2011 NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AND VACANY SURVEY - PROGRAMMING SUPPORT

Contracting Office Address Department of Commerce, U. S. Census Bureau, Acquisition Division, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD, 20746 THIS IS AN INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE ANNOUNCEMENT PURSUANT TO FAR 6.302-1. THIS CONSTITUTES THE ONLY WRITTEN NOTICE, NO OTHER NOTICE OR SOLICITATION SHALL BE ISSUED AS A RESULT OF THIS NOTICE. BACKGROUND The NAICS Code for this acquisition is 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services, with a Size Standard of $25M. For over 45 years, the U.S. Census Bureau and the City of New York, through the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (NYC-HPD) program, has entered into a series of interagency agreements to conduct the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS). The latest agreement, dated as of March 1, 2010, is for the 2011 NYCHVS. The Census Bureau requires services of a contractor with in-depth knowledge and experience with the NYCHVS. SPECIFIC TASKS The Contractor shall employ the knowledge and experience in undertaking the following tasks as extracted from the Performance Work Statement (PWS): C.3.1 Provide advisory support to survey managers and Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division (HHES) programming staff through planning efforts of the 2011 NYCHVS data processing operations: a. Review and create test files to test the Regional Office Survey Control Operation (ROSCO) check-in system. This involves creating - fake' addresses, control numbers, other variables on the address label and transmitting files to NPC. Written results of testing will be prepared for the survey manager and any problems documented. b. Advise in coding of address files and provide written recommendations of the results of the address matching operation. Results shall be similar to past surveys, with any substantial change (greater than 10% higher or lower) documented to survey managers. c. Advise on specifications for formatting and matching sponsor-provided new construction, Inrem, and conversion files to our sample file. Provide written recommendations on appropriate modifications to computer programs. d. Prepare data processing time schedule, including the following activities: Industry and occupation coding, pre-edits, subject matter edits, pre-allocation edits, allocation edits, post allocation edits, consistency edits, labor force edits, income edits, and recodes. e. Participate in planning meetings and provide subject matter expertise as required. C.3.2 Modify, update and advise HHES programming on all labeling and control list Computer programs and print control lists. These labeling programs are used to label the questionnaires. The control lists provide the New York Regional Office with a - control' list of sample cases to be interviewed. These activities include the review, update, and any other modification of computer specifications. Provide written recommendations to survey manager on computer programs, file-formatting and character positioning. C.3.3 Advise survey managers and HHES programming staff in preparing files for address update (new construction, conversions, Inrem special sample): a. New construction: Match city-provided address list to the NYCHVS sample file to identify duplicates, select sample buildings, select - hit' units, create data files in accordance with labeling specifications, and transmit to National Processing Center (NPC) and Technologies Management Office (TMO). b. Inrem sample selection: Match city-provided address list to the NYCHVS sample file to identify duplicates, select sample buildings, select - hit' units, create data files in accordance with labeling specifications, and transmit to NPC and TMO. c. Alterations and Conversions: Match city-provided address lists to the NYCHVS sample file to identify duplicates, select sample buildings and select - hit' units. Create data files in accordance with labeling specifications and transmit to NPC and TMO. C.3.4 Perform and advise HHES programming staff in coding the sample NYCHVS file: a. Format city-provided address lists received from the sponsor to be matched to Census Bureau NYCHVS sample file, as directed by the Project Manager. These include the following lists: Inrem, Article 4, 421A, Mitchell Lama, HUD Regulated, Public Housing, J-51, Rent Control/Stabilization status, and Loft Board. These files shall be converted from Ascii flat files to SAS datasets. b. Perform the address matching and compare results with HHES programming results and provide written comments and recommendations to survey managers. c. Compare matching results to the last survey, conducted in 2008. The contractor shall evaluate the results and prepare written recommendations on the validity of the results to the survey managers. The recommendation shall include the reasonableness of the results. C.3.5 Advise, review and document all updates required through modifying, updating, and documenting all allocation edit programs, subject matter edit programs, recode programs, user edit programs, and all other edit programs. C.3.6 Advise HHES programming staff on modifying variance and weighting programs; producing variances and weights: a. Review and update the weighting specification programs based on following sampling frames: Housing units also included in the 2010 Decennial Census (Census sample), Housing units that were converted to residential from non-residential (Conversions) and housing units that received Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) from April 2010 through November 2011, Housing units that were acquired by the City of New York through the Inrem tax foreclosure proceedings and Housing units added to buildings as a result of alterations to the building. b. Review and update the variance programs so the sponsor may have standard errors for certain characteristics, such as tallies by borough, rent stabilization status, poverty status, race and ethnicity, income, contract rent, and many other characteristics. C.3.7 Review, update, and advise HHES programming staff in preparing computer programs to produce hard copy tabulations: a. Series IA (Renter occupied units), tables, percent distributions, means, medians. b. Series IIA (Vacant for-rent), tables, percent distributions, means, and medians. c. Series IB, (All occupied) tables, percent distributions, means, and medians. d. Series IIB, (Other vacant) tables, percent distributions, means, and medians. e. Series VIIA, (Population for renters) tables, percent distributions, means, and medians. f. Series VIIB, (Population for owners) tables, percent distributions, means, and medians. C.3.8 Provide subject matter technical expertise and programming guidance to develop recommendations on mircodata file preparation, evaluate the results, and prepare written explanations as required: a. Preparing cross-sectional data files, both internal and public use. b. Review user edit specifications and computer programs to ensure consistency. c. Review programs and files to ensure all requirements are met by the Census Disclosure Review Board. d. Advises survey managers on addressing sponsor concerns on the microdata file. The place of performance shall be U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD 20746. The period of performance shall be from the date of award plus 22 months. The government anticipates awarding a Firm Fixed Price contract using Part 15 Contracting by Negotiation. THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS OF ONLY ONE SOURCE: Emilye Williams, 4309 Sutherland Circle, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-6109. Interested parties may submit responses that demonstrate its ability to provide services in accordance with this announcement, which will be considered within 15 days of the posting of this notice. As a result of analyzing responses to this synopsis of intent to sole source, the Contracting Officer may determine that the action may be competed. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. For questions concerning this procurement, please contact Yolanda J. Mitchell, Contract Specialist, at +1 (555) 000-0000 (contact@example.gov) or Natalie Y. Ellis, Sr. Contract Specialist, at +1 (555) 000-0000 (contact@example.gov).