Sacramento Municipal Code Art. I In General

The following definitions apply in this title:

"Affiliates" means persons that have the same or substantially the same management, ownership, control, or one or more of the same principal employees.

"Bid" means a submission to the city in response to the solicitation of a contract to be awarded to the lowest-responsible bidder.

"Bidder" means any person that submits a bid.

"Change order" means a written amendment to a contract for a public project.

"City manager" means the city manager or designee.

"Competitive bidding" means the process of soliciting bids and awarding a contract to the lowest-responsible bidder.

"Contract" means a written agreement to purchase goods, nonprofessional services, or professional services; or to construct, repair, or maintain a public project.

"Contract amendment" means a written modification to a contract, including change orders, supplements, task orders, and any other written instrument that modifies the contract.

"Contract amount" means the not-to-exceed amount of a contract, as modified by any contract amendment.

"Cooperative purchasing" means procurement conducted by, or on behalf of, two or more public agencies, to leverage their combined purchasing power.

"Debarment" means any action taken by the city manager, or a hearing examiner on appeal, pursuant to this chapter, or by another public agency, to suspend or render a person ineligible to bid upon, be awarded, or contract with any public agency.

"Expenditure" means the payment of funds or the provision of goods or services by the city.

"Goods" means supplies, equipment, or materials, including materials required for the maintenance or repair of any street, sewer, or water work.

"Lowest-responsible bidder" means the responsible bidder, as determined pursuant to section 3.56.020, whose bid is responsive to the bid requirements, including any local business enterprise program or local hire program requirements included in the bid specifications, and whose bid price is the lowest after all bid prices are calculated to include any applicable bid price preferences.

"Maintenance" means recurrent, periodic, or scheduled work required to preserve a facility. It includes:

1. Work required to restore components that have deteriorated from wear and tear; and

2. Other work on a facility to prevent damage or deterioration to that facility which would be more costly to restore.

"Nonprofessional services" means services of a nonprofessional character of any type, description, or variety, including tree-trimming services, janitorial services, and repair services for office machines, equipment, and automotive vehicles.

"Piggybacking" means relying on a solicitation process conducted by another public agency, if permitted by the other public agency.

"Predecessor-in-interest" means a person whose rights, assets, debts, or obligations are acquired or assumed by another person.

"Principal" means any officer, director, owner, shareholder, partner, responsible managing employee, or person with primary management or supervisory responsibilities, including any person who has a substantial influence or substantive control over performance of a contract.

"Professional services" means services of a professional character, including services rendered by engineers, architects, auditors, actuaries, and attorneys.

"Proposal" means an offer in response to a solicitation for a contract to be awarded on a basis other than lowest cost.

"Proposer" means any person that submits a proposal, statement of qualifications, or other response to a solicitation for a contract to be awarded on a basis other than lowest cost.

"Protest" means a claim, filed by a bidder or proposer in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and city policies, alleging improprieties in the solicitation documents or challenging a recommendation to award a contract to a particular bidder or proposer.

"Protested contractor" means a bidder or proposer against whom a protest has been filed.

"Protester" means a potential contractor, or the potential contractor's authorized representative, who files a protest in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the city's protest policy.

"Public project" means the following:

1. A project for the erection, improvement, and remodeling of public buildings and works;

2. Work in or about streams, bays, waterfronts, embankments, or other work for protection against overflow;

3. Street, sewer, or water work, except maintenance or repair;

4. Maintenance and repair of public facilities other than street, sewer, or water facilities.

5. Furnishing goods for any such projects.

"Purchase" means the procurement of goods, nonprofessional services, professional services, or public projects, and includes the rental or leasing of goods.

"Remodel" means alteration or conversion work on an existing facility to change its use, function, or layout.

"Repair" means restoration of a facility or components to such condition that it may be used effectively for its designated purpose, by overhaul, or replacement of constituent parts or materials that have deteriorated by action of the elements, vandalism, or wear and tear that cannot be corrected through maintenance. Repair includes restoring or replacing components of facilities damaged by fire, storm, explosions, the elements, and other disasters.

"Request for bids" means a written request, invitation, or solicitation for bids to perform a contract issued by the city.

"Solicitation" means a written request for proposals, request for bids, request for qualifications, or other appropriate competitive method to select a contractor.

"Successor-in-interest" means a person who acquires or assumes the rights, assets, debts, or obligations of another person.

"Work" means the goods, nonprofessional service, professional service, or public project to be provided under a contract. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

Where any provision of the charter, this code, or city policies requires award of a contract to the lowest-responsible bidder, the lowest-responsible bidder is determined as follows:

A. In determining whether a bidder is responsible, consideration shall be given to: (1) the quality and performance of the work to be provided by the bidder; (2) the ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or effectuate the transaction; (3) the ability of the bidder to perform the contract or effectuate the transaction within the time specified, without delay; (4) the character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience, and efficiency of the bidder, excluding all discriminatory consideration of age, ancestry, color, disability, genetic information, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, medical condition, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristic; (5) the quality of the bidder's performance on previous contracts with the city; and (6) the ability of the bidder to provide future maintenance, parts, and repair services for the work provided.

