The following are the required purchasing rules for town in supplementation of the Act (I.C. 5-22-1-1 et seq.).
(A) Purchase of supplies manufactured in the United States. Supplies manufactured in the United States shall be specified for all town purchases and shall be purchased unless the town determines that:
(1) The supplies are not manufactured in the United States in reasonably available quantities;
(2) The prices of the supplies manufactured in the United States exceeds by an unreasonable amount the price of available and comparable supplies manufactured elsewhere;
(3) The quality of the supplies manufactured in the United States is substantially less than the quality of comparably priced available supplies manufactured elsewhere; or
(4) The purchase of supplies manufactured in the United States is not in the public interest.
(B) Publication of notices.
(1) Invitation for bids. All notices of invitation for bids shall be published in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1 in the Madison Courier and Weekly Herald. The purchasing agent shall schedule the publication of notice to provide a reasonable amount of time for preparation and submission of bids. The notice will be published two times, at least one week apart. The second publication must occur at least ten days prior to the date the bids will be opened.
(2) Request for proposals. All notices of request for proposals shall be published in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1 in the Madison Courier. The purchasing agent shall schedule the publication of notice to provide a reasonable amount of time for preparation and submission of proposals. The notice will be published two times, at least one week apart. The second publication must occur at least seven days prior to the date the proposals will be opened.
(3) Request for specifications. All notices of request for specifications shall be published in accordance with I.C. 5-3-1 in the Madison Courier and Weekly Herald. The purchasing agent shall schedule the publication of notice to provide a reasonable amount of time for preparation and submission of proposals. The notice will be published two times, at least one week apart. The second publication must occur at least seven days prior to the date the proposals will be opened.
(4) Electronic notices. Whenever a notice or other material, including specifications, an invitation for bids, request for proposals, or request for specifications is sent by mail, the purchasing agent may also send the notice or other material by electronic means, provided that the transmission of the information is at least as efficient as mailing the information.
(C) Receiving offers.
(1) Opening of offers. Bids received in response to an invitation for bids must be opened publicly in the presence of at least one or more witnesses at the time and place designated in the invitation for bids. Proposals received in response to a request for proposals must be opened so as to avoid disclosure of the contents to competing offerors during the process of negotiation. Proposals received in response to a request for specifications may be opened as specified in the request for specifications.
(2) Electronic receipt of offers. The purchasing agency may receive electronic offers in response to an invitation to bid, request for proposals, or request for specifications. A purchasing agent may only receive an electronic offer if:
(a) The solicitation includes the procedure for the electronic transmission of the offer; and
(b) The purchasing agent receives the offer on a fax machine or other system with a security feature that protects the contents of an electronic offer with the same degree of protection as provided to an offer not transmitted electronically.
(3) Correction and withdrawal of bids. An offeror may correct inadvertent errors in a bid up to the time at which bids will be opened by supplementing the erroneous bid and submitting a revised bid. A bidder may not supplement an inadvertently erroneous bid after the time at which the bids were opened. A bidder may withdraw a bid containing inadvertent errors up to the time at which bids will be opened and for a period of not more than 24 hours after the time at which the bids were opened.
(4) Cancellation of solicitation. When the purchasing agent makes a written determination that it is in the town’s best interests, the purchasing agent may cancel a solicitation or reject all offers, provided that the solicitation included information concerning the procedures for cancellation.
(D) Small purchases. The purchasing agent may purchase supplies with an estimated cost of less than $25,000 on the open market without inviting or receiving quotes.
(E) This section is in supplementation of the Act (I.C. 5-22) which establishes whether a purchase can be made by competitive bid, proposal, quote, request for specifications, or special purchase.
(Ord. 1998-25, passed 9-23-1998)