Santa Barbara County Municipal Code § 2-43 Same—Emergency purchases

Pursuant to the authorization of section 53731 of the State Government Code, there is hereby created the capital outlay fund of the county which shall be a fund for capital outlays.

(Ord. No. 546, § 1)

* As to taxation generally, see ch. 32 of this Code.

The board of supervisors is hereby empowered annually to levy and collect a tax to be paid into said fund, if in their discretion, such tax is necessary. The rate of tax, if any, shall be determined by the board of supervisors and the tax shall be levied, collected and paid into the capital outlay fund in accordance with the laws of the state governing the levy, assessment and collection of general county taxes.

(Ord. No. 546, § 2)

At any time after the creation of the aforesaid capital outlay fund, the board of supervisors may transfer to such fund any unencumbered surplus funds remaining on hand in the county at the end of any fiscal year.

(Ord. No. 546, § 3)

The capital outlay fund shall remain inviolate for the making of capital outlays, and no moneys shall be disbursed therefrom excepting for such purpose, other than in the manner provided for in sections 53730 to 53737 of the State Government Code.

(Ord. No. 546, § 4)

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 25500 et seq. of the California Government Code the purchasing agent of the county is authorized to make purchases and contracts for materials, supplies, furnishings, equipment, services, environmentally preferable products, recycled products, livestock and other personal property required by any department or other organizational unit of the county in accordance with this article.

(Ord. No. 951, § 1; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

Definitions set forth in this section shall govern the construction of sections 2-38.1 through 2-42:

(a) Cooperative Agreement means an agreement from cooperative purchasing efforts extending the same pricing, terms and conditions to public procurement unit. Commonly referred to as "Piggybacking".

(b) Cooperative Purchasing means procurement conducted by, or on behalf of, one or more public procurement units, as defined in this section.

(c) Emergency shall be deemed to exist if personal property or contractual services are needed without undue delay for the preservations of life or property or to prevent the breakdown of a county or district service at a substantial expense to the county or to a district and if the services of the purchasing agent are not immediately available for any reasonable cause whatsoever.

(d) External Procurement Activity means any buying organization not located in this state which, if located in this state, would qualify as a public procurement unit. Agencies of the United States and of any other state in the United States of America are external procurement activities.

(e) Local Public Procurement Unit means any county, city, town, and any other subdivision of the state or public agency of any such subdivision, public authority, educational, health, district, or other institution, and to the extent provided by law, any other entity which expends public funds for the procurement of materials, supplies, furnishings, equipment, services, environmentally preferable products, recycled products, livestock, or other personal property.

(f) Public Procurement Unit means any one of the following:

(1) A local public procurement unit.

(2) An external procurement activity.

(3) A state public procurement unit.

(g) State Public Procurement Unit means any and all units of state government which are authorized to carry out procurement functions for the state government.

(Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

(a) Any public procurement unit may either participate in, sponsor, conduct, or administer a cooperative agreement for the procurement of any materials, supplies, furnishings, equipment, services, environmentally preferable products, recycled products, livestock, or other personal property with one or more public procurement units in accordance with an agreement entered into between the participants. Such cooperative purchasing may include, but is not limited to, joint or multi-party contracts between public procurement units and open-ended public procurement unit contracts that are made available to other public procurement units.

(b) Cooperative purchasing is authorized to the extent permitted under California law and within the purchasing agent's authority so long as the public procurement unit administering the cooperative agreement extends the same pricing, terms, and conditions to the county. Prior to use of cooperative purchasing the purchasing agent shall conduct due diligence in accordance with county purchasing guidelines.

(c) Under a cooperative agreement, controversies arising between an administering public procurement unit and its bidders, offerors, or contractors shall be resolved between the ordering public procurement unit and the supplying bidders, offerors, or contractors in accordance with the public procurement unit's existing regulations, policies, or guidance.

(Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article all purchases and contracts for goods under this article shall be based on competitive bids as mandated by county, state, or federal law.

(b) The purchasing agent may authorize and make use of cooperative purchasing to satisfy competition requirements under this section so long as the cooperative agreement to be used was procured through full and open competition within the past three years.

(c) When permitted by state and/or federal law the purchasing agent may waive competition where there are limitations on the source or supply, necessary restrictions in specifications, or other valid reasons provided that a full record of the circumstances is made and the expenditure does not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. Where the expenditure would or could exceed twenty-five thousand dollars competition may be waived only after approval by the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 951, § 2; Ord. No. 2521, § 1; Ord. No. 3052, § 1; Ord. No. 3620, § 1; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

(a) All invitations to bid shall be posted to the county purchasing website and shall include detailed requirements of what is to be procured, specify the time and place where the bid must be filed, and specify the time and place where the bid will be opened.

(b) Bids shall be opened at the time and place specified, and the summation of the competitive bidding procedure is processed. A summary of the bids shall be posted on the county purchasing website within two business days of bid opening for public inspection.

(c) A notice of award shall be posted on the county purchasing website indicating the basis for awarding the contract, the name of the successful bidder, and shall remain posted for three days prior to the award being made.

(d) If any prospective bidder fails, neglects or refuses to furnish the purchasing agent with such financial statements and other information as may be required to determine his responsibility as a bidder, the bid shall not be considered and shall be deemed non-responsive.

