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E. July 31, 2001 - Award of contract will take place on or before this date. Contract execution will be within thirty (30) days of the award.

Implementation planning and testing of all automated systems, including establishment of internal controls, will begin immediately for conversion.

F. January 1, 2002 - Commencement of banking services contract.

IV. Selection Criteria.

A review committee composed of Treasurer's staff will evaluate all proposals, which were received timely, and will make a recommendation to the Yakima County Treasurer. The Treasurer reserves the right to reject any and all bids, to waive any and all informalities, and to request clarification of statements within the proposals.

Valid bids will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:

a. Qualified public depositary for public funds in accordance with Washington State laws;

b. Ability to provide requested financial information or statements for the years specified within the Invitation for Proposals;

c. Ability to meet all requirements and prove costs and benefits for specific banking services including, but not limited to:

1. controlled disbursement accounts;

2. zero-balance accounts;

3. positive-pay services;

4. reconciliation services;

5. electronic-balance and transaction-reporting services;

6. electronically places stop payments;

7. electronic payments;

8. electronically transmitted analysis statements;

9. electronic or digitized storage of paid checks and warrants;

10. overnight sweep accounts;

11. safekeeping and custody arrangements;

12. lock box services;

13. credit or debt card receipt services;

14. direct deposit payroll.

d. Branch office within the City of Yakima. (Please attach a listing of all bank branches within Yakima County.)

e. Banking services costs, which are consistent with the ability to provide an appropriate level of service to the Treasurer. Costs will be measured in conjunction with the effect of compensating balance.

f. Bank by signature below certifies that it has a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating of either Satisfactory or Outstanding.

g. It is required that all forms included within this Invitation for Proposal be completed in their entirety to receive consideration during the review process.

h. Any exceptions and/or additions must be clearly noted and listed on separate addendum to the Invitation for Proposal forms.

i. Actual performance history with governmental treasury operationswithin the State of Washington.

V. Terms and Conditions.

A. The contract shall become effective immediately upon execution by all parties, with implementation of all specified services to take place on January 1, 2002. This is critical, so that if a change in banks is required, there may be appropriate and successful testing and implementation of changes affecting the Treasurer's operations, schedules and agencies served. Please note that the Treasurer is committed to thoroughly testing any, and all, applicable automated systems well in advance of implementation date.

B. In the event that the bank to whom the contract is awarded cannot implement the Banking Services Agreement, hereinafter called the "Contract," on January 1, 2002, or there is reasonable indication that the bank is performing in such a way that implementation is not likely to occur on the scheduled date, the County Treasurer may give notice to the bank of intent to award the contract to the bank with the next best proposal or to call for new proposals and may proceed to act accordingly.

C. The County Treasurer may terminate this agreement in the event of default or violation by the bank of any of the provisions of the agreement upon 60-days notice. The bank shall be liable for all damages for such default, breach or violation including any and all incidental and consequential damages. The bank may terminate this agreement in the event of default or violation by the Treasurer of any of the provisions of this agreement upon 90-days written notice.

All notices of termination called for herein shall be in writing and shall be either personally delivered to the Office of the Yakima County Treasurer, Room 115, Yakima County Courthouse, 128 North Second Street, Yakima, Washington, or that corporation office of the bank set forth herein. All notices shall be deemed mailed when deposited in the U.S. mail with return receipt requested, or when deposited with an express delivery agent. Provided, however, this agreement may be terminated by mutual agreement between the parties at any time.

The Treasurer and the Bank Contract Representative shall schedule regular meetings, not less than quarterly, to review any outstanding issues regarding service levels, needs and/or proposed service changes in order to minimize the possibility of default by either party.

D. Statistics are contained in these bid documents in order to provide as much information as possible to qualified banks. The information contained herein is, to the best of our knowledge, a true representation of the Treasurer's historical experience; but the Treasurer is in no way representing that these statistics will necessarily hold true for the future.

E. Banks shall thoroughly examine and be familiar with the specifications outlined within this Invitation for Proposal. The failure or omission of any bidder to receive or examine these documents shall in no way relieve any bidder of obligations with respect to this bid. The submission of a bid shall be taken as prima facie evidence of compliance with this paragraph.