B. Based on the information provided in the bids, the city council or the city manager shall identify those bids that are subject to the city's local sales or use tax under the provisions of part 1.5 of division 2 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code and chapter 3.24 of this code. The lowest- responsible bidder shall be determined after the amount of local sales or use tax that would be received by the city is deducted from the bids. This deduction is in addition to the application of any bid price preferences authorized by subsection C.

C. The city council may, by resolution, adopt standard minimum qualifications for bidders on competitively bid contracts for public projects. If the standard minimum qualifications are included in the bid specifications for a contract, no bidder is considered "responsible" unless it is determined to be responsible pursuant to the factors set forth in subsection A, and also meets the standard minimum qualifications at the time of bid opening. The adoption and use of standard minimum qualifications does not in any way limit or affect the city's right to: (1) review information contained in a bid, and additional relevant information, and determine whether the bidder is a responsive or responsible bidder; or (2) establish different or additional qualification requirements for specific contracts.

D. The city council may, by resolution, adopt programs or policies to provide price preferences, including preferences to promote the participation and utilization of local business enterprises and local workers in city contracts. These preferences shall be in addition to any deduction of sales or use tax required by subsection B. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

No person shall reduce the amount of any purchase or the size of a public project where there is a reasonable knowledge that the same goods, services, or work on a public project will be required within the same budgetary term, there are funds available for that purchase or project, and the sole purpose is to knowingly avoid the requirements of this title or city policies. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

A. The city manager may adopt administrative policies to carry out the intent of this chapter, including policies for—

• 1. The solicitation of and contracting for professional services;
• 2. The use of purchase orders;
• 3. The control of petty cash funds without prior use of purchase orders or contracts; and
• 4. The hearing of protests, as set forth in section 3.56.290.

B. The city manager shall prepare, subject to approval by the city council, administrative policies regarding the solicitation of and contracting for goods, nonprofessional services, and public projects, including competitive bidding and alternative procurement methods for those purchases for which competitive bidding is not required. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

No city officer or employee shall provide an unfair advantage to any person in securing a contract to furnish goods, services, or to construct a public project. Additionally, no city officer or employee shall: favor one person over another by giving or withholding information; willfully mislead any person in regard to the character of the work called for; knowingly accept work of a quality inferior to that called for by the contract; or approve any payment for work that has not been received. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

No city officer or employee shall purchase or contract for work on behalf of the city, other than as prescribed in this chapter or policies established in accordance with section 3.56.040.B. Any purchase or contract made in violation of this section is void. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

A. No contract for janitorial or security-guard services may be awarded by the city to a prospective contractor, and no existing contract for such services may be amended, unless—

1. The employees who will provide services under the contract are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that meets the criteria set forth in California Labor Code section 238.5; or

2. The contractor or prospective contractor has entered into a letter of intent, as defined in subsection E, below.

B. Before being awarded a city contract for janitorial or security-guard services, or amending such a contract, the contractor or prospective contractor for those services shall—

1. Attest in writing, under penalty of perjury, that the employees who will be working under the contract are covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement that meets the criteria set forth in California Labor Code section 238.5, subdivision (b), or provide a letter of intent with a labor union whose collective bargaining agreement meets the criteria set forth in California Labor Code section 238.5;

2. Provide a copy of the collective bargaining agreement or letter of intent to the city if requested.

C. A contractor under a city contract for janitorial services shall pay "prevailing wages," as described in California Public Utilities Code section 465, to its employees who work under the contract. A janitorial services contractor shall compensate its employees for hours worked under the contract at the highest rates listed in the annual prevailing wage determination, regardless of the employees' dates of hire.

D. The 60-day transition employment period for displaced janitors set forth in California Labor Code section 1061 is extended to 90 days.

E. For the purpose of this section, a "letter of intent" means an agreement, signed by the contractor or prospective contractor and a labor union, that states the following—

1. The parties intend to enter into a subsequent agreement outlining a procedure for employees to exercise their representation rights granted under federal law if the city awards or amends a contract for janitorial or security-guard services;

2. If the contractor's or prospective contractor's employees working under the city contract elect to be represented by a labor union, the contractor or prospective contractor will sign and adhere to the applicable terms and conditions of the labor union's collective bargaining agreement; and

3. The labor union will not oppose the award of the contract to the prospective contractor or the amendment of an existing contract.

F. This section does not apply to contracts for—1) on-call emergency security-guard services; or 2) on-call security-guard services for events if the cost of the services are passed through to a third party. (Ord. 2024-0016 § 1; Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)

A. To meet its goals for the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants, the city shall comply with article 12 of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations when purchasing organic mulch, such as leaves, bark, or straw, for use or distribution by the city or its contractors.

B. The city shall comply with article 12 of title 14 of the California Code of Regulations when purchasing paper.

C. The city shall comply with the city's policy regarding the preferred purchase of sustainable products when purchasing organic mulch and paper. (Ord. 2024-0010 § 4)