capable of sustained performance in the operating environment. Page 6 of 35

7 Moreover, ensure that all requirements, project tasks and milestones defined in this RFP satisfy the expectations of the County. All of the software shall pass the tests described below and have the County declare that the objectives of the tests have been met. Free from operational defects. Compliant with all specifications and requirements. Delivered and accounted for; including all media, documentation, training and support items. In the event the vendor does not satisfy all of the required functionality as stipulated in this RFP, the County reserves the right to withhold payment for the software and services rendered until the requirements are delivered and approved by the County. 9. Warranty and Post Implementation Support The vendor must warranty timely response and remediation of technical problems. If there is a system failure or other problems, the County needs to be assured that the vendor shall respond immediately to correct problems so that the service is not disrupted in any way. The post implementation maintenance program will include but not be limited to utility billing software assurance application upgrades, software patches, service packs, technical support, ongoing training and semi annual face to face customer meetings with the vendor s account manager and County staff. Describe all support resources available. The vendor should provide support that is capable of solving any software related problems during all County business hours. Vendor must also supply a copy of the maintenance agreement that is proposed, as well as a description of the software maintenance services, terms, and dates. 10. Annual Maintenance and Upgrades Vendor must provide the annual maintenance fees associated with the new utility billing software. It is expected that upgrades shall be available and are included to with the annual maintenance contract to allow the County to take advantage of improvements in both software and hardware capabilities. The vendor shall provide regular upgrades to the software from date of implementation. Describe the upgrade process. 11. Pricing Submit in a separate envelope Provide detailed pricing of all costs to fully implement the successful operation of the proposed utility billing system. Include cost of software license fees, modification, implementation, training, add on 3rd party software (if required), annual maintenance, travel, data conversion, and any other anticipated costs. Medina County Sanitary Engineering will provide sales tax exemption certificate to selected vendor. Pricing must be submitted in a separate envelope. Proposal Evaluation and Award Criteria The County will review submitted proposals and determine those that are most qualified. The County will select a vendor who in its sole judgment, best suits the current and future needs of the County. The award criteria will be weighted based on the factors listed below: 1. Understanding of the work required by the County. 2. Quality, clarity, and responsiveness of the proposal. 3. Demonstrated competence and professional qualifications necessary for successfully performing the work required by the County. 4. Recent relevant experience in successfully performing similar services in county & municipal utility agencies in Ohio. 5. Proposed approach in completing the work, and ability to implement the replacement in a timely manner. 6. Satisfying the following required functionality needs of the MCSE. a. General Functionality Page 7 of 35

8 b. Customer Account and Location Management c. Rates and Fee Management d. Meter Reading and Inventory e. Billing Management f. Delinquency Management g. Service Order Management h. Customer Self Service i. Reporting j. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System k. Electronic Credit Card Processing l. Backflow Data Management Program 7. Background and related experience of the specific individuals to be assigned to this project. 8. Fee structure and cost effectiveness of the proposal. 9. References. The County will short list two (2) or more vendors to continue with further evaluation. The short list will be selected using the criteria identified above. Additional discovery may be performed to assist in selecting the short list vendors. The short list vendors will be contacted regarding their status as shortlisted vendors. The County reserves the right to award contract, or to forego awarding contract without notice. If a short list of vendors is developed, the County will further evaluate based on the results of reference checks, additional discovery and, at the option of the County, organized site visits at vendor s customer sites. Vendors will provide the County with a list of three (3) potential customer sites. Customer sites should be using the same major version of the software being proposed to the County, similar in scope and complexity, and geographically close to County if possible. Specific days and times for each short listed vendor will be determined at a later date, but vendors should be prepared to conduct the on site demonstrations during this timeframe. It is expected that the proposed Project Manager take part in the on site demonstration sessions. As reflected above, contract award will not be based solely on price, but on a combination of factors as determined to be in the best interest of the County. After evaluating the proposals and discussing them further with the finalists or the tentatively selected vendor, the County reserves the right to further negotiate the proposed work and/or method and amount of compensation. Page 8 of 35

