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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFQ - Short Term Rental Monitoring Services - Town of Ithaca REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ) FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Short Term Rental Monitoring Services FOR THE TOWN OF ITHACA 8/5/25 PREPARED AND ADMINISTERED BY: TOWN OF ITHACA CODE ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT 215 North Tioga St. Ithaca, NY 14850 Page 1 of 5 REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS TOWN OF ITHACA SHORT TERM RENTAL MONITORING SERVICES PROJECT OVERVIEW The Town of Ithaca is seeking statements of qualifications to establish a qualified pool of consultants interested in providing the Town with services to track and report all short-term rental (STR) units occurring in the Town of Ithaca BACKGROUND The Town of Ithaca (Town) has a short-term rental (STR) operating permit requirement for all dwelling units that rent for a period of less than 30 days. The Town conducts inspections on three- year intervals for all properties that are granted short-term rental operating permits. SCOPE OF SERVICES The goal and intent of the Town is to ensure all STR dwelling units are compliant with all applicable Town of Ithaca local laws. The following is a list of required deliverables and related scope of services: • Provide a monthly report of all STR activities to the Town, which identifies the total number of units rented, the total number of units in compliance, and the total of units not in compliance, or operating without a permit. • Monitor websites, several times each week, such as but not limited to Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, FlipKey, etc. to identify short-term rental units and status of compliance. • Provide address identification for all short-term dwelling units that rent for a period of less than 30 days. • Provide the following Property characteristics (from Assessment and/or Realtor Data): o Property address o Owner name and mailing address o Residential type (primary residence, secondary/investment property) o Property type o Number of bedrooms and bathrooms o Map of the property’s location o Maximum occupancy per Town of Ithaca ordinance • Provide a GIS layered map to identify locations of ALL short-term rental units. • Provide an interactive dashboard system that allows for: o searching and filtering of all information related to short-term rentals. • Integrate and update information related to operating permits the Town issues to show compliance within the short-term renal compliance monitoring system. • For each STR, provide the following listing characteristics: o URL for each listing associated with each specific property o Listing ad ID for each listing associated with each specific property o Rental calendar showing current month, prior twelve months and upcoming three months booking activity (frequently updated calendar) Page 2 of 5 o Differentiate between regular bookings and host-blocked dates that are not revenue-generating o Host name (when available) o Stay limitations (minimum/maximum) o Permit/license number if included in the listing o Daily rental rate at time of booking o Rental frequency o PDF copy of each listing that includes a history of all previous versions of the listing (to track changes), and records archiving in the event a listing is taken down by the host. Provide each image with a date stamp showing when it was created that is kept indefinitely. o Rental type (Whole home, shared home) o Bedrooms and bathrooms advertised o Maximum occupancy, per listing • Provide an unlimited number of user accounts from the Town. BUDGET AND TIMELINE The consultant will need to quote a flat annual fee for the services to be considered by the Town on an annual basis, and a three-year option for term of the agreement. The following is an anticipated schedule for the RFQ process. The Town of Ithaca reserves the right to modify any part of this schedule: RFQ Schedule (subject to change) Advertise Request for Qualifications (RFQ) August 15, 2025 Deadline for Questions August 22, 2025 RFQ Due August 29, 2025 Notice of Selection and Proposal Award September 12, 2025 QUALIFICATIONS SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS Responses to this RFQ should include the following: 1. Title Page Lead Consultant Information. For the lead (or sole) consulting firm, provide the following information: a. Business name b. Mailing address c. Website d. Contact name, email, phone number e. Form of Organization (partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, etc.) f. Where Organized g. Names of principals, officers, and directors 2. Sub-consultants (if applicable). For each member of the team, provide the following: h. Firm name i. Mailing address j. Telephone k. Website Page 3 of 5 3.New client relationship – if applicable l. Timeline for implementation shall be provided in proposal 3. Qualifications. The response shall include a Statement of Qualifications (“SOQ”), a brief section that indicates the experience and qualifications of the Company, the manager and any other critical members of the team. It should describe what talents their team brings to the project, how their knowledge/experience will benefit the process, how the team has been successful in the past and how that relates to this scope of services. 