F. The bank shall provide the Treasurer with a monthly (month-end) statement of itemized services provided and balances maintained by the County Treasurer no later than seven (7) calendar days after the month of service, including a copy of each account statement affecting the Treasurer's analysis and charges. The Treasurer shall have the right to examine any records that support this monthly statement.

Each County department, however, must receive their month-end statement directly from the bank for their internal reconciliation processes and record-keeping.

G. If the compensating balances maintained by the Treasurer for the service month are insufficient to satisfy the contractual requirement, the balance deficit shall be carried forward to the following month as an addition to that month's average daily balance requirement. If the average daily balances maintained by the Treasurer are higher than required in the bank's bid, the excess shall be carried forward to the following month and deducted from the compensating balance maintained for that month.

Settlement shall be annually following the close of the fiscal year ending December 31, with any applicable payment for services to be submitted by the Yakima County Treasurer within the month of January following the receipt of the analysis for December.

VI. Banking Services Requirements.

A. Account Maintenance. The Yakima County Treasurer presently maintains the following accounts under her banking services contract:

a. General Account, which is used for investment portfolio transactions (purchases and maturities with electronic transactions taking place), Treasurer's checks activity, 27 warrant collection accounts (zero-balance accounts assigned for each warrant issuing agency), and other Treasurer's electronic funds transfer activities (direct deposit payroll, debt service payments, ACH activity etc.);

b. EFT Account, which is used for electronic deposits received from Federal and State agencies for monies the Treasurer deposits for County agencies after receiving in this account;

c. Three accounts, which are each used by separate County departments.

There are plans being made to add additional accounts for County departments, which may have special needs for checking activities as authorized by local or state laws.

B. General Account Services. This account is used to conduct the major treasury operations, such as the County's investment transactions, paying for warrants that have cleared, clearing Treasurer's checks, and making electronic funds transfers.

a. The operation of the County's investment program requires that amounts deposited from maturities and sales be automatically transferred by the bank to the County Treasurer's General Account each banking day by 10:00 a.m. so that such funds are available for warrant redemption or investment purposes the same day.

b. The warrant-collection balances for each business day are to be available by computer modem access to the Treasurer by 7:00 a.m. In addition, the General Summary balances shall be available at that same time for the close of the previous business day.

c. The County and special purpose districts whose warrant accounts are placed with the Treasurer will provide for the printing of warrants at each agency's own expense.

d. The bank will provide for the printing of deposit slips and for lock bags.

e. The bank shall have assigned personnel available to answer questions pertaining to transactions, which require more explanation or further documentation. A listing of such personnel will be provided to the Treasurer and maintained in an up-to-date manner when the bank's personnel changes.

f. The bank shall also provide a listing of contacts for any of its automated systems for which the Treasurer's staff may be required to contact and resolve problems.

g. The County will structure the investment, deposit, and warrant redemption activity such that daily at the close of business, the County has a net zero collected funds balance in the General Account.

To accomplish this, the daily collected balance remaining after the day's deposits and disbursements have been posted by the bank, will automatically earn for the County until the next business day, a return based on a pre-determined percentage of the 90-day Treasury Bill average auction yield. All County and other accounts are to be included in this tabulation.

C. Deposit Services. The bank shall include all deposits received at any of its branches up until 4:30 p.m. or the bank's regular closing time for the determination of the Yakima County Accounts Demand Account Ledger Balances for the same day. In addition, the bank shall make special provision to accept deposits and give same day Demand Account Ledger Balance credit up to at least 5:30 p.m. on the property-tax due dates per year.

a. The Treasurer will take steps necessary to facilitate the most timely and efficient possible collection of deposits by the bank, such as frequent deposits during the day, and immediate notification to the bank of items deserving special handling.

b. All bank-returned checks (i.e., non-sufficient funds, account closed, etc.) must be returned to the Treasurer after having been presented for collection a second time. These checks are to be charged back against the County's accounts.

c. Deposits for the County's accounts are transported to the bank by armored car or other security transfer daily at the County's expense.

d. The bank shall include lock bags of large size and of medium size at no charge to the County, as requested.

e. Service bank will charge the County once per day, a single overdraft charge on overdrafts, if they occur in the General Account, that will not exceed the charge of one overdraft. This charge will be incorporated into the monthly analysis.