9 MEDINA COUNTY SANITARY ENGINEERS Appendix A: Business Requirements BUSINESS MODEL 1.1 Summary The Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department is responsible for the administration, operation, maintenance, and construction of infrastructure and treatment facilities for areas located in Medina County for the sewerage system and water supply. Sewer services approximately 36,000 residential and business customers and water is supplied to approximately 16,000 locations. Some locations share water and sewer service provided by Medina County Sanitary Engineers though this is a lesser extent of the total customer base. 1.2 Implementation Goals and Expectations Streamline permitting to new account process Amount of Letters that are hand typed Use of IVR system to notify customer base of pending shut off, water main breaks and boil orders Centralizing water/sewer service orders CSE would like to consolidate as many databases as possible into one system Linking scanned permitting cards with individual locations for easy access along with Permit # for sewer Online bill payment system that requires phone number, address, and allows for ACH signup. Additional reporting capabilities along with exception reporting for billing Explore including miscellaneous billing for tap customers Page 9 of 35

10 Miscellaneous billing for non-monthly billing customers (parcel that have no service but could require service orders to be completed for them) Retire legacy application for Utility Billing Application supported by another party. 1.3 MCSE Requirements Account Services The following services are being billed for by MCSE: Water Metered Sewer Fixed Sewer Debt Charge Other Fire-line Residential Fixed Amount Commercial Determined based on Water Usage to set a Fixed ERU Industrial Charge Financing of Tap in/benefit fees Rustic Hills pump maintenance program Commercial/Industrial water meter replacement program Accounts with Multiple Units For all sewer connections, a per unit per month rate is based upon Equivalent Residential Units (ERU). All residential customers are currently set at 1 and industrial/commercial customers are set at a factor of 1 or above calculated outside of the billing application based on the water usage Subset Accounts Currently Hydrant accounts are handled outside of the legacy billing system. Would like to manage them in the new system Master and Sub-Accounts Certain bills are required to be printed in groups at the end of the print job. Page 10 of 35

11 County Divide Line for Water Customers Will need a field that will provide data for locations that fall into a particular side of the county that water is received Customer Specific Information Certain customer information is stored in the system beyond basic mailing data: Address Phone Numbers Foreign addresses Care of data exist in mailing address Miscellaneous Customer Information No Penalty Flags Contracts are used for Meter repair and Water Sales. Would like to send duplicate copy of unpaid delinquent bill to landlords automatically. Accounts are automatically reverted back into Landlords name when a premise or location becomes vacant. Bank Draft is offered Customer Letter Tracking/Customer Call Tracking Shutoff letters, Renter applications, and Work Orders are currently stored with an account. 1.4 Meter and Reading Requirements Meters Certain information is tracked Manufacturer Size Installed Date MXU and Meter Location Latitude and Longitude Reading Type Number of dials Page 11 of 35

12 Unit of measure is in 1000 of Gallons Seasonal meters are removed and noted. Commercial meters are replaced through a set program. MXU devices are utilized Re-sequencing Routes Periodically or when new meters are installed re-sequencing may take place Meter Readings Readings are taken on Water meters and these readings are used to bill Water rates. Sewer customers do not utilize these readings since they are billed a fixed rate based on ERU s. ERU adjustments for Commercial Sewer customers are made upon request at a 3 year frequency by code based on water department consumption. Actual adjustments to sewer customers do end up longer than 3 years Meter Read Collection Meter Reads are collected through various methods such as: AMR-Radio AMR-Touchpad AMR-Fixed Network Handheld Route sheet Reads are uploaded into the billing system after a book (route) gets completed and updated daily during the first half of a month in preparation of billing. Other meter reading info: Compound meters are used but are of single register nature along with master meters but they do not have an impact on the billing system because of the way they are read and billed as a single meter. Meter situation codes with automatic service order creation during meter reading time is desired Sensus AMR Import Sensus AMR is used to collect meter readings for automatic import into the Utility Billing application. Two different file formats are used: 1 for Vehicle readings and 1 for handheld readings. They are similar formats but may require two different layouts. Page 12 of 35

