CHAPTER 17-500. GOALS FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF DISADVANTAGED OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN CITY CONTRACTS 117
Notes
| 117 | Previous Chapter repealed and replaced by this Chapter, Bill No. 030125 (approved April 24, 2003). Former Sections 17-501 through 17-508 were either added or amended by the following: 1982 Ordinances, pp. 776, 1612; 1987 Ordinances, pp. 262, 1260; 1988 Ordinances, p. 917; 1989 Ordinances, p. 796; Bill No. 000088-A (approved September 27, 2000). |
(1) Findings. The Council makes the following findings:
(a) Past discrimination in the City's contracting process by prime contractors against minority and women's business enterprises has resulted in significant underutilization of these business enterprises in contracts awarded by the City. A disparity report on minority business utilization conducted by D.J. Miller and Associates entitled "Philadelphia Consortium – Business Utilization Study", concluded that discrimination occurred in all types of City contracts with the effect of significant underutilization of minority and women's business enterprises.
(b) The provisions of this Chapter are necessary to overcome the effects of past discrimination and to prevent ongoing discrimination in the City's contracting process, while assuring that high quality goods and services are obtained through the competitive bidding process.
(c) A general goal of this Chapter is to provide narrowly tailored remedies to past discrimination.
(2) Policy. It is the policy of the City to foster an environment of inclusion in which all businesses are free to participate in business opportunities and to flourish without the impediments of discrimination. Businesses participating in all City contracts shall do so on a fair and equitable basis. Vendors on City contracts shall not discriminate against any business because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. 118
Notes
| 118 | Amended, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013). |
For the purpose of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the following respective definitions:
(1) Agency shall mean any City office, department, board or commission including the Council of the City of Philadelphia. It shall also mean all legal entities which either:
(a) receive funds, directly or indirectly, from the City; and either:
(b) have entered into continuing contractual or cooperative relationships with the City; or
(c) operate under legal authority granted to them by City ordinance.
(2) City Contracts shall mean all City contracts, whether competitively bid or negotiated, including but not limited to, any construction contract with a total value in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) which:
(a) is paid for in whole or in part with City funds;
(b) is financed either wholly or partially by state or federal funds which are administered by the City; or
(c) is funded in whole or in part by Financial Assistance.
(3) Disabled Person shall mean a person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of his or her major life activities or has a record of such impairment. Major life activities shall mean functions, such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.
(4) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise or DBE shall mean any Small Business Enterprise:
(a) Which is at least fifty-one percent (51%) owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; or
(b) In the case of any publicly owned business, one in which at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the stock is owned by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; provided, however, that a rebuttable presumption shall exist that any person that has received more than five million dollars ($5,000,000) in three consecutive years of contract work from the City is not a DBE, and; provided further, that any previous certification of any such person as a DBE shall be re-evaluated pursuant to regulations to be promulgated by the MBEC.
(5) Disparity Analysis. A study conducted by an independent economic and statistical research entity that compares the ratio of available DBEs to the level of utilization in the performance of various types of contracts. A score of one (1) means that the total utilization is equal to all available DBEs. For purposes of this Chapter, independent shall mean an entity not part of, or affiliated with, any City agency.
(6) Financial Assistance. Any grant, loan, incentive or abatement provided by, or with the authority or approval of, the City or a City-related agency, including but not limited to bond financing subsidies, Tax Increment Financing aid, industrial development bonds, use of the power of eminent domain, land or property acquisition, Community Development Block Grant loans or grant, airport revenue bonds, Enterprise Zone designations, and aid from the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation or other similar agencies.
(7) Individual. A natural person.
(8) Minority Business Enterprise Council (MBEC) shall mean the entity within the Department of Finance responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring and enforcing the procedures and goals set forth in this Chapter.
(9) Minority Person shall mean a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is:
(a) African American (a person having origins in any of the black racial groups in Africa);
(b) Hispanic American (a person of Spanish or Portuguese culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race);
(c) Asian American (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent or the Pacific Islands); or
(d) Native American (a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America).
(10) Person shall mean a corporation, partnership or association, or any combination thereof, as well as a natural person.
(11) Small Business Enterprise shall mean a business which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation as further defined in the Small Business Size Regulations, adopted by the U.S. Small Business Administration and published in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, including the industry size standards set forth in the table contained therein, which regulations are incorporated herein, and made a part hereof by reference.
(12) Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals shall mean those who have either been subjected to racial, sexual or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as a member of a group or to differential treatment because of their disability without regard to their individual qualities, and whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same business who are not socially disadvantaged.
(a) In determining who are Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals, the Minority Business Enterprise Council may make a rebuttable presumption that all minority persons, all women and all disabled persons shall be so classified.
(b) The Minority Business Enterprise Council, in determining whether an individual shall be classified as a Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual, shall also consider, among other things the extent of the liquid assets and net worth of such socially disadvantaged individuals.
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