Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Mark Church, Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer
Subject: Amendment 3 to the Agreement with Mary Scavarda to Provide Service for the APAS Project
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to the agreement with Mary Scavarda for services for the APAS project, extending the term of the agreement through December 31, 2021, increasing the amount by $277,400 for a new not to exceed amount of $372,760 and waiving the competitive bidding process.
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BACKGROUND:
At the core of the business operations of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections’ (ACRE) Appraisal Services Division is a digital data management system which stores and processes data relating to the ownership, characteristics, and appraisal values of all taxable properties in the County. This Board at its December 11, 2018 meeting approved the Assessor Property Assessment System (APAS) Project (Resolution #076320) to replace the Assessor’s legacy data management system. Additionally, this Board approved a 3 to 3 ½ year contract with Sapient Corporation to develop the APAS Solution.
As part of the APAS project, the APAS budget includes resources for augmenting the ACRE Project team with senior IT professionals with business leadership experience, system design, development and implementation experience commensurate with a large complex project like APAS. Ms. Scavarda was initially hired on a limited term contract to consult at the inception of the APAS project. Ms. Scavarda’s continued role as the APAS Web portal project lead and senior consultant will provide continuity to the APAS project and leverage ACRE’s investment in Ms. Scavarda.
DISCUSSION:
The services Ms. Scavarda will provide under Amendment 3 include: (1) continue to ensure the APAS project Web portal needs are architected, designed and implemented as part of the APAS system; (2) lead major segments of the APAS project subsystems design and development; and (3) support the APAS project data cleansing and conversion activities.
The APAS project is a multi-year development project that requires a stable project team. Each team member gains invaluable experience and knowledge about the Assessor’s business requirements. For this reason, it is important that the contractors hired for the APAS Project remain on the project for the duration of the project. Furthermore, project turnover can be costly and lead to project delays that can be best managed by ensuring the stability of the project team. This is best accomplished by signing agreements with the contractors for set periods their skills are required. Mary Scavarda has been a senior member of the APAS project since its’ inception and her continued service is an important component of the project plan.
ACRE is requesting that this Board waive the competitive bidding process for these consulting services due to the continuing consulting needs of the APAS project. Extending Ms. Scavarda’s current Agreement allows ACRE to leverage the knowledge she gained in leading the ACRE Website project, COOP project, and the APAS Web portal requirements, definition phase requirements, architecture, high-level design, and data model. To replace Ms. Scavarda’s Assessor Department knowledge and experience on the APAS project would require at least a 6-month investment in a replacement consultant. Additionally, during 2018 and 2019 Ms. Scavarda gained an in depth understanding of the Assessor’s business operations and the Appraisal Service Division’s detail business requirements. Ms. Scavarda has been and will continue to be a strategic senior member of the APAS as it Is developed and implemented over the next 2 years. For all the above reason, Ms. Scavarda is unequally qualified to provide senior leadership for the APAS development project and data conversion activities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of the agreement is April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. Appropriations to cover the costs of this agreement are included in the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Election’s FY 2019-21 Adopted Budget and will be included in future budgets. These costs will be fully funded by a transfer from Non-Departmental Services.