Delinquent Tax Collection Services

South Texas College (“STC”) is soliciting a Statement of Qualifications (sometimes also referred to hereinafter as the “Response”) from qualified law firms with experience and a verifiable history of delinquent tax collections programs in Texas. Responses are solicited for the collection of property taxes within Hidalgo County and Starr County, which comprise the College district. The chosen firm will assist STC in delinquent collections as authorized under Section 6.30 and 33.07 of the Property Tax Code. Other services may be requested of the firm related to delinquent ad valorem property tax matters. STC wishes to contract for a period of one (1) year with an option to renew for two (2) additional one (1) year periods.

Background

Founded in 1993, South Texas College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and offers more than 130 degree and certificate options, including associate degrees in various art, science, technology, and health science professions.  Additionally, South Texas College is the only community college in the State of Texas to offer five baccalaureate degrees.   South Texas College has a faculty and staff of more than 2,200 to serve 27,000 students across its five state-of-the-art campuses, two Higher Education Centers, the Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence, and one virtual campus.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 25-26-1048
• Department: Business Office
• Department Head: Katarina Bugariu (Director of Fiscal Affairs)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-01T19:00:00.000Z

Addenda

• Addendum #1 (released 2026-03-31T14:33:44.589Z) —

  Good Afternoon,

  Section 7.1 of the Collection History – Client Table Form has been updated to correct the tax years.

   

  Please use the See What Changed link to view all the changes made by this addendum.

• Addendum #2 (released 2026-04-07T13:12:45.992Z) —

  The following question was received on April 1, 2026:

   

  Question: Please provide collection rates for the last three tax years.

   

  Answer: Property tax levies and collections are reported in South Texas College’s FY 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), Statistical Table 8 on page 160.

   

  The ACFR may be accessed at the following link:

  https://finance.southtexascollege.edu/businessoffice/forms/ACFR/ACFR_2025.pdf

Evaluation Criteria

• Execution of Offer (1 pts) —

  Pass/Fail 

• Incomplete Proposal (1 pts) —

  Pass/Fail 

• References (if applicable) (1 pts) —

  Pass/Fail 

• The Respondent’s price proposal (45 pts)
• The Respondent’s experience and reputation (10 pts)
• The quality of the Respondent’s goods or services (10 pts)
• The Respondent’s safety record (5 pts)
• The Respondent’s proposed personnel (8 pts)
• The Respondent’s financial capability in relation to the size and scope of the project (8 pts)
• The Respondent’s organization and approach to the project (6 pts)
• The Respondent’s time frame for completing the project (7 pts)
• The impact on STC’s ability to comply with laws and rules relating to Historically Underutilized Businesses (1 pts)
• The purchase price (47 pts)
• The reputation of the vendor and of the vendor's goods or services (10 pts)
• The quality of the vendor's goods or service (16 pts)
• The extent to which the goods or services meet the district's needs (18 pts)
• The vendor's past relationship with the district (3 pts)
• The impact on the ability of the district to comply with laws and rules relating to Historically Underutilized Businesses. (1 pts)
• The total long-term cost to the district to acquire the vendor's goods or services (5 pts)
• For a contract for goods and services, other than goods and services (5 pts) —

  related to telecommunications and information materials, whether the vendor or the vendor’s ultimate parent company or majority owner:

  1. Has its place of business in this state; or

        B. Employs at least 500 persons in this state. 

• The purchase price (42 pts)
• The reputation of the vendor and of the vendor's goods or services (15 pts)
• The quality of the vendor's goods or service (14 pts)
• The extent to which the goods or services meet the district's needs (20 pts)
• The vendor's past relationship with the district (3 pts)
• The impact on the ability of the district to comply with laws and rules relating to Historically Underutilized Businesses. (1 pts)
• The total long-term cost to the district to acquire the vendor's goods or services; and (5 pts)
• For a contract for goods and services, other than goods and services (5 pts) —

  Related to telecommunications and information materials, whether the vendor or the vendor's ultimate parent company or majority owner:

  1. Has its place of business in this state; or
  2. Employs at least 500 persons in this state

   

• Qualification and Experience (40 pts)
• Approach, Strategy and Compliace (30 pts)
• The extent to which the services meet the district's needs. (12 pts)
• References (10 pts)
• The vendor's past relationship with the district (3 pts)
• For a contract for goods and services, other than goods and services (5 pts) —

