8/14/2025
Lake County Purchasing has revised the bid sheet to include additional information for further clarification. Revisions can be found on pages 13-15 of the bid sheets below.
Revised Bid Sheet with highlighted changes for vendor reference
Clean copy of Revised Bid Sheet without highlights
8/25/2025
Question 1: Please provide a copy of the current unit pricing for all items (or a current invoice from Master’s Touch which shows the current unit pricing for each item) for the items listed in this bid packet.
Answer 1: Click here to view recent Master's Touch invoices.
Question 2: Would the County accept an alternative to MOCR paper?
Answer 2: The County will accept substitute paper, if barcode & OCR line are functional for payment processing and paper, color and quality meets County’s standards.
Question 3: Mobile Home Property Tax Bills are specified on 70# - we assume white smooth text. These also have a barcode to be read. If these are on regular smooth, blue-white text paper, shouldn’t that also be good for the other tax statements?
Answer 3: Paper substitution for all notices is fine with the County, if barcode and OCR line are functional for payment processing and paper, color and quality meets County’s standards.
Question 4: In the revised specifications, the size of the Real Property Bill changed to 10.5” instead of 11”. Is that correct or a typo? If not a typo, what is the reason for the unusual size?
Answer 4: Tax bill measurement is about 10 ¾ but the County would be satisfied with 11”, there is not specific reason for the special size.
Question 5: Specification of Exhibit B – Envelope calls for black ink, one side and the example shows TAX BILL ENCLOSED in Red. Should this be a 2-color envelope with prints on 2 sides?
Answer 5: Exhibit B envelope has the words “tax bill enclosed” printed in red letters, this is a two-color envelope. The envelope requires printing on both sides.
Question 6: Specification of Exhibit G – Final Notice Envelope call for a 6 x 9 but the exhibit is a #10 and the specification is a “standard mailing envelope”. Please clarify which it should be?
Answer 6: Exhibit G envelope is a #10, sent via certified mail.
Question 7: For the items sent via Certified Mail, will a USPS Electronic Return Receipt be acceptable or does the county require the physical signed postcard returned?
Answer 7: The County requires the certified tracking numbers and mailing information for each notice, we do not require the signed postcard.
Question 8: Is the County asking for background checks on all employees, or only those dedicated to working on your project? Please clarify background check requirements.
Answer 8: Upon receipt of notice of award, proof of pre-employment background checks for employees assigned this project must be submitted to Lake County within ten (10) working days.
Question 9: What is the current process in place for handling E-Notices?
Answer 9: From the data file, the vendor uses the name and address block to create a key from the data. Using that key, they look up to see if an existing eNotices Authorization Code has been generated. If it exists, the existing Authorization Code is assigned to the record. If no record exists, they generate a new Authorization Code. Using the assigned Authorization Codes, the vendor suppresses any records from mailing that are enrolled in eNotices. Documents are uploaded to eNoticesOnline.com the same day that the mailing is delivered to the post office. For any documents that are enrolled, the user is sent an email notifying them that new documents are available for them to view. The user is sent a single email for all their enrolled documents (they do not get one email per document). The email contains a link for each new document that is available. Note: The document(s) are not attached to the email. The user must log in to their account to view the document(s).
Question 10: Is tracking needed on the E-Notices clickable links for delivery stats and audit copies?
Answer 10: E-Notices has a couple of tracking mechanisms in place:
- Email tracking: This tracks whether the user opened the email. This has some caveats as email has no built in mechanisms for tracking. Tracking is done with a tracking image in the email. This means that if the user’s email client is configured to not download images, then we don’t receive the tracking information. If we have a viewed record, then we know the email was viewed, but if there is no record, is still could have been viewed.
- Document tracking: E-Notices tracks every time a user downloads or views a document. So, if the document show it was viewed, we know the user has seen it regardless of email tracking.
Question 11: What Email is used for E-Notices? Is it a County Email requiring integration with your IT department or an alias one? Will DNS, SPF or DMARK records need to be managed?
Answer 11: E-Notices are managed through Notifications@enotices.com and controlled by TMT. DNS, SPF, and DMARC records are managed by TMT.
Question 12: How is Spam monitoring of E-Notices being managed?
Answer 12: Any time a SPAM complaint is filed. The vendor adds the user’s email address to a suppression list and no additional emails are sent to them. They can still log in to their E-Notices account, but they will no longer receive any notifications.
Question 13: What happens when an E-Notice email bounces back? Does the vendor launch a physical statement via USPS?
Answer 13: Bounces are processed daily. When a bounce is detected, the user’s account is suppressed from future notifications. Additionally, if the bounce was for a notification about a new document being available, the vendor prints any bounced documents and send through the US Postal Service. The document includes an insert explaining why they received the document through the mail instead of through E-Notices. The next time the user logs into their account they are directed to either reverify their email address or enter and verify a new email address.
Question 14: Assuming there is a Pay Now or similar link in the E-Notices; is this link embedded in the PDF supplied or do we need to add or create that? Or is this a text only email with a link to payment site?
Answer 14: When the user is viewing their E-Notice Documents there is a payment button that navigates them to our payment site.
Question 15: Regarding E-Notices, how many email attempts are currently made for electronic notices, and within what time frame?
Answer 15: The email is only attempted once, and is done when the physical tax bills are mailed.
Question 16: Are undeliverable emails collected for the creation of a paper statement? If so, within how many days are these mailed?
Answer 16: Yes. The Bounced emails are sent daily. The reprints are done the following Tuesday or Thursday (whichever is sooner) each week depending on the bounce email dates.
Question 17: If a new contractor is awarded the contract, will the current contractor or Lake County furnish the list of registered E-Notice Recipients?
Answer 17: Lake County can furnish the list of current E-Notice users.
Question 18: Could you provide the current contract pricing, or alternatively the most recent invoice, to ensure best value and competitive submissions?
Answer 18: Recent invoices are linked in Answer 1 of this addendum, additional information can be available via a FOIA request.
Question 19: Does the County have geographic restrictions regarding where the Tax Forms will be mailed from?
Answer 19: No
Question 20: Please elaborate on Section 5. Delivery Conditions stating “All Items shall be F.O.B. Destination. The term F.O.B. Destination shall mean delivered and unloaded at delivery sites within Lake County, with all charges for transportation and unloading paid by the Contractor. Any claim for loss or damage shall be between the Contractor and the carriers.”
Answer 20: Disregard this section, as it is not applicable to this procurement.
Question 21: Please confirm that the county is willing to prepay all postage prior to mailing.
Answer 21: Postage will be estimated and made payable to the vendor with no postage markup, and any credit shall be used towards future invoices, while any underpayment should be communicated and invoiced directly to the Treasurer’s Office.
Question 22: In the specifications list for this bid, the County describes the "Real Property Final Notice Mailing Envelope" as a 6" x 9" envelope with custom artwork as presented in Exhibit G. However, Exhibit G on the revised bid document displays what looks like a #10 envelope which has dimensions of 4 1/8” x 9 1⁄2”.
Answer 22: Exhibit G is a #10 envelope with measurements of 4 1/8” x 9 1⁄2”, with printing on both sides.