Notwithstanding an overdraft in the General Account, all warrants and Treasurer's checks must be paid as presented to the bank. These warrants and checks cannot be refused.

C. Investment Services. The Treasurer conducts an aggressive investment program on behalf of the County and all of its districts and departments under the authority of RCW 36.29.020. The Treasurer invests in United States Government and United States Agency securities, bank and savings and loan associations Certificates of Deposit, Repurchase Agreements, Bankers Acceptances and other instruments which may be approved by Washington State law.

a. The Treasurer may obtain safekeeping facilities and services for securities purchased from the financial institution, broker or dealer from whom the investment is purchased. The bank will provide safekeeping for investments purchased from the bank and others as required. All trades will be executed by delivery vs. payment (DVP). To protect against potential fraud and embezzlement, the assets of the Yakima County Treasurer shall be secured through third-party custody and safekeeping procedures. All investments shall be maintained in the name of the Yakima County Treasurer. The portion of the portfolio being held by the present service bank will remain there until maturity or sale of individual security.

D. Foreign Exchange. Canadian and other foreign checks will be processed as deposited in United States dollars. A foreign exchange adjustment will not be permitted for check activity.

The service bank must also provide foreign currency and coin exchange in instances wherein law and justice agencies served by the County Treasurer have impounded or seized such funds during the course of their work.

E. Wire Transfer Services. The service bank will be required to maintain wire transfer facilities to the Federal Reserve Bank for investment purchases and sales and other transactions with commercial banks or savings and loan associations. Wire services credit and debit transactions must be listed within the daily transaction reports received by the County.

a. The bank must provide automated dial-up wire transfer facilities to initiate out-going transfers and receive data on incoming wire transfers. Appropriate internal controls shall be defined to protect these public funds transactions.

b. The bank will assure that, except in cases of wire service malfunction or receiving bank system failure, outgoing wires sent pursuant to timely and correct wire instructions by the Treasurer are received by close of business at the wire destination. The Bank shall specify on the bid form the latest time of day when it can receive wire instructions and assure that wires transactions are received by the close of business at the wire destination. Incoming wires must be credited to the Treasurer as of the date the bank receives the credit.

c. If necessary, adjustments will be made for any lost interest or other charges resulting from a failure to complete an investment transaction.

d. The County remits payments to the State of Washington, to the cities and towns, the County's districts and other agencies by wire transfer and Automated Clearing House transactions on a monthly basis pursuant to statutory requirements.

A. Warrant Services. The service bank will be required to process allYakima County warrants presented each day, sort and subtotal the warrants and perform related services as follows:

a. Accept all warrants presented each day, sorted by warrant-collected account (ZBA) and MICR number. Provide warrant-collection debit as detailed on the automated report of account activity. There are presently 27 accounts from which warrants are issued.

b. Provide data of non-interest-bearing warrants redeemed via automated media/process for automated input into the Treasurer's Warrant Reconciliation System. The total dollar amount of this data must agree with the bank's daily report totals and with the total of all warrants presented for redemption. Automated transmission and warrants, with any applicable hard copy records must be provided before 10:00 a.m. on the banking day following payment by the County.

c. Charge the Treasurer's General account for warrants on the same day the bank has made payment, thus eliminating warrant float. Any corrections made with warrant activity after the close of business or after the ZBA account has been zeroed out must be made to the Treasurer's General Account.

d. The bank will indemnify the Treasurer for any claim for payments made against the County by the payee of a County warrant, subject to the following conditions:

1. That the warrant giving rise to the claim is missing from the County warrant files.

2. That the warrant giving rise to the claim is listed within the Automatic Account Reconciliation file previously presented to the County and for which the County has paid the bank in an amount including the missing warrant.

3. The bank is unable to provide sufficient evidence (photocopy) that the missing warrant was cashed or otherwise negotiated and presented to the bank for payment.

4. The County's warrant records have not been tampered with, destroyed or otherwise impaired.

5. In all cases, bank liability shall be limited to the amount of the missing warrant or warrants and shall automatically terminate 3 years from the date on which the warrant giving rise to the claim was issued.

