Title
New Banking Services Agreement for General Government and GRU (NB)
This item presents the firm rankings from the Request for Proposals (RFP) for General Banking Services for both General Government and GRU, a joint process.
Explanation
The City's current contract for General Banking Services expires September 30, 2007. On January 10, 2007 the City issued a Request for Proposals for General Banking Services for both General Government and GRU. The RFP was a work product of both staffs. The City held a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting on January 30, 2007. The proposal deadline was February 28; six proposals were received. Staff made preliminary rankings on March 7. Three firms were closely spaced at the top of the list of six, and those were invited to make oral presentations on March 12, 2007. They included SunTrust, the City's current banking partner, Wachovia and Bank of America. All three firms were present on March 19 for oral presentations. General Banking Services encompass account balances and maintenance; custodial services for certain City investments; electronic funds transfers for both employees and vendors; depository services, both cash and electronic; wire transfers; and many other daily banking services both routine and non-routine. The evaluative factors led to the following ranking of the three finalists:
- SunTrust
- Wachovia
- Bank of America
All are sophisticated national banks who could serve the purposes of both General Government and GRU. In addition, certain elements regarding personnel and contact points will have to be negotiated in order for the City to develop a satisfactory contract, but staff does not envision any difficulties in such negotiations.
Fiscal Note
The fiscal effects of the contract were evaluated based on net cost to the City which, in the case of our banking partner, is actually a net benefit. Staff tallied the costs enumerated by vendors based on our average monthly activity (which was enumerated in the RFP), and then added back the potential investment income for overnight and similar deposits based on the estimated average cash on hand (also enumerated in the RFP). This net benefit/cost had been approved by the City Manager as a 20% ranking factor, because reliability was deemed to be a more important aspect of a banking partner, in that timely wire transfers of debt payments are the most important fiscal activity of the City.
Recommendation
The City Commission approve the rankings of the final three proposers as listed above and authorize the City Manager and General Manager or designees to: 1) negotiate with the top-ranked firm to develop a final contract or, if the City and the top-ranked proposer cannot agree on contractual elements, then to negotiate with the second-ranked firm for a final contract, and so on, subject to approval by the City Attorney; and 2) execute the contract.