13 1.4.3 Usage Management Reading Exception Management Meter readings are reviewed for exceptions by the MCSE billing department Exceptions are generated for the following criteria: Zero consumption Negative consumption Rollover consumption Un-read meters Turned-off meter with Consumption Changed out meters Read date exceptions Estimated Meters Meters with Situation Codes Estimated Consumption/Readings Estimates are performed based on an average usage for a particular date range or usage from the same time last year. There is no limit on the number of consecutive estimates because a letter is sent to the home owner trying to take care of the issue that is causing the estimate in a timely manner. Any late or no read on a meter are estimated. 1.5 Billing Requirements Rates MCSE Bills for Water, Sewer, Debt Charge, Fire line and Industrial maintenance charge, grinder pump station maintenance and meter replacement. Billing charges for each service are billed based on the rate structure below: Sewer Flat rate based on ERU Monthly $24.75 per ERU, Bi-Monthly $49.50 per ERU ERU s: Residential = 1, Multi-Unit = potentially beyond 1, Commercial = Calculated based on reads or EPA numbers. *ERU calculation is not expected to be done in new billing system. With the exception of Sharon Township and Wadsworth where county customer have wastewater treated at the Wadsworth plant. There is a $30.00 fee plus the applicable debt service charge below. Page 13 of 35

14 Sewer Debt Service Charge $5.50 per Monthly Bill or $11.00 per Bi-Monthly Bill Water $6.30 per 1000 Gallons with a minimum of 2000 gallons for a Bi-Monthly Bill Fire line(unmetered rates) 2 = $ = $ = $ = $ = $30.00 *With rate study, new rate structure is will likely follow a fixed base plus consumption methodology. Industrial Maintenance Charge $3.75 multiplied by the number of units Homestead Credit: Billed at 50% of the normal water rate and sewer receives a $5.50 credit for the debt portion of the sewer bill that were grandfathered in Homestead exemption credits stop when property transfers to a new owner. Rate proration: Currently sewer rates prorate based on a week into the billing cycle for First and Final bills. For example: Week 1 (3-10 days) sewer would be billed for $7.56, Week 2 (11-17 days) $ Rate Changes Rates change every other year. Rates must be date driven. The need for historical rates to be tracked by the billing system is required Billing Cycles and Periods There are currently three billing cycles: Even Bi-Monthly Customers billed on Even months (Approximately 17,000 bills) Odd Bi-Monthly Customers billed on Odd months (Approximately 22,000 bills) Monthly Bill each month of year (Combined 1,000 bills) To determine days of service for each billing period: Water Customers are billed based on Read date to Read date. For Sewer only customers service period is determined on the first day of the month to last day of second month (Bi-Monthly Customers) and for monthly customers the first of the month to last day of the same month. For water and sewer customers the dates will be determined based on the service period of the water meter readings. Page 14 of 35

15 *Consideration is being made to go with an all monthly billing strategy. Transfer customers: First and final bill customers receive a final bill at the old location and new bill at the new location. Foreclosure cannot have a lien placed on them and adjustment will be done to the point of the foreclosure. For home owner to home owner transfers any amounts will be back billed with a letter sent to the new owner explaining the situation or is captured through sheriff sale Statement Printing Currently a physical bill is printed at MCSE office along with Electronic notification by PDF Bill for customers that have opted for this version. Third party printing interface may be done during or after implementation CASS Certification CASS certification is used during the billing process to certify and Intelligent mail barcode each piece of mail for postal savings. It was identified that Satori CASS software is utilized with a file transfer. Statements are to be sorted for Printing in the CASS order returned by Satori. *Certain group bills and others identified to be printed at end of file Statement Details Currently a statement form with stub on top is utilized. There is also a tear off section on the side of the full page card stock. A scan line is utilized for the check scanning software to read. The scan line is a combination of the account number and amount due. Other information required on the form: Postal Barcode Payment Scanner Barcode Care of line for Mailing address User defined message to be printed Final Bills Final bills are processed one at a time and printed individually with the new account having required location information carried over from the original account Permitting The current process follows this work flow: Commercial: Application is made with other information provided Page 15 of 35