6. Accept, return and give credit for stopped warrantsand give credit for warrants for which the Treasurer has no record of issue provided the County returns such warrants for credit within 24 hours of their receipt by the bank or within 24 hours of receipt by the County.

7. Accept, return and give credit for forged warrants whenever returned with a Certificate of Forgery.

G. Interest Bearing Warrants (Registered Warrants). Should it become necessary for a county district or for a county department to issue interest-bearing warrants, the County Treasurer will make necessary arrangements with the bank a minimum of two weeks in advance of issue date with applicable financial reports provided to the bank. Such financial reports shall include, but not be limited to, the agency's most recent audited annual financial report, the agency's most recent audit report as completed by the Washington State Auditor's Office, the adopted budget for the current fiscal year, and a cash flow projection for the current fiscal year. Also provided will be the agency's issue amount and length of time those warrants would be held by the bank.

a. All interest-bearing warrants are stamped by the County Treasurer on the face of the warrant designating those warrants as interest-bearing with the date of the issue and interest rate as established by the County Treasurer's service bank for that month.

b. Interest-bearing warrants issued are to be issued at a rate computed as a percentage of the prime rate of the service bank and established for each quarter no later than 10 days prior to the beginning day of the quarter. The accrual basis on these warrants will be "actual/360."

c. The Treasurer's service bank should pull and hold interest bearing warrants that have been charged on warrant-collection tape or other media, crediting Yakima County for the warrant amount.

d. The service bank shall also provide a report of called, interest-bearing warrants which are being submitted for redemption with MICR number, issue date, call date, and amount. Totals by issue date must be provided for calculation of interest by 10:00 a.m. the business day prior to call date. This report and the called warrants are required by 10:00 a.m. on the call date.

H. Courier Service: The bank will provide for courier service to and from the County Treasurer's Office a minimum of once each business day at a time mutually agreeable for pick-up and/or delivery of magnetic tapes or other automated media, letters of credit, County warrants, reports and other essential documents.

I. Safekeeping Service Requirements. The following safekeeping services will be required of the contracting service bank.

a. Account Maintenance - The Treasurer currently maintains a single safekeeping account to which all securities, except those used as collateral for repurchase agreements, that are purchased for the County and the agencies served by the County Treasurer, necessitating that the Federal Reserve account into which the securities are transferred, be separate from the account into which the bank safekeeps its own securities.

1. Maintain a Federal Reserve Account in order to handle book entry security transactions. The successful bidder will act as trustee for securities purchased by the County Treasurer, necessitating that the Federal Reserve account into which the securities are transferred, be separate from the account into which bank safekeeps its own securities.

2. Dedicate a single individual solely to maintaining the County's account because of the volume of trade activity. This individual must be available by telephone during the hours of 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. PST. The successful bidder will provide adequate backup to ensure that the County's account is maintained during any absences of the individual dedicated to the account.

b. Safekeeping Services - The bank will act as safekeeping agent for the receipt and disposition of securities for the Treasurer. The bank is authorized to use a New York City correspondent bank as their agent to take possession of any County physical securities if applicable.

1. The Treasurer, or an individual designated by the Treasurer, will provide specific instructions via telephone or telefax for each purchase or sale of security. These instructions will include the face amount of the security, the coupon, cost, description and any other pertinent information.

2. Security purchases will be made on a delivery versus payment (DVP) basis. The bank will not make payment for the securities until the securities have actually been received. Receipt can occur either at the bank itself, a correspondent bank in New York City, or in the bank's account on the books of the Federal Reserve Bank for book entry securities.

All assets or securities will be held in the name of the Yakima County Treasurer by third-party custody and safekeeping procedures.

3. All telephone instructions will be confirmed the same day in writing via messenger provided by the Bank or via telefax. Notification of all purchases and sales will be given only in writing, generally one business day prior to security transfer. Telephone and written instructions will only be given by, and only accepted from, the persons identified by the County in writing. The Bank will not deliver securities being sold by the County nor pay out money for securities being purchased by the County until the bank receives payment for the securities respectively.

