You asked several questions about property management at Connecticut courthouses. The Judicial Department provided answers to all of your policy and process questions, which we treat separately below.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AT AREA COURTHOUSES?

By law, the Office of the Chief Court Administrator has supervision, care, and control of all property where the Judicial Department is the primary occupant and of the building and grounds of the State Library and Supreme Court. “Judicial Department” does not include the courts of probate, the Division of Criminal Justice, or the Public Defender Services Commission except where they share facilities in state-maintained courts (CGS § 4b-11).

DESCRIBE THE PROCESS THE JUDICIAL BRANCH USES TO ADVERTISE AND AWARD PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS, INCLUDING WHO MAKES THE FINAL DECISION ON AWARDS

Advertising

1. Date(s) are established for a mandatory walk through of each courthouse for which property management is being sought.

2. A request for proposal (RFP) is announced internally, if appropriate, for existing staff to bid on the project.

3. An RFP is advertised in three newspapers and posted on the Judicial Branch's website at least 10 days prior to the site walk through.

4. A walk through of the facility is held. Participants are required to sign in.

5. Questions resulting from the walk through are answered and posted as an amendment to the RFP on the Judicial Branch's website and e-mailed or sent by facsimile to participants in the walk through.

6. Any additional questions are evaluated by Purchasing for relevance before answering. If answers are provided, they are issued as amendments to the RFP on the Judicial Branch's website and faxed or e-mailed to participants in the walk through.

Awards Process

1. During the RFP release period an RFP evaluation committee is formed.

2. Prior to the RFP opening the evaluation criteria are reviewed.

3. A public opening is held on the scheduled RFP opening date for all proposals received in response to the RFP. At the opening prices (fixed fees, maintenance, supervision, and management staff costs) are read aloud.

4. Proposals are evaluated for compliance with the RFP's administrative requirements.

5. Proposals are distributed to the evaluation committee with instructions for individual scoring and preparations for the review meeting.

6. A review meeting is held and scores are documented and averaged to calculate each proposal's quality point ratio (QPR). (QPR is calculated by dividing the total proposal score for all criteria by the proposed price for services.) Defined as the quality proposed for every dollar expended, the QPR is used to rank proposals.

7. Rankings are announced to committee members and the committee's recommendation for award is documented and signed by participants.

8. The purchasing manager reviews the recommendation, including backup documentation, and addresses any issues with the process. If the manager is not satisfied with the recommendation, the purchasing office may overturn it. If the recommendation is overturned, additional reviews are held with the committee until a decision is made to either award the contract or recommend a non-award.

9. The legal services unit reviews all contracts.

10. The purchasing manager awards the contract. If a decision is made not to award a contract, the director of materials management may authorize rebidding.

11. All non awarded participants in the RFP process are sent a letter announcing non award.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR CONTESTING AN AWARD? 

Contests should be addressed to the purchasing manager. He or she forwards them to the unit sponsoring the contract for review and comment. The sponsoring unit sends its responses to the purchasing manager who responds to the person contesting the award.

If this correspondence does not resolve the matter, further contests are submitted to the director of materials management for a decision. Further contests are directed to the Office of the Chief Court Administrator. The chief court administrator or her designee reviews the protest with the sponsoring unit, legal services, and materials management before rendering a decision.

PROVIDE THE NAME OF THE COMPANY CURRENTLY MANAGING EACH COURTHOUSE

As of February 1, 2008, the Judicial Branch had 19 buildings managed by three property management firms. Those firms are Fusco Management; O, R&L Property Management Services; and Servus Management. Table 1 shows each of the 19 buildings, their addresses, and the firms currently providing property management.

HOW MUCH IS EACH COMPANY PAID PER SQUARE FOOT?

The Judicial Branch does not pay per square foot for property management services. Property management contracts include fixed costs consisting of a management fee and the cost for a property manager and any onsite maintenance staff employed by the management company. Onsite staff are also compensated for overtime as appropriate. Overtime costs are considered variable expenses and are paid on a per hour basis. All preventative maintenance and service contracts, for the most part, are considered a “pass-through” and are variable expenses. Variable expenses are based on a pre-approved, fiscal year budget. The “pass-through” expenses are authorized for costs incurred by the management companies' vendors or contractors that are passed on to the Judicial Branch.

The Judicial Branch spent $6,502,123 on premises property management services in FY 06/07.

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