(A) Interpretation. This subchapter shall be construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies.
(B) Purposes and policies. The underlying purposes and policies of this subchapter are:
(1) To simplify, clarify, and modernize the law governing procurement by the county, its departments, its employees acting within the scope of their employment, its agencies, boards, commissions, and its elected officials;
(2) To establish and to permit the continued development of procurement policies, practices, and procedures;
(3) To prescribe the manner in which the county shall control, in a cost-efficient manner, the purchase of supplies, materials, equipment and services (including construction) required by county government; and additionally, to prescribe the manner in which the county shall dispose of surplus or excess personal properties, real estate, and real properties in a cost-effective manner or other manner beneficial to the county;
(4) To provide increased economy in county procurement activities and to maximize, to the fullest extent practicable, the purchasing value of public funds of the county, by fostering effective broad-based competition within the free enterprise system;
(5) To provide for increased public confidence in the procedures followed by the county in procurement activities;
(6) To ensure the fair and equitable treatment of all persons who deal with the county procurement system; and
(7) To provide and to authorize safeguards for the maintenance of a procurement system of quality and integrity, and to protect against fraud and favoritism.
(C) Centralized purchasing. There is hereby established a centralized purchasing system for the competitive procurement of all supplies, materials, equipment and services (including construction) required by county government, and as provided in the S.C. Code § 11-35-50.
(D) Construction. In this subchapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) Words in the singular number include the plural, and those in the plural include the singular; and
(2) Words of a particular gender include any gender and the neuter, and when the sense so indicates, words of the neuter gender may refer to any gender.
(E) Requirement of good faith. This subchapter requires all parties involved in the negotiation, performance, or administration of county contracts to act in good faith.
(F) Application of this subchapter.
(1) General application. This subchapter applies only to contracts solicited or entered into after the effective date of this subchapter.
(2) Application to county procurement.
(a) All supplies, materials, equipment and services required by county government shall be purchased and procured in accordance with the terms and provisions of this subchapter.
(b) All items of personal property declared surplus or “excess fixed asset” shall be disposed of in accordance with this subchapter.
(c) All real estate or real property shall be disposed of in accordance with this subchapter.
(d) This subchapter shall apply to every expenditure of public funds appropriated by County Council for public purchasing, irrespective of their source, except as otherwise provided by state law, state regulation, county ordinance or administrative policy.
(e) When the procurement involves the expenditure of federal or state funds, the procurement shall be conducted in accordance with any mandatory applicable federal or state law or regulations, in addition to any term or provision required by local ordinance.
(f) Nothing in this subchapter shall prevent the county, its departments, agencies, boards, commissions, or its elected officials, from complying with the terms and conditions of any grant, gift, bequest, or cooperative agreement; nor prevent the county, its departments, agencies, boards, commissions, or its elected officials from specifying a management entity for the grant, gift, bequest, or cooperative agreement.
(g) All county agencies, boards, commissions, departments, and/or officials receiving or expending funds appropriated by the county shall comply with the procurement provisions set forth herein.
(h) All other agencies, boards, commissions, departments and/or entities receiving or expending funds appropriated by the county shall agree to comply with the procurement provisions set forth herein, or shall adopt a written procurement policy or regulations for the procurement of goods and services that, at a minimum, require a competitive bidding process.
(G) Severability. If any provision of this subchapter, or any application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or application of this subchapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this subchapter are declared to be severable.
(H) Construction against implicit repealer. Since this subchapter is a general act, no part of it shall be deemed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation, if such construction of the subsequent legislation can be reasonably avoided.
(Ord. 1006, passed 4-17-06; Am. Ord. 2014, passed 6-2-14; Am. Ord. 6023, passed 11-20-23)