  Related to telecommunications and information materials, whether the vendor or the vendor's ultimate parent company or majority owner:

  1. Has its place of business in this state; or
  2. Employs at least 500 persons in this state

Submission Requirements

• Company Profile
• Provide a brief history of the firm and its operations. (required)
• Number of years in business (required)
• Type of Operation (required)
• Legal Name and/or DBA Name (required)
• Employer Identification Number (EIN) (required)
• Number of Full-Time Attorneys employed: (required)
• Number of Full-time employees excluding Attorneys: (required)
• Does the company have its principal place of business in the state of Texas? (required)
• Does the company employ at least five hundred (500) persons in the state of Texas? (required)
• Provide any details of all past or pending litigation or claims filed against your firm that would affect your firm’s performance under a contract with STC. (required)
• Service Questionnaire
• List the number of years of ad valorem tax collections experience.* (required)
• List the current contracts your firm has with taxing jurisdictions within the State of Texas. (required)
• Describe your delinquent tax collection techniques and procedures. Provide a sample of actual notice letters and statements. An annual proposed mailing schedule clearly indicating the type of mailing scheduled should also be included. (required)
• Provide an organizational plan of the collections team that will handle collections for STC. (required)
• Provide specific working experience information on the key personnel proposed to manage this contract, including resumes of attorneys. (required)
• Provide an organization chart identifying all personnel that would be working with STC, showing their respective function/program responsibility. Support personnel should also be identified for STC. (required)
• Describe the success of your efforts in performing tax collection work with other taxing jurisdictions. Include collection percentages and how they are calculated. (required)
• Describe your procedures for filing lawsuits and indicate how they are monitored. Include procedures for selecting accounts for litigation and the firm’s approach to hand complex litigation and examples. (required)
• Describe collection procedures for accounts in bankruptcy? (required)
• Describe your policies and practices related to partial payments or payment agreements or other arrangements with the taxpayer. (required)
• Describe procedures and experience in tax warrants, and collection of judgments by execution and sale. (required)
• Describe other tax-related services that the firm provides. (required)
• How will you provide delinquent tax reports (DTR) to STC? (required)
• Describe your ability to provide collection services in a bilingual (English/Spanish) community. (required)
• Provide your 1-800 telephone number for customer service? Is it staffed with bilingual customer service personnel? (required)
• Provide detailed information on computer facilities, including hardware and software, to be used in the performance of work. (required)
• References —

  Provide a reference list of at least three (3) clients for which Respondent currently provides services or has provided services of the type and scope requested by this RFQ over the past five (5) years. References from higher education are preferred. References must include client name, contact person, telephone number, email address, and length of business relationship.

• Reference #1
• Company Name (required)
• Contact Person & Title (required)
• Phone Number (required)
• E-mail Address (required)
• Reference # 2
• Company Name (required)
• Contact Person & Title (required)
• Phone Number (required)
• E-mail Address (required)
• Reference #3
• Company Name (required)
• Contact Person & Title (required)
• Phone Number (required)
• E-Mail Address (required)
• Collection History - Client Table Forms
• Provide the following data for at least the three largest taxing entities under contract. At least one (1) should be comparable in size to South Texas College. This data should show a collection history for the tax years of 2022, 2023, and 2024 expressed in both dollars and as a percentage. (required) —

  1.  Original levy for each tax year.

  2.  Amount of original levy remaining delinquent on June 30^th of the following year (i.e. amount of “current year” tax turned over to law firm for each year requested).

  3.  Amount of original levy remaining delinquent on June 30^th of be first year following turnover to law firm (i.e. amount of the “current year” remaining delinquent after the first year of collection effort by law firm).

  4. Litigation records to indicate the overall work performance of the firm on behalf of the same three clients (at least one client must be comparable to STC). At a minimum, provide the following:  the number of suits filed by the firm, the number of judgments taken by the firm, and the number of executed tax warrants by the firm for a period of no less than two years for each of the three clients.  Any dismissals for want of prosecution should also be reported.

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Residence Certification (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Addenda Checklist
• Addenda Confirmation (required) —

  Any addenda issued by STC to this RFQ will become part of the RFQ. Addenda will be numbered sequentially. By clicking "Please confirm" below, the Respondent is acknowledging the receipt of any and all addenda.

