(A) Policy statement.
(1) Howard County is a political subdivision of the State of Indiana and is governed by the state's public purchasing statutes, including, but not limited to, the "Public Purchasing Law" found at I.C. 5-22-1 et seq., and "Public Works Project" found at I.C. 36-1-12 et seq., as amended from time to time. In addition to the applicable Indiana statutes, the county's purchasing activities are governed by local ordinances and resolutions adopted by the Howard County Board of Commissioners.
(2) Pursuant to I.C. 5-22-5-20.9, Howard County is authorized to apply a local business price preference. A price preference allows a local business to be able to compete for the county's business while taking into consideration the fact that a business competing for the county's business is a local business. If a competing business claims a price preference, a given percentage will be deducted from the price of the item(s) that meet the criteria for the preference, and the newly calculated prices will be used for evaluation purposes to determine whose bid should be awarded.
(B) Definitions.
LOCAL INDIANA BUSINESS. Refers to any of the following:
(a) A business whose principal place of business is located in Howard County;
(b) A business that pays a majority of its payroll (in dollar volume) to residents of Howard County;
(c) A business that employs residents of Howard County as a majority of its employees.
(C) The following price preferences apply for contracts awarded by Howard County to any local Indiana businesses:
(1) Five percent (5%) for a purchase expected by the purchasing agency to be less than $50,000;
(2) Three percent (3%) for a purchase expected by the purchasing agency to be at least $50,000 but less than $100,000;
(3) One percent (1%) for a purchase expected by the purchasing agency to be at least $100,000 and above.
(D) Notwithstanding the above local business preference, Howard County may award a contract to the lowest responsive and responsible offeror, regardless of the preference provided, if the lowest responsive and responsible offeror is a local Indiana business.
(E) A business that wants to claim a preference provided under this section must do all of the following:
(1) State in the business's bid that the business claims the preference provided by this section.
(2) Provide the following information to the purchasing agency:
(a) The location of the business's principal place of business. If the business claims the preference as a local Indiana business described in division (B), a statement explaining the reasons the business considers the location named as the business's principal place of business.
(b) The amount of the business's total payroll and the amount of the business's payroll paid to residents of affected counties.
(c) The number of the business's employees and the number of the business's employees who are residents of affected counties.
(Res. 2023 BCCR-20, passed 9-18-23)