Consent 1.E.
Regular City Council Meeting
- Meeting Date:
- 10/27/2014
- TITLE
- Awarding Court Collections Services Contract
- PRESENTED BY:
- Sheila Kolar
- Department:
- Court
Presentation:
PROBLEM/ISSUE STATEMENT
The City of Billings is currently seeking an independent agency for Municipal Court Collections. The previous contract with Municipal Services Bureau is expired. The City of Billings Municipal Court places an average of 297 new accounts and $95,000 of outstanding judgments in collections per month.
A detailed RFP was prepared and advertised on the City of Billing website. Nine proposals were received and reviewed by the selection committee. Each proposal was first reviewed to ensure the minimum qualifications were met. The proposals were then evaluated for responsiveness to the RFP, court collection experience, effectiveness of collection efforts, reporting capabilities, and ability to exchange data electronically.
The review committee determined Municipal Services Bureau rated the highest of the nine RFP proposals. Municipal Court Collections specializes in court collections, and they have over 23 years of court experience. The company uses a state of the art collection system with the ability to readily accept data electronically from the city, has a 28.49% collection rate effectiveness and has a reasonable fee for the defendants to pay. This is the current collection system that the Municipal Court utilizes. Reference calls were also made on Municipal Court Services Bureau including Yellowstone County Justice Court and the City of Bozeman.
A detailed RFP was prepared and advertised on the City of Billing website. Nine proposals were received and reviewed by the selection committee. Each proposal was first reviewed to ensure the minimum qualifications were met. The proposals were then evaluated for responsiveness to the RFP, court collection experience, effectiveness of collection efforts, reporting capabilities, and ability to exchange data electronically.
The review committee determined Municipal Services Bureau rated the highest of the nine RFP proposals. Municipal Court Collections specializes in court collections, and they have over 23 years of court experience. The company uses a state of the art collection system with the ability to readily accept data electronically from the city, has a 28.49% collection rate effectiveness and has a reasonable fee for the defendants to pay. This is the current collection system that the Municipal Court utilizes. Reference calls were also made on Municipal Court Services Bureau including Yellowstone County Justice Court and the City of Bozeman.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYZED
City Council may:
- Approve the five (5) year contract, with up to three (3) annual renewals, with MSB, or;
- Disapprove the contract and provide alternative guidance to staff.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Montana law provides the cost of collection may be assessed against the person who has failed to pay the fine imposed upon them by the Municipal Court. Municipal Services Bureau has agreed to collect a commission rate of 27% for all citations referred by the City of Billings. The Municipal Court places an average of 297 / $95,000 of new accounts with collections per month, and in 2013 received an average of $25,000 in payment from collection services.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council award a Municipal Court Collections Services contract to Municipal Services Bureau.