§ 2-156. Procurement procedures.

(a)

Verbal quotes on purchases below $5,000.00. Quotes for purchases may be obtained by contacting the vendors who are capable of supplying the product or services required and asking them for a quote over the phone. The person obtaining the quote should record the date, vendor's name, contact's name, and the price for the product or service.

(b)

Written quotes on purchases $5,000.00 to 30,000.00. Quotes for purchases may be obtained by contacting the vendors who are capable of supplying the product or services required and asking them to send a written quote by mail, fax, or email. The quote should contain the date of the quote, the vendor's name, contact's name and phone number, and the price for the product or service.

(c)

Sealed bids on purchases over $30,000.00. Under the sealed bid method, the county issues an invitation to bid (ITB) that explains the requirements of the supplies or materials being required or the project specifications. The bid or contract that is awarded must be to the lowest responsible bidder who meets all the requirements of the ITB. Bids are valid for only 60 days unless otherwise agreed by the county and the bidder. Under the sealed bid method, the county may negotiate only with the lowest responsible bidder if all responsive bids exceed the county's budget for the supplies, material or project.

(d)

Sealed proposals on purchases over $30,000.00. The proposal method allows the county to select the offer based on evaluation factors established in the request for proposals (RFP). In the RFP, the county must list all of the factors that will be used to evaluate each offering to select the best proposal. The RFP must also assign a relative weight to each factor. Each responsive proposal is scored according to only those factor listed in the proposals. Once all the proposals are scored, the relative weight of each factor is applied, and the firm with the best score wins or the county may "short list" the top three firms that the county feels are capable of meeting all the requirements of the RFP for future negotiations. The scoring sheets must be used to evaluate firms and are subject to open records requirements once the project is awarded. Because price does not have to be an evaluation factor, the county is not restricted in hiring the firm that offers the lowest price. If the contract is awarded, it must be to the firm determined in writing to be most advantageous to the county based upon the factors specified in the RFP. Proposals are valid as long as specified in the RFP, but vendors/contractors not on the short list must be released after 60 days. If specified in the RFP, the county may negotiate with those firms on the short list for purposes of obtaining a best and final offer under the proposal method.

(e)

Federal and state funding. Should the procurement of goods and/or services be funded in whole or partially utilizing federal or state funds, then all federal and/or state procurement regulations must be followed to ensure proper reimbursement of these funds to the county. The finance director and purchasing manager will coordinate efforts to ensure the county adheres to these regulations.

(f)

Bid bonds, performance bonds, or deposits. The manager shall be authorized to require a bid bond, performance bond, or deposit, payable to the county for contracts up to $100,000.00 from vendors bidding on any goods or services when, and in such amounts, the nature of the goods or services warrant such a bond or deposit, or whenever such bond or deposit is required under state law. Notice of bond or deposit shall be included in the public notice and ITB/RFP specifications. Contracts over $100,000.00 shall require a bid bond, performance bond, or deposit. Such bond or deposit shall not exceed 100 percent of the bid amount.

(g)

Addenda modifying plans and specifications. Addenda modifying plans and specifications shall not be issued within a period of three days of the advertised time for the bid or proposal to close, excluding weekends and legal holidays. If it becomes necessary to issue an addendum modifying plans and specifications within the three days immediately preceding the advertised time for the bid or proposal to close, the be closing date and time will be extended by exactly one week without the requirement to re-advertise. Any addenda issued to modify plans and specification must be acknowledged by every vendor submitting a bid or proposal using the form provided with the bid or proposal. Failure to acknowledge all addenda issued will result in the bid or proposal being rejected.

(h)

Local vendor preference. Except for matters required to be bid by state law, such as public works contracts and materials, any purchase or contract under $100,000.00 that is put out to bid under this division may be handled in the following manner. When a non-local business submits the lowest bid price and the bid submitted by one or more local business is within five percent of the price submitted by the non-local business, the local business with the lowest submitted bid shall have the opportunity to match the low bid of the non-local business. If they match the low bid, they will be awarded the contract. If this local business does not desire to match the low bid, then the local business with the next lowest bid within the five percent price range will be asked until all local businesses within the five percent range have had the opportunity to match the low bid. If a local business does not desire to match the non-local business' bid, the non-local business will be awarded the bid/contract.

(i)

Single responses. When only one response is received on a solicitation, the county will review the response to determine if all specifications have been met, that the response is a responsive and responsible bid, and that the response is within the budget for the solicitation. If these conditions are met by the vendor, then the county may accept the response and award to the responding vendor. However, if the response does not meet all three of these conditions, the county will withdraw the solicitation and will determine the actions that must be accomplished to release a new solicitation to attempt to obtain competitive responses.

