Columbus, Georgia

Georgia's First Consolidated Government

Post Office Box 1340
Columbus, Georgia, 31902-1340
(706) 653-4013
fax (706) 653-4016

Council Members

INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

FINANCE DEPARTMENT





DATE: May 22, 2008



TO: Isaiah Hugley, City Manager



FROM: Pamela Hodge, Director of Finance

Andrea McCorvey, Purchasing Division Manager



SUBJECT: Justification for Usage of Georgia State Contracts





The State of Georgia bids annual contracts for a variety of equipment and

supplies. Per Georgia Code, the State?s solicitation process is synopsized

below:



Code 50-5-67: Sealed bids are solicited by advertisement in the Georgia

Procurement Registry established under subsection (b) of Code Section 50-5-69

and in addition may be solicited by advertisement in a newspaper of statewide

circulation at least once and at least 15 calendar days prior to bid opening;

except for construction projects which shall have 30 calendar days allowed,

prior to the date fixed for opening of the bids and awarding of the contract.



Awards are made to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. This is the

bidder who submits the lowest price, whose bid meets specifications, agrees to

contract terms and conditions with the State, and who is clearly capable of

performing the resulting contract. Therefore, the awarded bidder may not

always be the bidder who has submitted the lowest monetary bid.



Anyone may bid on items and are not required to be a registered vendor in order

to bid. Registered vendors will automatically receive notification of a bid

utilizing a commodity code they are registered for. Otherwise, unregistered

vendors may learn of the bid via the newspaper or the posting on the state

website.



Per the City?s Procurement Ordinance, except for construction projects, bids

must be advertised for at least fifteen (15) business days. This time frame is

a little longer than the State?s advertisement time frame (15 calendar days)

because the City is not fully set up to email bid invitations to vendors as of

yet. The State emails bid invitations to its registered vendors. The City?s

bid advertisements are posted on the website, advertised in local papers, and

in some instance, invitations are mailed to vendors for specialized equipment

and services. In all other respects the City?s bid process is consistent with

the States bid process.



It is an understood fact that Vendor?s bidding on any City bid, for equipment,

can also search the State?s Website, look for pricing for the same equipment,

and of course bid a lower price than offered by the State Contract. Hence, the

reason some City bids may be lower when compared to the State Contract price.



The City?s purpose for using State Contracts is to save time, labor and money.

We save time because we can more readily expedite the purchase and departments

can get equipment they need as soon as possible. We save labor and money,

because staff time is not utilized administering a bid process, funds are not

spent for bid advertisements and, in some cases, postage cost is saved.



The recent practice of approving capital at Mid-Year puts additional time

constraints on the Purchasing staff because it is so close to the end of the

fiscal year. Consequently, while Purchasing is trying to close out purchases

for the fiscal year, staff is also starting new solicitation processes.

Additionally, some specialized services and equipment, approved in Mid-Year,

require a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The RFP process is more complex

and requires more staff time and process administration. Therefore, for common

equipment such as tractors and mowers, which have already been competitively

bid by the State of Georgia, it has been the practice to utilize the State?s

contracts to accomplish those purchases. This allows staff more time to

concentrate on more complex solicitations.



Usage of Georgia State Contracts is a needed practicality. In addition to the

single purchase of specified equipment or vehicles, the City uses State

Contracts for annual contracted items such as: Bullet Proof Vests, Maintenance

Repair and Operation Supplies, Office Furniture, and Mail Processing Services

for Vehicle Registrations. The City?s Procurement Ordinance, #99-18, Article

3-118, State Contracts, reads as follows:



The State of Georgia Administrative Services Division secures state contracts

for numerous commodities. The City will utilize state contracts when it is

deemed to be in the best interest of the City. The state contract may be

utilized when time constraints deem it more prudent than the City initiating a

formal bidding process. A competitive sealed bid may be administered to

compare pricing, product, warranty etc?with the state contract.



If it is the pleasure of Council to cease the usage of Georgia State Contracts,

then it will be necessary to amend the City?s Procurement Ordinance.



It was also expressed in Council that purchase opportunities offered through

Georgia Municipal Association should be reviewed. GMA does sponsor purchases

through U.S. Communities, a non-profit instrumentality of government,

established by public agencies to reduce the cost of purchased goods and to

streamline the purchasing process. The City is registered with U.S.

Communities and has made some recent purchases, approved by Council, via U.S.

Communities. However, mowers and tractors are not listed as equipment

available through the U.S Communities contracts.



Attached is a memo from the Fleet Manager explaining the need for the equipment

in question.

MEMORANDUM





Date: May 22, 2008

To: Andrea McCorvey, Purchasing Manager

From: Chris Brown, Fleet Manager

Subject: Tractor And Mower Purchase From State Contract





There are three (3) tractors and one (1) 10? batwing mower I am requesting to

be purchased from the state contract. The tractor brands are two (2)

Challenger MT335B?s and one (1) Massey Furguson 563. The brand of mower is a

Shulte S100. The two larger tractors, the Challenger?s, will be used by

Right-Of-Way Maintenance to replace tractors which have been salvaged. The

same goes for the Shulte mower. The tractors and mower will be used to cut

right-of-ways and detention ponds as well as other city owned property. The

other tractor, the Massey Furguson, will be used by the Heavy Equipment

Division to do work relating to soil erosion control on the shoulders of roads

where work has been performed.



Some of the tractors salvaged in Right-Of-Way were salvaged last year. This

has put them behind in their cutting schedule. Due to the urgent need of this

equipment, and not finding out they were approved until late in the year (Mid

Year Budget) I feel that we do not have the time required to write specs and

send out bids in order to get this equipment before the end of this cutting

season. In addition, the tractors we?re trying to purchase from the state

contract are already built and are 2008 models. Having to bid them out will

most likely result in a price increase as well as a delay in receiving them

because the manufacturers will then be building their 2009 models.

Attachments


No attachments for this document.

Back to List