4. Account Personnel. Identify the primary point of contact(s) to be assigned to work with the town, their relevant experience and role/duties/position in the organization. 5. References. Provide names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of three (3) external references who can speak to past performance on at least (3) similar service contracts. 6. Examples of Reports. Provide a sample of the types of monthly reports described above in the scope of services that will be required. EVALUATION Responses will be evaluated on the following information: 1. Reporting Accuracy, Quality & Usability a. Sample reports will be evaluated for accuracy, ease of use and alignment with the scope of work/services requested. 2. Interactive Dashboard a. The town will request a demonstration of the interactive tools to be made available to town personnel to be evaluated for accuracy, ease of use and alignment with the scope of work/services requested. 3. Past Performance Rating a. The rating will be based on the performance of services provided to other clients from a list of (3) three external references from clients who received similar services to those proposed for this solicitation. 4. Strength of Team a. Based on the proposals, the interview, and service plan, the Town shall evaluate the expertise and experience of the Consultant and the project lead as it relates to the similar services provided to other clients. 5. Cost a. The annual cost proposed and the value for the services will be strongly considered. 6. Demo of product: a. The client will provide a demo of the product to be scheduled after the initial submission of the RFQ Consultants shall be selected based on their formal submitted proposal for consideration. Exclusion of any service for the project may serve as cause for rejection. The proposal shall address all items completely and thoroughly and shall be signed by an officer of the firm authorized to bind the Consultant to its provisions. The contents and commitments in the Proposal shall remain firm for ninety (90) calendar days from the submittal due date. Final recommendations will be made by the Town Director of Code Enforcement and subsequently the Town of Ithaca Town Board. Final approval to contract with a consultant will be made by Resolution of the Town of Ithaca Town Board. Page 4 of 5 By submitting a RFQ, the Consultant certifies that it is not currently debarred from submitting bids for contracts issued by any political subdivision or agency of the State of New York and that it is not an agent of a person or entity that is currently debarred from submitting bids or contracts issued by any political subdivision or agency of the State of New York. Non-Collusion Consultants shall submit a fully executed Non-Collusion Statement with their responses and subsequent proposals. The statement can be found in Appendix A. Conflict of Interest Consultants shall prepare and submit a statement that no conflict-of-interest issues exist at the submission of their responses to this RFQ. In addition, non-conflict of interest statements must also be provided for any sub-consultant. Agreement The Consultant will provide an agreement that is acceptable and agreeable to the Town for services provided after the Consultant is selected by the Town. Page 5 of 5 SUBMISSION DEADLINE Statements of qualifications are due at the close of business (4:00 PM eastern time) on August 29, 2025 . Responses must be sent electronically, in PDF format, with the subject line: ‘Short Term Rental RFQ” to: Marty Moseley mmoseley@townithacany.gov The Town of Ithaca reserves the right to reject any and all of the responses received as a result of this RFQ. The Town of Ithaca will not be liable for any cost incurred by the Consultant for any work performed through, and including the execution of, a contract for professional services prior to the execution of a contract. For questions regarding this RFQ, please contact: Marty Moseley Director of Code Enforcement Town of Ithaca mmoseley@townithacany.gov 607-273-1783 All questions shall be submitted electronically via email. Appendix A NON-COLLUSIVE CERTIFICATION By submission of this proposal, each Consultant and each person signing on behalf of any Consultant certifies, and in the case of a joint proposal each party thereto certifies as to its own organization, under penalty of perjury, that to the best of knowledge and belief: (1) The prices in this proposal have been arrived at independently without collusion, consultation, communication or agreement, for the purpose of restricting competition, as to any matter relating to such prices with any other Consultant or with any competitor; (2) Unless otherwise required by law, the prices which have been quoted in this proposal have not been knowingly disclosed by the Consultant and will not knowingly be disclosed by the Consultant prior to opening, directly or indirectly, to any other Consultant or to any competitor, and, (3) No attempt has been made, or will be made, by the Consultant to induce any other person, partnership or corporation to submit or not to submit a proposal for the purpose of restricting competition. 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