(j)

Unopened responses. If a response is rejected without being opened because the information on the response does not match the requirements of the solicitation or the response is received after the announced closing time, the response will be returned to the vendor as having been rejected for noncompliance.

(k)

Rejected responses. Responses may be rejected for any of the following reasons by the purchasing manager, the finance director, the county manager and/or the board of commissioners. Once a response is rejected at any level of review, the response cannot be considered for the award.

The response to the solicitation was received after the announced closing date and time of the solicitation.

The response fails to comply with any provisions or specifications outlined in the solicitation.

The response includes an escalation clause that was not authorized by the specifications of the solicitation.

The response includes alternate bids but the solicitation did not authorize the acceptance of alternate bids.

The response, when opened, contained multiple responses to the solicitation. A vendor may submit multiple responses but each response must be submitted separately, as outlined in the solicitation, to be considered.

The vendor discusses the solicitation with the county personnel or elected officials who are not authorized to answer questions or to be contacted as outlined in the bid documents and/or request for proposals from the time the solicitation is released until the time the board of commissioners approves the award of the bid or the contract.

The county manager or the board of commissioners may deem it necessary and in the best interest of the county to reject all responses because of funding constraints, new specifications that become evident during the review process but were not provided to the vendors, lack of responsiveness on all responses received, or other justification that comes to light after the closing date and time and before the award of the bid or contract.

(l)

Tie bids. If two or more bids received in conjunction with a valid ITB are received for the same total amount or unit price, quality and service being equal, the bid will be awarded to a local business. When a local business is not one of the vendors with the tied bid, the board of commissioners shall award the contract at their discretion.

(m)

Protests. After the board of commissioners has awarded a bid or contact, any vendor who submitted a valid response to the solicitation and feels they have a legal challenge to the award, must file a written letter of protest outlining their reason for challenging the award within three days of the award of the bid. Should the vendor failure to present the protest in three days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, the vendor forfeits their right to protest the results of the board's decision and the vendor must then seek an injunction through the courts to challenge the process.

(n)

Payments on bids and contracts. Payment(s) to vendors who have successfully responded to a solicitation and have been awarded a bid or contract by the board of commissioners shall be made after all material and services have been received and the board of commissioners or their representative have accepted the material or services as compliant with the specifications of the solicitation. The acceptance of goods and services should be provided by a signed delivery ticket, bill of laden, or letter of acceptance. The vendor will submit an invoice with a copy of the acceptance paperwork to the finance department for processing of payment under the terms of net 30 from the date of the invoice. Exceptions to the net 30 payment can only be made by the finance director or the county manager.

Partial payments are allowed on purchase orders based upon delivery and acceptance of material and/or services as outlined in the above paragraph. The vendor will submit an invoice with a copy of the acceptance paperwork to the finance department for processing of payment under the terms of net 30 from the date of the invoice. Exceptions to the net 30 payment can only be made by the finance director or the county manager.

Payments on public works projects will be subject to a retainage of ten percent of the total amount paid out to date. The vendor may request payment of the retainage after the architect has signed off on the project as complete, the board or the board's representative has signed off on the project as complete, the representative of the federal government or state government signs off on the project as complete in the case where funding from these organizations in involved, the contractor has provided a waiver of liens, and the entire punch list of items requiring attention, correction, or repair have been resolved.

(o)

Conflict of interest. No county elected official or county employee shall have a direct interest or indirect interest in any business wishing to engage in an agreement with the county for the purchase of goods or services.

(p)

Equal opportunity. The county will provide equal opportunity for all businesses to participate in county contracts regardless of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, political affiliation, age, handicap status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, or transgender status. The county will actively seek to ensure that minority-owned and operated firms have the opportunity to participate in the purchasing process, including binding, negotiations, and contract awards. The county will not knowingly conduct business with contractors that discriminate or permit discrimination against persons for any reason.

(q)

Ineligible vendors. Any person, firm, or corporation in arrears to the county for taxes, or otherwise, will not be eligible to bid on any county solicitation until their lien to the county has been cleared. Any person, firm, or corporation barred from participating in solicitations at the federal or state levels of government will also be barred from participating in county solicitations. Any vendor knowingly violating the county purchasing ordinance to gain an advantage in the solicitation process shall be barred by the purchasing manager from participating in future solicitations for a period of three years.

(Ord. No. 17-004 , § 6, 2-20-2017)