MM/PA 961 Tax Bill Preparation Services

The County of Kern is seeking a vendor to provide tax bill preparation services, including printing, imaging, inserting, and mailing of property tax bills and notices. The vendor must meet certain requirements, such as utilizing the USPS National Change of Address (NCOA) 48-month lookback and Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) certified software. The contract will be awarded to the low bidder who meets the specifications. The services will include preparing, printing, and mailing various types of tax bills and notices, as well as providing electronic statements with customer opt-in and opt-out capability. The vendor must also have a proven quality control program and provide samples of printed and imaged tax bills and notices for testing. Some of the key points of this contract include: • The County will provide file specifications to the vendor, and the vendor will provide all programming requirements as part of the bid. • The vendor must have the ability to print the tax bills and notices in various fonts in various locations on each tax bill or notice. • The vendor must provide access to USPS IMB and IMB Trace reporting. • The vendor must utilize 2d barcode technology to uniquely identify documents, track page counts for sets, control flag for inserts, and page to page integrity. • The vendor must correct any problems that arise from vendor errors, such as inserting errors, postage errors, programming errors, etc. • The vendor must have a minimum of 10 color options and must have the capability of providing at least 3 colors on each bill or notice. • The County will determine color and wording for the front and back of the tax bill or notice prior to production. • The vendor must provide an American Standard Code and Information Interchange flat file (ASCII flat file) containing certain information, such as the name of each PDF, ATN, bill number, assessed, billing street, billing city, billing state, billing zip code. Some of the benefits of this contract to the County of Kern include: • The ability to outsource the preparation and mailing of tax bills and notices, which can help to reduce costs and improve efficiency. • The ability to utilize the expertise and resources of a specialized vendor, which can help to improve the quality and accuracy of the tax bills and notices. • The ability to provide electronic statements with customer opt-in and opt-out capability, which can help to improve customer convenience and reduce paper waste. However, there are also some potential drawbacks to this contract, such as: • The potential for errors or inaccuracies in the preparation and mailing of tax bills and notices, which can lead to delays or penalties. • The potential for the vendor to not meet the requirements or specifications of the contract, which can lead to disputes or termination of the contract. • The potential for the County to not have sufficient control over the preparation and mailing of tax bills and notices, which can lead to a lack of accountability or transparency.