16 Sewer permit goes to the Sewer Group Water permit goes to the Water Group Residential: Address slip and site plan information is collected 1) No Money is collected initially 2) Cost Estimates are done 3) Information is entered into book 4) Permit Copies are given 5) Receipt and checked attached and given to billing 6) Billing department sets up account 7) Next a Water Card is kept in back, one card gets filed, other copy gets mailed to the builder Other notes: Credits exist on accounts that have been assessed but not installed for that amount ERU s are checked when new customers are billed to be sure correct amount is being billed. Debt fee charged for customers that come on while debt is owed on a line. Should allow for a fixed miscellaneous charge to be multiplied by a figure such as number of hours worked at the time of charge entry. 1.6 Service Order Management Service orders codes do not currently exist in the legacy. Even though service orders are tracked within the legacy application it is noted that water and sewer service orders are stored in two places. MCSE desires for all service orders to be tracked in the new solution. There are a handful of letters that are sent out to location owners where some may have associated charges with the service that is performed. Service orders are scheduled in three time slots with 1 general at 2 hours each with meter sets to be done at the end of day. Service orders are printed in batches, assigned and scheduled in the morning for distribution. Service order initiation and completion: Service orders can be initiated from general customer requests, customer complaints, and meter reading reports where a re-read needs to be captured or verified. MCSE would desire an automatic trigger for service reconnect service orders when a customer pays. Services orders are currently completed individually. 1.7 Credits and Collections Below describes the delinquency process flow from due date through certification of sewer and water shutoffs: 1. Due date is the 15 th of the month Page 16 of 35

17 2. Penalties are done prior to next cycle (grace period till the 23 rd of the month is typically given before they are processed) based on 10% of the current amount owed. 3. For the outstanding (more than one billing cycle delinquent) delinquent amounts 8% per year is calculated at 2/3% per month D2. 4. An end of month delinquent bill is sent after regular billing on current cycle 5. For sewer only the shut off process does not apply and the certification process for collection with taxes takes its place. 6. For water, shutoffs are processed (Turn on/turn off). Repeat offenders are identified and contact is made with the owner. 7. Currently shutoffs are entered into a spreadsheet, MCSE would desire a more automated way to generate. 8. On average 15 to 20 customers per cycle are shutoff and are flagged in text currently to note who is shutoff. A lot of effort is taken to locate these numbers since they aren t currently stored. MCSE would desire an IVR interface to automatically make delinquent calls. 9. Customers can be flagged by using a special customer user defined code or through payment arrangement functionality. 10. When customers come into pay, a service order is created and arrangements are made as needed. People on arrangements are followed up on during this time. Ability to shutoffs is desired. Sewer certification process: Customers are certified after 6 month (either July or August depending on cycle). A letter is sent in September to make the property owner aware of the certification process and if the account is not paid the property owner is not surprised at tax bill time. Data is moved into a file with information that the auditor needs prior to the end of the year. Payments can be made on an account until a set cutoff time for December. Amounts are then transferred to certified history, any amount collected through tax collection is not entered into the billing system. Sewer amounts that are subject to certification can be left on the account and not moved into the certification roll until the point that it is sent to the auditor Bad Debt Write Offs Balances are not written off in the sense that the balance is removed to zero but the accounts are transferred to another district for tracking. 1.8 Cashiering Pay off Order for Payment Processing: Oldest transaction date first then the following order: 1. Water Page 17 of 35

