title
Presentation, discussion, and possible action authorizing a vendor contract with Benevate, Inc., for the Texas Rent Relief Program as required by Texas Government Code, Chapter 2155
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, Texas Gov’t Code, §2261.254(d) requires governing body approval of certain contracts;
WHEREAS, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department or TDHCA) has a requirement pursuant to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s (Treasury) Emergency Rental Assistance funds to continue reporting quarterly on the Texas Rent Relief (TRR) program through September 30, 2025, with the final report due on January 28, 2026, and to retain records for five years after the period of performance, through September 30, 2030;
WHEREAS, the Department received in August 7, 2023, a five-year preservation notice pursuant to all TRR data from Treasury that states “All ESI (electronically stored information) must be preserved in place (i.e. on the custodian’s computer) in the format in which it was originally created or maintained (its “native format”), along with related metadata (i.e. data about the document itself that is embedded in the document);”
WHEREAS, TRR data is stored in the Neighborly software system, owned by Benevate, Inc., and the system is not sold on the open market and the only way to access the necessary TRR records and data through the retention period of September 30, 2030, is through the Neighborly ERAP Maintenance Portal;
WHEREAS, since TRR program inception, Horne LLP as the primary TRR vendor, has facilitated TDHCA access to the active Neighborly software system via TDHCA Contract (21-332-001) and their subcontract with Benevate, Inc.;
WHEREAS, TDHCA Contract (21-332-001) is anticipated to terminate in 2024, which would leave TDHCA without access to the Neighborly ERAP Maintenance Portal needed to access TRR data stored in the Neighborly software system for the period of time required by Treasury;
WHEREAS, TDHCA published a Request for Offer (RFO 332-RFO24-1000) for Neighborly software maintenance services on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts' "Electronic State Business Daily (ESBD)" website as required by state procurement regulations;
WHEREAS, the RFO was issued pursuant to the proprietary purchase justification signed on December 18, 2023, by TDHCA’s Executive Director and the authority granted in the Texas Department of Information Resources Blanket Exemption for Software Maintenance, and in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200, and all Administrative and Audit Regulations; and
WHEREAS, the Department received only one response to the RFO 332-RFO24-1000 from Benevate, Inc., and has evaluated the proposal which conforms in all aspects to the RFO and now plans to enter into a contract with Benevate, Inc., to enable the Department to access the TRR data through the Neighborly ERAP portal and fulfill the requirements of Treasury Department’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Treasury’s Preservation Notice;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that in compliance with Texas Gov’t Code, §2155.088, the Contract with Benevate, Inc., is hereby approved as described herein and the Executive Director and his designees are authorized, directed, and empowered to take all necessary actions to effectuate the Board’s determination.
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BACKGROUND
The Department plans to enter into contract with Benevate, Inc., for access to the Neighborly ERAP Maintenance Portal. The ERAP Maintenance portal provides 10 administrator users and 10 read-only users (for a total of 20 users) with access to TRR’s existing data in the portal. The following services are included in the ERAP Maintenance portal:
• Access to the Program's portal in the native format and all TDHCA data associated with the Texas Rent Relief and contained therein.
• Hosting/Security in Microsoft FedRAMP Data Center.
• Data Storage, Backup and Recovery in FedRAMP Data Center.
• Technical Support.
• Access to all tenant, landlord, and vendor (e.g. utility) cases and documents.
• Access to the ERAP dashboard and Treasury reporting, including all required updates to Treasury reports.
• Access to report building tool (Snowflake) with the ability to retrieve TRR data and scale as needed for ad hoc reporting and audit purposes.
• Service Levels at 99% with cost reductions for failure to meet the service levels.
The contract contains numerous Information Technology (IT) security provision to protect all sensitive and personally identifiable information including all Texas statutory provisions.
The total contract value is $791,000 and will cover the period of May 1, 2024, through September 30, 2030. The contract has optional 12-month renewal periods from September 30, 2025, to September 30, 2030, that TDHCA can exercise, as needed.
Depending on when TDHCA contract (21-332-001) with Horne LLP ends, the below schedule may change. If needed, TDHCA may make the months of May 2024 until the end of the Horne LLP contract optional, to be exercised monthly as needed. Any decrease to the term of the TDHCA- Benevate, Inc., contract will result in a decrease in the Benevate, Inc., contract value.
FEES FOR May 1, 2024 - September 30, 2030
|
Contract Year |
Renewal Period |
Service |
Cost |
|
1 |
May 1, 2024 - September 30, 2025 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$169,700 |
|
2 |
October 1, 2025 - September 30, 2026 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$117,100 |
|
3 |
October 1, 2026 - September 30, 2027 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$120,700 |
|
4 |
October 1, 2027 - September 30, 2028 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$124,100 |
|
5 |
October 1, 2028 - September 30, 2029 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$127,800 |
|
6 |
October 1, 2029 - September 30, 2030 |
ERAP Maintenance Portal |
$131,600 |
|
|
|
Contract Total Value |
$791,000 |
|
7 |
Optional Additional Snowflake* credits |
Snowflake Credits |
50 credits per month at $1,000 per month (requires 1 year minimum purchase) |
* Snowflake is a report building tool that will allow data to be retrieved as needed for ad hoc reporting and audit purposes. The contract will cover 75 Snowflake credits per month. If more than 75 credits are needed per month, TDHCA would incur additional cost as described above.