Specifications include, but are not limited to: PROCESSING The Contractor shall accept and safeguard information provided by the Treasurer and the Commissioner under this RFP in a format agreed upon by the Treasurer and Commissioner, the City’s Information Technology Department and the Treasurer’s software systems vendor, PCI. The following enumerates key requirements for provision of processing services: 1. The Contractor shall meet the design and layout specifications for bills and notices provided by the Treasurer and Commissioner in Exhibit 1. 2. The Contractor shall provide a means for secure data transmission and confirm receipt of data. Any sensitive data that is to be transferred from point A to point B, outside of the environment it is held at, should be encrypted in transit. Ideally, the data is encrypted at rest and during use as well. File transferring of the data should be used via SFTP using SSH. If email must be utilized, the data shall be encrypted or password protected using WinZip or Adobe Acrobat and the password must be provided separately. The Treasurer and Commissioner will have final approval on all methods for safeguarding information. 3. The Contractor shall provide the Treasurer and Commissioner electronic information regarding status of the billing process and notice process upon request. PRINTING Contractor shall print bills and notices as prescribed herein. The following enumerates key requirements for provision of printing services: 1. Paper and envelope paper requirements under this proposal are: a. Mailing envelopes shall be #10 window used for automatic insertion, #24 white paper. b. Return envelopes shall be #9, #24 white and will have return bar code per U.S. Postal Service regulations. c. Paper for bills and notices shall be 8 ½ x 11, #24 white, 1/3 perforation. 2. All bills require a bar code in 3 of 9 symbology on the remittance stub. 3. All bills shall include an OCR-A extended at 12 pt. font scan line on the remittance stub. 4. The Contractor shall provide to the Treasurer and Commissioner a hard copy of any bill or notice mailed, upon request, and/or provide the Treasurer and Commissioner with the ability to electronically access and print copies of any bill or notice mailed. 5. The Contractor shall meter and enter all invoices into the U.S. Postal Service with a Virginia location or zip code. 6. Printing is to be performed with laser printers for all bills and notices unless an alternative method deemed beneficial to the City has been approved in writing by the Treasurer or Commissioner. 7. Printing cycle and quantities are: a. Exhibit 3 is a schedule of approximate timing for all bills and notices to be sent as prescribed by law. In each case the exact timing is dependent on the assessor of the tax providing to the Treasurer and Commissioner the assessing information, the Treasurer or Commissioner uploading it into PCI software and testing it, and then being able to provide the information to the Contractor for processing for mail. It is the City’s intent to provide the information at least ten (10) to fourteen (14) days prior to each mailing. Bills shall be mailed out thirty (30) days prior to their due dates. Off-cycle printing is rare, but may be necessary at the request of the department. Off cycle printings will be billed at the standard rates.