CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST
DEPARTMENT(S)
Finance
CEQA
Not a Project, File No.
PP17-003,
Agreements/Contracts
(New or Amended)
resulting in no physical
changes to the
environment.
COORDINATION
City Attorney’s Office,
City Manager’s Budget
Office, and Energy
Department
Director Approval
/s/
Maria Öberg
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S)
Citywide
CMO Approval
SUBJECT: Second Amendment to the Agreement with Collection Bureau of America, Ltd. for Collection Services for Delinquent Accounts
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager or her designee to negotiate and execute the Second Amendment to the Agreement with Collection Bureau of America, Ltd. (Hayward, CA) for collection services for delinquent accounts to
(a) Add one additional one-year option term for a total of seven options to extend the term through June 30, 2026; and
(b) Amend the scope of the agreement to include collection services for San José Clean Energy’s closed accounts.
BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION
In August 2014, the City entered into an agreement with Collection Bureau of America, Ltd. based on the results of a competitive Request for Proposals process to collect debts on behalf of the Revenue Management Division of the Finance Department. The agreement provisioned for a five- year initial term and five one-year options, with the last option ending on June 30, 2024. In May 2024, the City and Collection Bureau of America, Ltd. executed the First Amendment to the agreement to add one additional one-year option term for a total of six options to extend the term through June 30, 2025.
San José Clean Energy (SJCE), a Community Choice Aggregator, has been serving customers with electricity generation since 2019 using Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for billing and active account collection services. Provided that a customer’s account is active, PG&E attempts to collect any balances they have in arrears. When a customer’s account with PG&E is closed, PG&E ceases collections on behalf of SJCE and reverts SJCE’s portion of the outstanding debt to the City to collect upon directly. SJCE wants to pursue the collection of its closed accounts with Collection Bureau of America, Ltd.
Staff intends to conduct a competitive solicitation for a new agreement for the services. However, time and resource limitations may deter from the successful completion of the process and possibly onboarding a new vendor for the services before the expiration of the current option term.
Amending the current agreement with Collection Bureau of America, Ltd. to extend the term of the agreement through June 30, 2026, and adding collection services on behalf of San José Clean Energy to the scope of the agreement would allow continuity in collection efforts across the City as staff pursues a robust Request for Proposals process.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
No commission recommendation or input is associated with this action.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 3/11/25
FILE: 25-210
ITEM: 2.11
COST AND FUNDING SOURCE
There is no cost associated with this action and there is no additional funding needed for the time extension of this agreement. The revenue from this amendment is estimated at $120,000, which is already included in the 2024-2025 Modified Budget in the San José Clean Energy Fund and is subject to the appropriation of funds.
FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT: For program-related questions, please contact Zach Struyk, Acting Director, Energy Department, at [email protected]. For contract- and procurement- related questions, please contact Albie Udom, Deputy Director of Finance - Purchasing and Risk Management, at [email protected].