MEMORANDUM
TO: City Manager / Finance Director / Purchasing Officer
FROM: Department Director / City Clerk / Information Technology Director
DATE: October 2026
SUBJECT: Micro-Purchase Justification & Price Reasonableness Determination — CivicTag ADA Title II Document Compliance Subscription
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Authorize annual subscription for CivicTag Municipal Compliance Pass ($4,950.00 / year) under Municipal Micro-Purchase Authority.
1. Background & Federal Mandate
Under the U.S. Department of Justice Final Rule for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (28 CFR Part 35, RIN 1190-AA79), all web content and downloadable public documents (PDF forms, permit applications, fee schedules, and public notices) published by local government entities must conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA and PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) technical standards.
- Tier 1 Compliance Date (April 26, 2027): Public entities serving a population of 50,000 or more.
- Tier 2 Compliance Date (April 26, 2028): Public entities serving a population under 50,000 and all Special District governments.
- Compliance Scope: Active public-use documents must include programmatic tag structures, logical reading order, properly mapped character encodings, and accessible form controls for screen reader users.
2. Procurement Authority (Micro-Purchase Threshold)
This acquisition qualifies as a discretionary micro-purchase pursuant to Municipal Purchasing Policy and Federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR § 200.320(a)(1)):
- Below Formal Solicitation Threshold: The annual fee of $4,950.00 is below the $5,000.00 micro-purchase ceiling and substantially below formal competitive bidding / RFP thresholds ($25,000–$50,000).
- Direct Departmental Purchase Eligible: May be executed directly via departmental credit/purchasing card or standard Purchase Order within existing operating budget appropriations without requiring formal Council solicitation.
3. Market Comparison & Price Reasonableness
A comparison of commercial document remediation options demonstrates substantial cost savings to the municipality:
| Remediation Approach | Typical Vendor / Method | Cost for 1,500 Active Pages | Estimated Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual Outsourced Tagging | Traditional Accessibility Agencies (e.g., Level Access, AbleDocs) | $37,500.00 – $60,000.00 (Billed at $25.00–$40.00 per page) | 12–24 weeks |
| Internal Staff Remediation | Manual tagging in Adobe Acrobat Pro by municipal staff | ~$28,000.00 in staff time (~350 hours @ $80/hr burdened rate) | Ongoing staff backlog |
| CivicTag Municipal Pass | Automated In-Place PDF/UA-1 & HTML5 Compiler | $4,950.00 Flat Annual Fee (Covers up to 2,500 active pages) | Under 48 hours |
Fiscal Impact: Utilizing CivicTag reduces municipal compliance expenditure by 87% to 92% compared to manual per-page remediation contracts.
4. Technical Scope & Archival Exemption Filtering
- 28 CFR § 35.201(b) Archival Exemption Triage: Automatically identifies and logs historical documents (such as archived agendas, past minutes, and closed permit records) that qualify for the federal archived web content exemption, ensuring public funds are only spent remediating active documents.
- In-Place PDF/UA-1 Remediation: Injects ISO 14289-1 structure trees, reading order identifiers, and Unicode character mappings directly into existing PDF files while preserving 100% of original visual layouts, municipal seals, and signatures.
- Accessible HTML5 Companion Views: Generates mobile-responsive WCAG 2.1 Level AA HTML versions for high-traffic public forms and fee schedules.
5. Vendor Summary
- Vendor: CivicTag Compliance Technologies LLC
- Classification: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) / Electronic Document Accessibility
- NAICS Codes: 518210, 541511
- Documentation Attached: VPAT 2.5 Accessibility Conformance Report, Form W-9, and Compliance Certificate.
- Payment Terms: Credit / Purchasing Card (Visa/Mastercard), ACH/EFT, or Net-30 Purchase Order.
Approved By:
___________________________________________________
Department Director / Purchasing Agent
Date: ________________________