4. Payment of monies, receipt of monies, or transfer of securities will not occur unless the security received or delivered identically matches the County's description and the exact amount of money the County specifies is delivered or accepted, except that the bank will accept wired book entry securities delivered to the bank for the county each day as long as the Federal Reserve wire system is in operation.

5. The bank will refuse to accept any physical security to be held for the County if it arrives with markings on it or its container stating that the security is the property of an entity other than the Yakima County Treasurer of Yakima, Washington, or the broker/dealer from which the County is purchasing the security.

6. Whenever securities are directed to the bank or the bank's correspondent bank for our account, the bank and the bank's correspondent bank are automatically on notice that the County has a secured interest in the securities (or a quantity of securities) that are a part of a bulk of government book entry securities for the County.

7. Book entry securities are to be safekept in a trust account at the Federal Reserve Bank, with an entry in the bank's books reflecting that the bank holds those particular securities (or a quantity of securities) that are part of a bulk of government book entry securities for the county.

8. Physical securities being held in the bank's trust department, or in the trust department of the bank's correspondent bank, in all cases are to be marked with the notation on their face or conspicuously on their container, that they are "Property of the Yakima County Treasurer, Yakima, Washington" from the time of the bank's receipt of the security until the bank delivers the security as instructed by the County.

9. A fail occurs when the seller of a security fails to deliver the security purchase either to the bank, or a correspondent bank, or the Federal Reserve Bank. The bank must notify the County Treasurer, or her representative, by telephone of all fails by 8:00 a.m. PST within one business day following the fail.

10. On the day of the bank's receipt of securities for the County's account, the bank will send the County by courier an individual safekeeping receipt of each security received for the County's account, and stating that the bank identified those securities on the bank's books as belonging to the County.

11. The bank will work with the County Treasurer in order to ensure that the safekeeping arrangement does not adversely affect the daylight overdraft situation at the Treasurer's concentration bank.

12. The bank will include, with the monthly account analysis, a separate schedule or other support that clearly shows and details the previous month's charges.

13. The bank will allow physical inspection by the County or the County's agents to verify segregation of the County's securities at any time during regular banking hours without prior notice and without charge to the County.

The bank will cooperate with the County in physically spot-checking the bank's account at the County's correspondent bank and the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank without notice to those entities in order to confirm that they are holding for the bank the proper quantity of similar securities of which the County's securities are a part.

VII. Mailing Addresses.

The following addresses shall be used for mailing of notices under this Agreement:

Yakima County Treasurer's Office
P.O. Box 22530
Yakima, WA 98907-2530

or if express delivery is used to: 128 North Second Street, Room 115, Yakima, WA 98901.

VIII. Annual Letter of Opinion.

By November 1, 2002, and every November 1 thereafter for the duration of this agreement, the bank shall procure for the County a "Letter of Opinion" from an independent outside accounting firm regarding the sufficiency of the system of internal accounting control utilized by the bank in relation to its obligation and services under the contract.

IX. Miscellaneous Bank Requirements for Customer Support.

A. Other services to be considered in the future will be additional County accounts for agencies served by the Yakima County Treasurer, other forms of automation as they become available and cost-effective to our operation, other forms of payment such as credit or debit cards, and such other services that may prove to be effective to the operation.

B. The successful bidder may have certain requirements of their customers not covered under standard State and Federal banking laws, regulations and procedures. These should be clearly listed and defined within their bid and proposed service costs.

X. Payment for Services.

A. The County Treasurer will compensate the bank for provided services on a fee basis to be paid annually based upon a mutually-agreed-upon invoice format and payment process. All charges against the County Treasurer will be paid by warrant drawn on the service bank with payment being made by January 31 after the close of each fiscal year ending December 31

XI. Other Matters.

A. Yakima County reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids and to select the bid that best meets the interests of the County Treasurer's operations.

B. The Yakima County Treasurer retains the right to invest excess funds with other financial institutions at its discretion.

C. Yakima County is not liable for any costs incurred in replying to this Request for Proposals. All proposals become the property of Yakima County. Any restrictions to this must be shown clearly on the proposal and may not prevent disclosure under the Public Records Act.