(a) Violations. If a business equity firm, bidder, contractor, business equity firm subcontractor, vendor, or supplier (for purposes of this section, each referred to as an "offender") commits a violations of this article (including payment processing and payment of business equity firm subcontractors) or provides false or misleading information to the city in connection with submission of a bid, responses to requests for qualifications or proposals, good faith efforts documentation, post-award compliance, or commits any other violations of this article, it may result in sanctions in accordance with this section.
(b) Payment reporting. Failure to comply with requirements for payment reporting procedures will result in an offender being locked out the business equity management system until compliance with the business equity management system is achieved.
(c) Payments withheld. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Texas Prompt Payment Act (Tex. Gov't. Code, Chap. 2251) or any successor statute shall authorize the city to withhold payment from the contractor until compliance is attained. Noncompliance may impact bidder evaluation scoring on future city bid opportunities.
(d) All other violations of this article, including persistent payment issues (reporting or payment of subcontractors) will result in the following sanctions:
(1) Warning letter. A formal written warning letter from DVIN that shall become part of the vendor profile and may impact bidder evaluation scoring on future city bid opportunities for up to 12 months.
(2) Non-responsive designation. DVIN will designate an offender as non-responsive if DVIN determines that an offender is not responsive to any requirements of this article. This designation shall prevent offenders from bidding on contracts for up to six months or until compliance is met as determined by DVIN, whichever is earlier.
(3) One-year debarment. Continued failure of an offender to comply with this article may result in offender being debarred for a period of time of not less than one year.
(4) Three-year debarment. An offender who intentionally and/or knowingly misrepresents material facts may be debarred for a period of time of not less than three years.
(e) Debarment procedure.
(1) DVIN shall determine whether debarment of an offender is appropriate. If it decides in the affirmative, DVIN shall send a written statement of facts and a recommendation for debarment to the city manager. The city manager, after consultation with DVIN and the city attorney's office, shall ultimately decide whether debarment is appropriate. If the city manager upholds DVIN's recommendation for debarment of an offender, the city manager shall send a certified notice to the offender informing them of the debarment.
(2) An offender that receives notification of debarment may appeal to the business equity board by giving written notice within ten days from the date of receipt of notice of debarment to the city manager and the business equity board of its request for an appeal of the debarment.
(Ord. 24534-11-2020, § 1, passed 11-17-2020, eff. 1-1-2021; Ord. 25165-10-2021, § 1, passed 10-19-2021)