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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemoCITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA TO : FROM : Pedro G. Hernandez City Manager Diana M. Gomez, Directo Finance Department INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM DATE : SUBJECT: October 7, 2007 FILE : Waiver of Competitive Bidding for Banking Services with Wachovia Bank, N.A. REFERENCES: ENCLOSURES: This memorandum serves to request your authorization to seek Commission approval to waive competitive bidding procedures, pursuant to Section 18-85 of the City of Miami Code, and further extend the existing professional services agreement with Wachovia Bank N.A. for Banking Services -City-wide, as required by the City Charter and Florida Statutes, effective December 1, 2007, on a month -to -month basis, under the same terms, conditions, and prices of the current agreement until issuance of a new Request for Proposals, award of the Request for Proposals to the successful proposer, execution of an agreement, and system interfaces are completed . Resolution No. 01-1140, approved by the City Commission on October 25, 2001, authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional service agreement with First Union Bank of Florida to provide banking services, as required by the City Charter and Florida Statutes. On September 23, 2004, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. R-04-0626, authorizing the assignment of the professional services agreement from First Union Bank of Florida to Wachovia Corporation. This agreement is now scheduled to expire on November 30, 2007. The implementation of the Oracle system on October 1, 2006 involved detailed configuration and testing of the interfaces, file formats and data extractions on the part of Wachovia Bank and the City to ensure compatibility and coordination between the Oracle system and Wachovia Banking system for the various services they provide to the City, such as processing approximately 200,000 bills and dunning letters through the retail and wholesale lockbox services on an annual basis. Additionally, the electronic format of the bank statement for the monthly reconciliation process is very cumbersome and has taken months to stabilize. Other electronic functions currently being provided by Wachovia are: • Daily deposit processing Automated overnight sweep service with collateral coverage guaranteed • Full and partial account reconciliation • Returned check images • Retail and wholesale lockboxes • Wire Transfers (in/out) On-line banking to access daily balances, initiate stop payment • Positive Pay Direct deposit of payroll and vendor remittances • Credit card processing Pedro G. Hernandez Page 2 Waiver of Competitive Bidding for Banking Services with Wachovia Bank, N.A. • EDI translation service and notification for incoming EDI deposit • Safekeeping of the City's investment portfolio. The Finance Department respectfully requests for the extension of said agreement with Wachovia Bank N.A. to have the proper amount of time necessary to issue and award a new RFP and execute a professional services agreement with the successful proposer , while allowing sufficient time to develop and test the interfaces with the selected financial institution without having a lapse in banking services. The Finance Department intends to issue an RFP for banking services during the extension time and work with the selected provider to develop the system requirements and have the new contract in place within the requested extension period. Based on the amount of time needed to configure the electronic banking services and interfaces with the Oracle system, the Finance Department is concerned that the provider selected through the RFP process will need the additional time to configure and test the services with the City's systems prior to bringing them on-line. Due to many unforeseen technical difficulties with the current system as well as preparing for the first fiscal year end on the new Oracle system, the Finance Department was not able to request the new RFP until this time. Based on the foregoing, we respectfully request your approval to seek Commission authorization to waive competitive bidding procedures and amend the existing Banking/Professional Services Agreement with Wachovia Bank, N.A. , effective December 1, 2007, on a month to month basis, under the same terms, conditions, and prices of the current agreement until issuance of a new Request for Proposals, award of the Request of Proposals to the successful proposer, execution of an agreement, and system interfaces are completed. Please indicate your preference b Approved / Disapproved: Pedro G. Helmand z, City Manager Approved / Disapproved: Purchasing Director Date: Date: