PURCHASING
 

Equipment Lease
A.  Request for equipment leases and lease purchase agreements will be submitted on a request for action form to the County Administrator's Office.
B.  When appropriate, the Purchasing Division may consolidate lease requests in order to receive competitive rates.
C.  Lease contracts must be reviewed and approved by the County Counselor prior to the submission of the RFA.
D.  The Commission shall sign all equipment lease contracts that exceeds one calendar year.

Purchasing 
In purchasing items for Saline County, maximum use of central stores and local suppliers will be utilized. Purchasing performed by Saline County shall be divided into three levels:

Non-Competitive Procurement (Level 1)
Purchases of $3,000.00 or less. Non-repetitive purchases not to exceed an aggregate amount of $3,000.00 may be made. Cost comparisons are encouraged but not required. Purchases likely to exceed $3,000.00 shall not be divided into smaller purchases of $3,000.00 or less.

Competitive Procurement (Level 2)
A. Contracts may be competitively negotiated when one of the following conditions apply:
 1. Purchase value is greater than $3,000.00 and no greater than $5,000.00.
 2. Over $5,000.00 if approved by the County Administrator that competitive sealed bidding is not practical.
 3. If determined by the County Administrator that bid prices received by competitive sealed bidding either are unreasonable as to all or part of their conditions, or were not independently reached in open competition and for which:
    a.Each responsible bidder has been notified of the intention to negotiate and is given reasonable opportunity to negotiate; and
    b.The negotiated price is lower than the lowest bid by any responsible bidder.
B. Source Selection and Award:
    1. Bids may be obtained as formal written proposals or as informal quotations, quotations obtained in person, by phone, FAX or other communication medium.
    2. Department shall solicit bids from at least three (3) qualified suppliers; if fewer than three exist, then two (2) shall be accepted.
    3. A brief description of the item for which quotations were solicited including prices obtained and department selection shall be recorded on a "Tabulation of Verbal/Written Quotations" sheet and submitted to the County Administrator for final approval.

Competitive Sealed Bidding (Level 3)
A. Conditions for Use -
Contracts exceeding $5,000.00 shall be awarded by competitive sealed bidding unless it is determined by the County Administrator that this method is not practical. Factors to be considered in determining whether competitive sealed bidding is not practical shall include whether:
    1. Specifications can be prepared that permit award on the basis of the lowest and best bid; and 
    2. The available sources, the time and place of performance, and other relevant circumstances are appropriate for the use of competitive sealed bidding.
    3. Competitive bid/proposal may be waived when purchases are made in cooperation with other city, county, state, or federal agencies and it is deemed to be in the best interest of the County to purchase supplies, services and equipment from contracts and agreement of other governmental agencies. Such joint purchases in excess of $25,000.00 shall be approved by the Board of County Commissioners, and such joint purchases in excess $10,000.00 but not exceeding $25,000.00 shall be approved by the County Administrator.
B. Public Notice -
Invitation for Bid shall be issued by mail from the County Administrator’s office to prospective bidders and shall be published once in the official county newspaper. Thirty days shall elapse between the publication and the bid award. Written notice shall be given to as many prospective bidders as reasonable.
Contracts for the construction, surfacing, repairing or maintenance of any road when the engineer’s estimate is more than $5,000, shall give not less than 20 days’ notice prior tothe bid opening and shall be published twice in the official county newspaper in two consecutive weekly issues. The first publication of such notice to be not less than 20 days prior to such opening.
C. Bid Opening -
Sealed bids shall be delivered to and held by the County Administrator who will conduct a public bid opening at a designated time and place. Each bid together with the name of the bidder, price, items offered, delivery times, etc., shall be recorded and held open to public inspection.
D. Award -
The user department shall review all bids and prepare a request for action recommending and bidder to be awarded the contract. Final award will be made by the County Commission. The County Commission will always have the option to accept and/or reject any or all bids. Prompt notice in writing of contract award to the responsible bidder shall be issued by the County Administrator or the user department.
E. Correction or Withdrawal of Bids -
Correction or withdrawal of bids after opening may be allowed only to the extent permitted by the County Commission.

Competitive Sealed Proposals
A. Conditions For Use -
Competitive sealed proposals may be used where it is necessary to insure fair and reasonable price analysis, but not to preclude competition for technical excellence or price. Generally, competitive sealed proposals may be used under the following conditions:
    1. The purchase is for professional services.
    2. The purchase is for technical items or equipment.
    3. The purchase is for complex services.
    4. The purchase is for non-standard items.
B. Evaluation Factors -
The proposal evaluation criteria shall be standards which measure how well an offeror's approach meets desired performance requirements, and which permit an evaluation of the differences be-tween the desired performance characteristics and what each offeror proposes. Price may not be the major factor in determining criteria for source selection; but realism, reasonableness andcredibility of price must always be determined. The Request for Proposal shall state the evaluationcriteria upon which selection decisions will be made.
C. Public Notice -
Request for Proposals shall be issued by mail from the County Administrator’s office to prospective offerors and may, at the discretion of the County Administrator, be published in the local county newspaper allowing 30 days to elapse between the notice and the proposal award.
D. Proposal Opening -
Sealed proposals shall be delivered to and held by the County Administrator’s office, which will conduct a public opening at a designated time and place. Each offeror's name shall be recordedand be held open to public inspection.
E. Award -
Proposals received are evaluated according to the predetermined criteria. The user department shall review all proposals and prepare a request for action recommending the proposer to be awarded the contract. The County Commission will make the final award. Prompt notice in writing of contract award to the successful offeror shall be issued by the County Administrator’s office or the user department.
F. Discussion After Proposal Opening -
Post-opening clarifications or discussions of proposals with offerors is allowed. Final agreements on price and other terms may be negotiated under a proposed contract.

Non-competitive Negotiation
A. Conditions For Use -
A contract may be awarded by non-competitive negotiation in the following situations:
    1) By will of the County Commission
    2) Emergency purchases
    3) Resale purposes
    4) Sole source
    5) Purchase from another governmental unit at a price deemed less than that available commercially

Cancellation of Bid Opening or Request For Proposals
Proposals -
An Invitation for Bid, a Request for Proposal, or other solicitation may be canceled, or all bids or proposals may be rejected if it is determined that such action is taken in the best interest of the county and approved by the County Commission.