(Ord. No. 951, § 3; Ord. No. 2091, § 1; Ord. No. 2521, § 2; Ord. No. 3052, § 2; Ord. No. 3620, § 1; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

(a) If bids have been solicited by the purchasing agent for goods, services, supplies, furnishings, equipment, livestock or other personal property, the purchasing agent may reject all bids and solicit new bids or deal directly with individual vendors whenever:

(1) All bids are in excess of budgetary funds available for the purchase;

(2) The purchase can be made under terms and conditions more economically advantageous to the county; or

(3) All bids are non-responsive.

(b) Where no bids have been received. No further bidding is required.

(Ord. No. 3636, § 1; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

If the amount of expenditures is estimated to be less than ten thousand dollars, the purchase may be made in the open market without competitive bidding; provided, however, that if the board of supervisors finds that the estimated expense of any work to be done upon any county highway is twenty-five thousand dollars or less, the board or the purchasing agent may let a contract covering both work and material, or purchase the material and let a contract for doing the work, or purchase the materials and do that work by day labor, without calling for bids.

(Ord. No. 951, § 4; Ord. No. 2091, § 2; Ord. No. 2521, § 3; Ord. No. 3052, § 3; Ord. No. 3472, § 1)

Public projects may be contracted, awarded and/or performed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 2 of Part 3, Division 2 of the California Public Contract Code, the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act (California Public Contract Code § 22000, et seq.), subject to the uniform construction cost accounting procedures approved by the California Uniform Construction Cost Accounting Commission, as amended from time to time, provided that:

(a) The county shall maintain a list of qualified contractors, identified according to categories of work, in accord with the minimum criteria for development and maintenance of such contractors list determined by the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Commission; and

(b) Unless the project or service is proprietary, a notice inviting informal bids in compliance with the requirements of the California Public Contract Code shall be mailed:

(1) To all contractors on the list of qualified contractors maintained for the category of work being bid, or

(2) To all construction trade journals which have been determined by the California Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Commission to be appropriate to receive mailed notice of all informal and formal construction contracts being bid for work within Santa Barbara County, or

(3) To both, all contractors on the list of qualified contractors maintained for the category of work being bid, and all construction trade journals which have been so determined to be appropriate to receive mailed notice of such contracts being bid for work; and

(c) The notice inviting informal bids shall be mailed no less than ten calendar days before bids are due; and

(d) The notice inviting informal bids shall describe the project in general terms, shall state how to obtain more detailed information about the project, and shall state the time and place for the submission of bids.

The county purchasing agent, the county director of public works, and their respective designees are authorized to award informal contracts pursuant to this section.

(Ord. No. 3570, § 1; Ord. No. 3819, § 1; Ord. No. 3921, § 1)

The purchasing agent may engage independent contractors to perform services, with or without the furnishing of materials, within the limits provided by state law, without recourse to the bidding requirements of this article.

(Ord. No. 951, § 5; Ord. No. 3620, § 1)

(a) Notwithstanding the purchasing agent's delegated authority by the board of supervisors, the purchasing agent may make emergency purchases of goods or services free of the provisions of this article upon a showing by any department or officer that such purchase is required.

(b) All emergency purchases of goods or services secured under this section shall be approved or confirmed by the purchasing agent that the purchases were made for the health, safety, and welfare of the people or for the protection of property and that there is a present, immediate and existing emergency which could not reasonably be foreseen; and may make other purchases of goods and services free of this article when the board of supervisors has found by resolution that such would be in the public interest.

(Ord. No. 951, § 6; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

The purchasing agent shall exercise diligence in consolidating and scheduling orders to the end that the county may benefit from quantity prices and the most favorable market. No requisition shall be broken into smaller units to evade any requirement of this article, except that unrelated items requested by a department or officer may be separated to provide different lists to vendors dealing in different commodity classes.

(Ord. No. 951, § 7)

Any transaction failing to comply with this article in any respect shall be voidable in the discretion of the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 951, § 8)

Any procedural regulations governing purchases and contracts shall be approved by the board of supervisors. The purchasing agent may issue procedural guidelines to further clarify County Code sections 2-38 through 2-46.

(Ord. No. 951, § 10; Ord. No. 4997, § 1, 6-20-2017)

In the event any material, equipment, furnishing or other personal property is no longer needed by any agency of the county, it shall be transferred to the custody of the purchasing agent. If the purchasing agent shall determine that no other agency has need for such item, he shall declare it surplus. Any such item may be sold or otherwise disposed of, except by gift, by the purchasing agent if the current market value does not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars; and in other cases may be sold or otherwise disposed of by the purchasing agent only upon the prior approval of the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 951, § 9; Ord. No. 2091, § 3; Ord. No. 3052, § 4; Ord. No. 4377, § 1)

All claims, accounts and demands for allowance which must be allowed by the board of supervisors under, pursuant and by virtue of sections 900 et seq. and 29700 to 29749 of the State Government Code shall be filed with the county auditor.

(Ord. No. 703, § 1)

Any warrant issued by the county auditor-controller is considered lost if it has been mailed and has not been received by the addressee within seven days after the date of mailing.

(Ord. No. 1582, § 1; Ord. No. 2322, § 1; Ord. No. 2814, § 1)

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 29742 of the Government Code to the effect that the auditor shall not issue his warrant for any claim that has not been on file in his office for at least three days, such three-day waiting period shall not apply to those classes of claims listed in Section 29741 of the Government Code, nor to claims for workmen's compensation or related benefits.

(Ord. No. 2315, § 1; Ord. No. 2687, § 1)