18 2. Sewer 3. Sewer Debt Service 4. Other transactions No priority is given to any miscellaneous type transaction to take priority over the above payoff order. Payment Methods: Walk-ins, Drop Box, Electronic lockbox files, ACH Bank Drafts, Online payments Payment Types: Cash, Money Order, Check, Traveler check, Certified Check, Certified Payments Credit Cards: Medina currently does not use credit cards as a payment solution but will be in the future. Receipts for payments: Currently printed on 3 part receipt but may look at transitioning to a full size sheet during implementation. Other Cashiering information: A check scanner and Barcode Reader for Payments are used. MSCE would like the ability to waive a penalty fee For mis-applied payments, an adjustment is done to move money off of the incorrect account and onto the correct account. MCSE would like the ability to accept multiple payment method types for a single customer transaction. 1.9 Financials Deposit Requirements Deposits are currently collected for Residential Water Customers (Renters). Deposit are refunded only at time of final billing, the only exception to this is if the renter becomes the owner. $100 deposit amount with deposits allowed to be paid in increments in extreme cases Financial Requirements Fiscal Period: January 1 to December 31 Bank Accounts: 1 main bank account exists with online payments going to separate accounts. Reconciliation: Payments are reconciled daily, each daily payment batch is required to be certified for amounts to be taken in. Reports are run monthly, when a cycle is processed everything after that point belongs to the next billing cycle. Page 18 of 35

19 1.10 Reporting Requirement The following reports were identified as critical reports that are either currently being used or not produced by the current system. MCSE desires that all reports be date driven Deposit Requirements Billing Adjustment Report This report lists all of the adjustments made to accounts. It includes account number, date of adjustment, adjustment code, adjustment type, adjustment amount and description Billing Register Report Transaction Register for other municipalities that Medina bills includes parcel number, account number, service address, units, service, service charge amount, debt amount and total Meter Reading Reports Meter Reading Exceptions A standard meter exceptions report listing meters identified as exceptions during the meter reading process Water Meter Route List Work Order Reporting Work Order List Reporting A report that provides open and/or completed work orders by work order code Water Check Report Meter Book Report Monthly Reporting Sewer Connections Report This report is run monthly for each municipality and includes permit number, address, city, parcel number and connection date Water Connections Report This report is run yearly for new water connections. It includes account number, permit number, connection charge, monthly payment amount (if applicable) and final installment date (if applicable). Page 19 of 35

20 Financial Reports Month to Date Payments This report includes district, total payment by service and sum total Month to Date Totals by District Month to Date Totals by District The Aged Trial Balance report displays an aging breakdown of the balances on Resident accounts. In addition to the aging of the balances, the account number, service address, resident name, and the due date of the last statement need to be displayed for each account Turn off List Certify Report by Address or Parcel Auditor's Certify Report Export to provide certified sewer amounts to Auditors Daily Payment and Batch Reports Medina will need Daily reports to be given to the County auditor. These reports will include GL Fund account, description and total amount for listed accounts. This report requires County Treasurer signature. Daily Verification Report includes batch, transaction amount, total due and error condition. MCSE desires an exception report. Daily Cash Receipts by Batch includes batch, date, cashier, account number, payment amount and batch sum total List Reports Water and Sewer Permit Ledger Street Index/Parcel Report Book List Revenue Account Number List Page 20 of 35

21 MEDINA COUNTY SANITARY ENGINEERS Appendix B: System Functional Requirements Appendix C: System Functional Requirements Respond to all aspects of the functional specifications and criteria that follow utilizing the attached checklist. Include a copy of the software licenses. The County will utilize proven technologies and products. The Functional Specification is for a Utility Billing and Management System. Each function must be fully integrated into the County to allow for maximum flexibility. The County requires a product that is based in the Windows platform. The contractor must keep up with the latest appropriate version of Windows. Any deviations from the specifications or exceptions must be clearly noted in your proposal. The County will entertain other options and recommendations if they can improve upon the current requirements. Vendors are instructed to review and respond to each Functional Criteria and Specification Requirement with their RFP submittal, by indicating each item with one of the following responses on the supplied forms: Fully Compliant: Indicates that the vendor s base software meets and/or exceeds the requirement and is included in your base price. Custom : Indicates that a software modification or custom software is required to meet and/or exceed this requirement. If there is an additional cost associated with this, list the dollar amount. Additional Module: Indicates that vendor's standard software does not meet the requirement, however, the vendor does offer an add-on to the standard software to meet and/or exceed the requirement. If there is an additional cost associated with this, list the dollar amount. Third Party: Indicates that the vendor's software can not meet the requirement, however, the vendor can meet and/or exceed the requirement using a third party. Please supply information describing the features and if there is an additional cost associated with this, list the dollar amount. Not Available: Indicates that the vendor software does not and cannot meet this requirement. Page 21 of 35

