by Neil W. McCabe

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced April 12 that he has chosen Century Bank and Citizens Bank to provide Somerville’s banking services after putting all the city’s banking contracts out to bid in February.

“This fulfills a key campaign promise to institute competitive bidding for city contracts,” said Curtatone.

“It proves we can get better prices and better service by creating competition for these contracts,” he said.

The city will cut its banking service payments in half over the three-year term of the contract. The city paid approximately $68,000 in bank processing fees last year and has a cash flow of about $160 million annually.

Century Bank will continue as the city’s primary bank, providing services such as lockbox processing of property taxes and water payments. The bank will also manage payroll and vendor bank accounts, he said.

“We are very proud to continue working with the city of Somerville,” said Jonathon G. Sloan, the president of Century Bank.

Sloan said his father, Marshall Sloan founded the bank in Somerville in 1969, and even though their new corporate offices are just over the line on Mystic Avenue in Medford, the Foss Park branch remains its office regulatory address.

Century Bank’s involvement in the city extends to supporting local
youth athletics, community groups and a special training-to-employment program for the residents at the Somerville Housing Authority, he said.

Citizens Bank will provide services related to the collection of Traffic and Parking revenues, such as coin processing from parking meters, Curtatone said.

“All the credit goes to Rose Lambias, the Davis Square branch manager and her tellers,” said Dana G. Mann, an assistant vice-president in-charge of the Somerville municipal account.

“I think it’s great to be to able keep the contract, because we work so hard to do a good job for the city,” said Lambias, who has worked for Citizens for six years.

In a letter to the board of aldermen, Curtatone wrote: “In both cases, these banks were chosen based on the prices they bid and the quality of the work they proposed to provide.”

The city solicited banking proposals earlier this year as part of the mayor’s overall effort to establish competitive bidding for its services. The contracts for the city’s banking services had not been put out to bid for several years, Curtatone said.

Sloan said he appreciated that the mayor was looking out for the taxpayers and he was impressed by the professionalism of the mayor’s staff and their procedures throughout the bidding process. “We were aggressive on our pricing, to make sure we came in cheaper than the major players.”

“We are trying to change the way Somerville does business and this is a significant step in that direction. Competitive bidding is here to stay in Somerville,” Curtatone said.