• Execution of Offer
• Execution of Offer (required) —

  In compliance with this RFQ, and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned (“Respondent”) offers and agrees to furnish any or all goods and/or services at the prices quoted. Failure to sign this Execution of Offer (“Offer”), or signing it with a false statement, shall void the Respondent’s Proposal and any resulting contract and may cause the Respondent to be removed from STC vendor lists.

  By clicking "Please confirm" hereon, the Respondent hereby certifies that it:

  1. is a lawfully established business and is regularly engaged in providing the goods and/or services requested herein.
  2. has the necessary experience, knowledge, abilities, skills, and resources to provide the goods and/or perform the services requested herein.
  3. is not currently delinquent in the payment of any franchise taxes owed to the State of Texas under Chapter 171 of the Tax Code or is not subject to the payment of such taxes, and that any false statement with respect to its franchise tax status shall be a material breach of any contract that may result from this solicitation.
  4.  is not currently delinquent in the payment of any property taxes owed to STC, if applicable.
  5. is aware that if Texas Government Code §2252.908, relating to the disclosure of interested parties, is applicable to any contract awarded to the Respondent as a result of this RFQ, the Respondent is required to make an electronic filing of Form 1295 with the Texas Ethics Commission as a condition of being awarded the contract.
  6. is a publicly-traded company or, if not a publicly-traded company, no owner, employee or director of the Respondent is either currently employed by STC or has been an employee of STC within the immediate twelve (12) months prior to the time set for the submission of the Proposal to this RFQ.
  7. is not suspended, debarred or otherwise declared ineligible to contract by any agency of the federal, state or local government,
  8. has not, in connection with the Proposal, given or offered to give, and does not intend to and shall not give at any time hereafter, any economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to an employee or trustee of STC or to a family member of an STC employee or trustee.
  9. nor anyone acting on its behalf, has violated the antitrust laws of the State, codified in Section 15.01, et seq., Texas Business and Commerce Code or the Federal antitrust laws, or has disclosed, directly or indirectly, any information contained in the Respondent’s Proposal to any competitor or any other person engaged in such line of business.
  10. is aware that pursuant to Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 176, all vendors who contract or seek to contract with “local governmental entity” such as STC may be required to complete a conflict-of-interest questionnaire (“CIQ”) if the vendor has a relationship with an officer of STC who is considered a “local government officer” or with a family member of such officer. If completion of a CIQ is required as of the effective date or at any time during the term of any contract resulting from the Proposal, the Respondent shall file the CIQ with STC’s Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services as the designated records administrator, with a copy to the Director of Purchasing. At https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/data/forms/conflict/CIQ.pdf, the Respondent can find the official CIQ form along with a list of STC officers who are defined by Chapter 176 as “local government officers.”
  11. is aware that pursuant to Texas Education Code, Chapter 44.034, a person or business entity, excluding publicly-traded companies and certain vendors of library goods and services, that does business with STC, must notify STC if such person, or an owner or operator of such business entity, has ever been convicted of a felony, and must include in the notification a general description of the conduct that resulted in the felony conviction. At https://finance.southtexascollege.edu/purchasing/purchase/files/Form-Criminal-History.pdf, the Respondent can find a Criminal History Disclosure Form (“CHDF”) that shall be used for this purpose. If the Respondent is required to submit a CHDF pursuant to Chapter 44.034 as of the effective date of any contract resulting from the Proposal, or at any time during the term of such contract, the Respondent shall send the CHDF to STC’s Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services, with a copy to the Director of Purchasing.
  12. confirms that pursuant to Texas Government Code, Title 10, Subtitle D, Section 2155.004(b), relating to compensation received for participating in the preparation of this RFQ, the Respondent is not ineligible to receive a contract that results from this RFQ and acknowledges that any such contract may be terminated and payment withheld if this certification is inaccurate.
  13. confirms that if the requirements of Texas Government Code Chap. 552.372, governing the preservation of information in connection with certain contracts for more than one million dollars, apply to this RFQ and the resulting contract, the Respondent agrees that the contract can be terminated if the Respondent knowingly or intentionally fails to provide the information as required pursuant to that subchapter or to otherwise comply with any other requirement of that subchapter.
  14. is aware that, notwithstanding any conflicting term in any contract, the dispute resolution process set forth in Chapter 2260.004 of the Texas Government Code may be applicable to attempt to resolve any dispute arising under a contract resulting from this RFQ and that the damages limitations contained in Chapter 2260.003 may be applicable to the contract.
  15. acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 2276.002 of the Texas Government Code, with respect to any contract resulting from the RFQ which meets the minimum monetary and employee headcount requirements under Section 2276.002, the Respondent i) does not boycott energy companies and ii) will not boycott energy companies during the term of the contract.
  16. acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 2271.002 of the Texas Government Code, with respect to any contract resulting from the RFQ which meets the minimum monetary and employee headcount requirements under Section 2271.002, the Respondent does not boycott Israel and ii) will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract.
  17. acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 2274.002 of the Texas Government Code, with respect to any contract resulting from the RFQ which meets the minimum monetary and employee headcount requirements under Section 2274.002, the Respondent i) does not have a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association and ii) will not discriminate during the term of the contract against a firearm entity or firearm trade association.
  18. certifies that, with respect to prohibitions for engaging in fraud and other illicit conduct relating to hurricane and other disaster relief efforts as set forth in Section 2155.006, Texas Government Code, the Respondent is not ineligible to receive the contract and acknowledges that the contract may be terminated and payment withheld if this certification is inaccurate.
  19. certifies that, with respect to prohibitions on vendors who have engaged in human trafficking violations as set forth in Section 2155.0061, Texas Government Code, the Respondent is not ineligible to receive the specified contract and acknowledges that the contract may be terminated and payment withheld if this certification is inaccurate.
  20. acknowledges that Texas Education Code Section 51.3525 (Responsibility of Governing Boards Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives) prohibits STC, whether acting through employees or third-party contractors, from engaging in certain activities as set forth in Subsection (b), Subdivision (1) and to adopt policies and procedures for appropriately disciplining, including by termination, any STC contractor who engages in conduct in violation of Subdivision (1), and Respondent represents that any contract resulting from the Proposal, including any services provided thereunder by Respondent, shall, at no time, violate Texas Education Code Section 51.3525 and acknowledges that if Respondent, as a result of its performance under or in connection with any contract resulting from the Proposal, provides any goods or services to STC which would cause STC to be in violation of Section 51.3525, STC may terminate the contract without liability.
  21. certifies that Respondent and, if applicable, any of Respondent’s subsidiaries and holding companies, are not: i. listed in Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA); or, ii. listed in Section 1260H of the 2021 NDAA; or, iii. owned by the government of a country on the U.S. Department of Commerce's foreign adversaries list under 15 C.F.R. § 791.4; or, iv. controlled by any governing or regulatory body located in a country on the U.S. Department of Commerce's foreign adversaries list under 15 C.F.R. § 791.4.
  22. acknowledges that the individual signing this Offer as well as the other documents included in the Proposal is authorized to sign such documents on behalf of the Respondent and to bind the Respondent under any contract which may result from the submission of the Proposal.