22 A. GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY 1. Supports at least twenty (20) concurrent users. The vendor will also include pricing for twentyfive (25) concurrent users. 2. Includes user defined fields with parameters defined by the user 3. Uses wizards to expedite processes such as setting up new accounts, meter change outs and creating service orders 4. Provides various levels of security. Access should allow each user group to be granted full access, read only access, or limited access. Allow for administration of user access and password administration 5. Provide administration including the ability to change or update field values within the system 6. Provides technical support for the system at a minimum from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Friday 7. System integration to E-Z Scan scanning software, meter reading, parcel inventory/gis and web application B. CUSTOMER ACCOUNT AND LOCATION MANAGEMENT This includes the creation, maintenance, and use of customer accounts, including balance transfers, deposit transfers and payment transfers: 1. Provide for detailed electronic conversion including transactions for up to 3 years 2. Ability to allow customers via the internet (County s website) to view and make payments on utility bills, request a service appointment and process customer account changes 3. On-line validation and editing of customers, addresses, service locations, meters 4. Ability to maintain customer records for every person who receives utility service from the County 5. User definable work flow process for: New Accounts Set Up, Move-In/Move-Out Process, New Service Set Up, Account Inquiry 6. Ability to record Move-in and close dates for an account 7. Ability to record unlimited notes for an account 8. Ability to provide for user defined customer and account classification codes (i.e., residential, commercial, etc.) 9. Provide for billing of water and sanitary sewer services (metered or non-metered) per service location 10. Ability to record unlimited contacts (spouse, tenant(s), alternate billing addresses, etc.) 11. Ability to track information through system by customer. Must be able to view all accounts that customer has had, current status of accounts and outstanding balance and have ability to drill down to account detail 12. Ability to view the outstanding total balance on an account as well as the balance broken down by service type, current balance and previous balance 13. Ability to define through table entry, an unlimited number of service types and add, change and delete service types as required 14. Ability to establish alerts (e.g., cash only; lien exists) on customer accounts with the following characteristics: All alerts are user definable, and user may define screen where alerts will appear 15. Ability to associate a service location with a parcel number 16. Ability to identify the number of dwelling units at a service location 17. Ability to track information through system by location. Must be able to view: History of all accounts at that location, Current status of accounts, Outstanding balance, Drill down to detail 18. The ability to add files, pictures, notes to specific customer accounts 19. The ability to maintain unlimited history on a specific customer account or locations Page 22 of 35

