In order to comply with the terms of I.C. 5-22-15-20.9, the Council hereby establishes the following policy for determining whether a bidder, quoter, or supplier is entitled to a preference as set out in I.C. 5-22-15-20.9.
(A) Contract preference policy.
(1) The terms of this policy apply to any entity (“claimant”) which tenders a bid or quote to the town.
(2) In order to qualify for a local government preference, the claimant must include its claim for a local state business preference with the quote or bid and be clearly marked “Claim for Bid Preference”.
(3) Included in the claim, the claimant must show its principal place of business and include the following documentation:
(a) Registration with the state’s Secretary of State, listing an affected county as the business’s primary place of business;
(b) Registration of business with the County Recorder, listing an affected county as the business’s primary place of business; and
(c) Copies of federal and state IRS filing statements, (redacting all financial and confidential information) evidencing an affected county as the primary place of business.
(4) If the claim is based on the claimant’s payroll, the claimant must state that it pays a majority (51% or greater) of its total company payroll to residents in an affected county. The claim shall include total payroll for the entire business and the amount of payroll paid to employees residing in the affected counties. The information must be stated in total dollar values for the 12 months immediately preceding the bid date.
(5) If the claim is based on the number of employees in affected counties, the claimant shall include information that the claimant employs residents of affected counties as a majority (51% or greater) of the total company employees, including the total number of employees of the company, and the number of employees who are residents of an affected county for the 12 months immediately preceding the bid date.
(6) If the claim is based on a “significant capital investment” in the affected counties, the claimant must define its total investment in real or depreciable personal property in the affected counties and itemize the investment in such property in the three calendar years prior to the claim. The total of the capital investment made in the past three years must exceed 10% of the average gross income of the claimant in the past two calendar years.
(7) If the claim of preference is based upon a “substantial” positive economic impact on the affected counties, the town shall use the criteria set out in divisions (A)(4), (A)(5), and (A)(6) above.
(8) If the bidder is a joint venture and is claiming local preference, the town will evaluate the joint venture by combining each business’s total payroll, payroll paid to residents of affected counties, total number of employees, and total number of employees who are residents of affected counties. Further, each entity participating in the joint venture shall submit proof of the location of its principal place of business. The town will determine whether the joint venture qualifies as a local state business as defined herein by evaluating the joint venture as one business, not as separate businesses, using the criteria set out in divisions (A)(3), (A)(4), and (A)(5). All members of the joint venture must provide information described above. The total overall joint venture must qualify as a local state business to receive the local preference as defined above.
(9) The town may request copies of additional documents necessary to support any allegations included in the claim for bid preference. Failure to provide such information within 14 days of the request will result in a denial of the claim for bid preference.
(B) Verification. The claim for preference shall be verified as follows:
I,__________, as (officer) of (company) verify under the penalties of perjury that the facts set out in the above claim for price preference are true.
Signature __________
Printed __________
(C) Applicability. The policy set out above shall be included in all bid packets for projects bid by any department of the town.
(D) Validity of bid. Any contractor who attempts to claim a preference under this agreement and fails to comply with this section shall have his or her bid considered with all other bids submitted for the project, but shall be disqualified from the bidding preference included in I.C. 5-22-15-20.9(d).