Approve Renewal of the Master Agreement with OPUS 21 (Utility Billing Provider) for One Year

The City currently contracts with OPUS 21 for utility billing services.  OPUS 21 prints and distributes approximately 9,000 utility bills quarterly and handles all utility billing inquiries.  For their services, OPUS 21 is paid approximately $55,000 annually.

The original contract (Master Services Agreement) with OPUS 21 was for the period of February 7, 2008 through February 6, 2013.  On January 8, 2013, the City Council authorized a three year extension (February 7, 20013- February 6, 2016) with OPUS 21 via an Addendum to the Master Services Agreement.  This Addendum included two (2)  one-year renewal options at the City's discretion.  The first year renewal option was for the period of February 7, 2016 - February 6, 2017 and the extension was authorized by City Council on January 26, 2016

It is being requested to authorize the second year option for the period of February 7, 2017 - February 6, 2018.  The fourth- quarter billing for 2016 was completed on January 25, 2017, so the renewal period will cover 2017 billing services.
One change to the renewal option is that Opus 21 has inquired about a rate adjustment of approximately 2%.  The attached 2nd Year Renewal Schedule of Service Fees reflects those services that have been increased to present Opus 21 with an approximate 1.85% or $1,020 annually based on 2016 billings.  Opus 21 has not received a service fee cost increase prior to this request.

The utility billing contract extension will need to be brought forward to City Council at a later date.  Outside of hosting utility billing services in-house, staff has not found, or is aware of, another full-service utility billing vendor.


 

The renewal requires only the signatures of the Mayor and the City Administrator on the attached 2nd Year Renewal Option Form..

Other than bringing the function of utility billing in-house, staff has not found another vendor that provides the utility billing service outside of OPUS 21.  Most outside vendors are bill print only.

All utility billing functions are paid through the respective Enterprise Funds of:  Water, Sewer, Street Lighting, Recycling and Storm drainage.

Staff recommends extending the service agreement with OPUS 21, with the service fee changes noted, for the period of February 7, 2017 - February 6, 2018.

Motion to approve the renewal of the Master Service Agreement with OPUS 21 for an additional year:  February 7, 2017 - February 6, 2018 with the service fee changes noted.