23 20. Ability to provide an audit trail for changes to an account 21. Ability to transfer customer balance, deposits and other occupant related information to a new account when a customer transfers to a new service address 22. Ability to track information through the system by property. Ability to see all accounts at a given property (current and prior) C. RATES AND FEES MANAGEMENT This includes the maintenance and application of all utility rates, miscellaneous charges and fees: 1. Ability to define an unlimited number of user-defined and maintained rate tables for each service 2. Ability to define an effective date for rate tables 3. Ability to define service rates that are based on flat fees, consumption based with demand, per unit charge, percentage based or user-defined formula 4. Ability to base charges for non-metered services such as sewer on water consumption from customer s water consumption 5. The ability to set up Tap In fees to be paid on a 5 year payment option for customers accounts 6. Ability to enter stop and start dates for individual fees on an account 7. Ability to run water & sewer revenue projections D. METER READING AND INVENTORY This includes meter inventory, meter reading, and consumption history: 1. Integration with the County s AMR equipment provided through Sensus 2. Precise exception checking for routes completed 3. The ability to maintain existing directions on the field services 4. Ability to identify a meter by type, size, serial/meter number, manufacturer, location, and install date 5. Ability to identify multiple meters at a service location 6. Ability to view a history of all meters that have been installed at a service location 7. Ability to maintain meter attribute data including: Meter Number, Route, Sequence, Installation date, Begin Service Date, End Service Date, Services Attached to the Meter, Status Free Form Comments, Current Account Number, Current Service Address, User Defined Fields and Documents 8. Ability to define read types 9. Ability to store meter data for touch and radio reads (i.e., transponder number, radio ID, radio type, register ID) 10. Ability to enter stop and start dates for individual rate codes on an account 11. Ability to setup scan bar code for meter inventory 12. Provides ability to enter a meter change without interruption of the billing cycle and final billing 13. Ability to describe the location of the meter at a service location 14. Ability to define meter read types including hose bib 15. Ability to identify reads that were estimated versus actual reads 16. Ability to change out meters at any time. When meters have been changed out, ability to show separate individual meter readings and consumption and to show total consumption and billing amount on the same bill 17. Ability to graphically display consumption history for an account 18. Allows user to flag individual accounts for which zero consumption is not considered to be an exception Page 23 of 35

24 E. BILLING MANAGEMENT This includes the calculation of bills: 1. Ability to define distribution of fees to multiple general ledger accounts based on user-defined account type, fee category, service type 2. Revenue forecasting 3. Comprehensive task manager with the ability to schedule daily tasks, billing, shut offs, payments, etc. 4. The ability to internally audit accounts within the billing database looking for accounts that were initially set up incorrectly and currently have conflicting info 5. Ability to create special onetime charges with the option to assess and collect the charges over a user-defined period of time 6. Support an unlimited number of billing cycles 7. Ability to charge for flat rate billings 8. Provide for consumption groups of services for billing (water and sewer). A single account with multiple meters can combine consumption for billing purposes 9. Ability to print user defined message on bills 10. The ability to process CASS certification for the US Postal service 11. The ability to get instant status of total Utility Billing web receivables, number of web accounts and website activity 12. Specific, thorough Billing Exception Reports 13. Periodic Billing Reports with the comprehensive breakdown of all credits, discounts, rebates, penalties 14. The ability to suspend current billing within a 7 day period for an account that has a pending on or off service 15. The ability to bill existing exception accounts that are NOT individually metered but are billed to a master meter tied to a number of individually metered accounts 16. Ability to automatically add late penalties to delinquent accounts according to rate structure 17. Ability to prorate bills for new accounts and closed accounts 18. Ability to calculate final bills at any time subject to the workflow process and approvals established by users 19. Ability to bill by cycle and produce corresponding billing registers and journal entries 20. Ability to sort bills by zip code plus four additional digits to take advantages of available postage discounts 21. Ability to export bills to a file for 3 rd party printing 22. Ability to support in-house bill printing 23. Ability to view and reprint a past bill at anytime 24. Ability to generate a pre-billing report to view billing amounts before actually billing accounts 25. Provide for auto-pay option for customer to pay from customer s bank account 26. The system should create an ACH file that may be submitted for processing 27. Ability to import batch payment file from a lockbox payment facility 28. Ability to scan payment information directly into the system using a bar code scanner 29. Ability to support payment plans for customers to schedule payments for outstanding balances 30. Ability to generate a report of all customers with payment plans showing scheduled due dates, amounts due and amounts paid 31. Ability to define unlimited number of notices (late, past due, shut off, etc.) based upon userdefined minimum amounts due and number of days past due 32. Ability to create late notices and automatically record event against account 33. Ability to aggregate separate billings for a single customer to one bill statement Page 24 of 35