REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 13, 2022
FROM
PETE MENDOZA, Interim Director, Purchasing Department
SUBJECT
Title
Countywide Armored Car Service Agreement
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Agreement with Brink’s, Inc. to provide armored car service to County locations at fixed base rates for the period of September 26, 2022, through September 25, 2027.
2. Authorize the Director of Purchasing, subject to review by County Counsel, to approve non-substantive amendments to the Agreement for the purpose of updating service locations, service frequency, and rates as necessary, which could include contractual cost of living increases or rate adjustments reflective of County competitiveness in the marketplace.
3. Direct the Director of Purchasing to transmit all documents and non-substantive amendments in relation to this Agreement to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: Pete Mendoza, Interim Director, 387-2073)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Current annual County spending for armored car service is approximately $500,000 per year. Impact on individual department budgets is based upon need for armored car services. Departments that require armored car services are responsible for ensuring adequate funding in their current and future budgets. The cost for armored car services is based upon geographic location, service frequency, and dollar value of the deposits. In addition, fees are incurred for excess vehicle wait time, fuel surcharges based on monthly index pricing, excess deposit fees based on quantity of bags, and excess liability fees based on the dollar value of deposits.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended Agreement will ensure continuity of armored car service for County departments that handle cash and other monetary instruments that must be securely transported and deposited into County accounts in a timely manner. Currently, 17 departments, comprising of 115 locations, use armored car services. The County’s current agreements with Brink’s Inc. (Brink’s), Loomis Armored Us, LLC. (Loomis), and Garda CL West, Inc. (Garda) will expire on September 25, 2022.
In November 2015, Auditor Tax Collector Controller (ATC) released an RFP for banking services and on September 9, 2016, the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (ATC) signed a new banking services agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, replacing Bank of America as the County’s operational bank. Armored car services were previously provided as part of the Bank of America contract but were no longer offered as part of the banking service agreement with Wells Fargo.
Purchasing was informed Armored car services would be discontinued and an Request for Proposal (RFP) was released on December 21, 2015 for these services. The Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a recommended agreement with Brink’s on June 28, 2016 (Item No. 54) that was still unsigned and under review by company officials. Unable to reach an agreement with Brink’s that would serve the County’s best interest, on September 13, 2016 (Item No. 62) the Board rescinded the unsigned agreement.
As a result, the County negotiated with the other qualified vendor who submitted a proposal in response to the RFP and awarded the contract (Agreement No. 16-700) to Dunbar Armored Inc. (Dunbar) on September 13, 2016 (Item No. 62) for the period of September 26, 2016, through September 25, 2021. Dunbar provided services throughout the County but was unable to service a number of remote locations., During this time, Bank of America continued to provide services to approximately one-third of the locations to assist the County with the transition to Dunbar.
As the County neared completion of the banking transition, it was necessary to secure a replacement for Bank of America. The County entered into negotiations to establish direct contracts for service with two companies that did not respond to the County’s RFP, which were Loomis and Garda. On March 7, 2017 (Item No. 39), the Board approved Agreement No. 17-121 with Garda for armored car services to serve approximately 50 locations for the term of March 8, 2017 through March 8, 2022. On November 6, 2018 (Item No. 32), the Board approved Contract No. 18-808 with Loomis to provide armored car service to four County library locations for the contract term of November 6, 2018, through March 8, 2022.
On August 13, 2018, Brink’s acquired Dunbar and agreed to honor all contractual terms and conditions in the County’s original agreement with Dunbar. On July 23, 2019 (Item No. 33), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. 16-700 assigning the contract to Brink’s.
On September 14, 2021 (Item No. 38), the Board approved Amendments No. 2 for Agreement No. 16-700, No. 1 for Agreement No. 18-808, and No.1 for Agreement No. 17-121 with Brink’s, Loomis, and Garda, respectively, to extend all three agreements until September 25, 2022. Originally, the termination dates were not scheduled for the same date. The extension allowed co-termination of all three agreements. The additional time also provided the opportunity for the industry to recover from challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic before the Purchasing Department (Purchasing) issued an RFP.
PROCUREMENT
On April 6, 2022, Purchasing released a RFP (RFP AGENCY22-PURC-4498) for armored car services through the San Bernardino County Electronic Procurement Network (ePro). Extensive market research was conducted prior to release of the RFP, including consulting neighboring government entities to expand the list of potential vendors, exploring other solutions outside traditional cash in transit service, and scheduling vendor demonstrations involving smart safe technology. Despite Purchasing’s efforts and extending the timeline by two weeks, Brink’s was the only vendor to submit a proposal. Staff believes the lack of response to the RFP may be attributed to challenges related to servicing the County’s extensive geographical footprint and unique department requirements.
Purchasing deemed Brink’s proposal to be responsive. Brink’s was determined to be able to meet the needs of the County and met the requirements listed in the RFP, including the ability to service designated locations, bill each department individually, provide a billing and service online portal, and the ability to expand services in the future to include smart safe technology. In addition, Brink’s agreed to continue to perform a custom service for the Human Services Department, where preloaded gas gift cards are inventoried, securely stored, and distributed to Transitional Assistance Department locations as requested.
Pursuant to County Policy 11-04, services exceeding $200,000 annually require Board approval.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Adam Ebright, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 25, 2022; Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (John Johnson, Assistant Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector, 382-7004) on August 23, 2022; Risk Management (Victor Tordesillas, Director, 386-8623) on August 30, 2022; Finance (Ivan Ramirez, Administrative Analyst III, 387-4020) on August 25, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on August 28, 2022.