Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Agreement for Full Business License Tax Administration, Including Business Discovery, Collections, and Audit with Hinderliter De Llamas & Associates (HdL) for an Initial Three-Year Term with Two One-Year Extensions, for a Total Agreement Amount Not-to-Exceed $800,000. (Finance 10024056)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to enter into a service agreement (Agreement) with Hinderliter De Llamas & Associates (HdL) for full business license tax administration, including discovery, collections, and audits. The agreement will transfer the processing of new business license accounts and renewals, payment processing, online services, business support, collection services, discovery, audits, and all other services specified in the Scope of Services (Exhibit 1) to HdL.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) currently collects and processes over 8,000 current and active business license accounts, generating approximately $2.8 million in annual tax revenue. The City's current contract with HdL only provides business license management software, and the process is currently managed by City staff. The City does not engage HdL for discovery of unregistered businesses, collections, or audits. The City uses an older version of the software provided by HdL and pays annual licensing fees of $18,900.
The Finance department recently conducted a compliance audit, identified delinquent business licenses, and spearheaded various special projects to rectify these delinquencies. This process successfully resolved many accounts, bringing businesses into compliance and resulting in collected revenue that otherwise would have been lost. However, it is crucial to note that this requires a high level of experience and expertise, which the Finance Department currently lacks. These proce...
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