  By clicking "Please confirm" hereon, the Respondent hereby acknowledges and understands that:

  1)STC is a governmental entity and may terminate a contract resulting from this RFQ if funds sufficient to pay its obligations are not appropriated by its governing body. In the event of non-appropriation of funds, STC will provide the Respondent with a written notice of the intent to terminate. In the event of such termination, STC will not be considered to be in default or breach of any agreement, nor shall it be liable for any further payments or be liable for any damages or any other amounts which are caused by or associated with such termination.  

  2) a contract resulting from this RFQ shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas without regard for the conflicts of law provisions. The venue for any suit arising under the contract is fixed in any court of competent jurisdiction of Hidalgo County, Texas.

  3) information, documentation, and other material in connection with this solicitation or any resulting contract may be subject to Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code (the “Public Information Act”).

  4) any proposed modifications or additions to any of the terms and conditions contained in the RFQ will not be considered unless the Respondent specifically requests such modifications or additions in the Proposal.

  The Respondent hereby acknowledges that the Proposal must include the Respondent’s Taxpayer Identification Number and full legal name and address; the failure to confirm the Proposal will disqualify it; and the authorized agent confirming the Proposal may be required by STC to provide evidence of the agent’s authority to bind the Respondent to a contract.

• Brief Description of Service(s)/Product(s) (required)
• Is bonding required for your project? (required)
• Are grant forms required? (required)
• Will there be an evaluation? (required)
• Type of Evaluation (required)

Questions & Answers