2025-2026 MELA Minutes

that in April. She mentioned that this proposal clearly exceeds both 5% and CPI. Dr. LeBrun mentioned that she can certainly go back to CityLabs and say this quote is significantly higher than our previous agreement. She mentioned that they may come back and match something closer to 5%, and she would ideally like to see it closer to 3%. Or they may say their rates have increased, and this is firm. She said that she wanted to provide full transparency. She can share copies of previous invoices so the group can see the numbers line up as they are having internal conversations about how you want to proceed. She mentioned that she did originally piggyback off an RFP to secure CityLabs because at that time, there was nothing comparable. Since then, she has had conversations about other tools and solutions. She said she just wanted to share this now so the group has adequate time to make decisions. She asked the group to keep in mind that the current service expires November 30th, 2026, and no action needs to be taken today. Aaron Payne, NWCC, asked if it was wrong for the group to go back to them and say what was said about it being significantly more than our last quote, even though we knew it went up, and ask if they could come down to 5%. Is that technically allowed? Dr. Krista LeBrun, MCCB, stated that, absolutely. That she does that every single time. She mentioned that the last time we voted on Turnitin, she sent the quote out to the group and said, “Hey y’all, this is what they gave me. It is significant. I do not recommend we vote on this yet.” She mentioned she hadn’t had a chance to negotiate at that point, but she felt confident we could reach a better agreement with Meghan Sexton, and she did, in which they came down. She mentioned that she hasn’t had to do much negotiation with CityLabs in the past. She said she did prepare her for a price increase, but she didn’t indicate it would be this significant. She said she just received this quote, so she hasn’t had a follow-up conversation yet. She just wanted the group to see the numbers, just I case she back and inform them that this quote is high based on state procurement guidelines. But she did want to prepare everyone so that they may say no. They could respond that these are their updated rates and represent fair market value. Dr. LeBrun mentioned that if CityLabs is not willing to negotiate and the group still decides to move forward at these rates, then she would need legal involvement. She would have to prepare a justification explaining why we are willing to exceed the 5% threshold with taxpayer dollars and why this product warrants that increase. She mentioned that doesn’t mean we can’t keep the product. It