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8.
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| INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE |
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| Information |
| Referral History: |
County Ordinance Code Section 24-4.008 requires the County Administrator to develop a system of Administrative Bulletins, which are designed to provide guidance to County departments to ensure compliance with County policy and practices. From time-to-time it is necessary to review Administrative Bulletins for potential updates to the underlying policy or to make sure that the guidance being provided to departments reflects current best practices. Depending on the subject and materiality of the proposed policy, Administrative Bulletins can be updated administratively or submitted for review by the Board of Supervisors, including its standing committees.
The County maintains policies outlining procedures for the procurement of materials, supplies and services to assist departments in their service delivery goals. Over the past 50+ years these policies and procedures have been codified in a patchwork of ordinances, resolutions, administrative bulletins and simple memorandums with no consistent review and update process. At times, it is difficult to find supporting documentation for procurement processes that County departments work through day-to-day.
On April 24, 2023, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Internal Operations Committee a review of several, dated Administrative Bulletins, including Administrative Bulletin No. 600, "Purchasing Policy and Procedures" at the recommendation of the County Administrator. A copy of the Board referral is included for reference as Attachment A. |
| Referral Update: |
Since 2021, the County Administrator’s Office, County Counsel’s Office and Public Works – Purchasing Services division have been working to identify and understand the various policies governing procurement within the County. The primary goal has been to establish a baseline procurement policy that can be easily understood by employees working to secure goods and services for County departments for the benefit of our residents. In crafting a modern, baseline procurement policy, the guiding principles have been twofold:
- Reduce bureaucracy and provide greater flexibility to department heads to operate their respective departments; and
- Establish accountability measures to ensure that minimum standards for procurement equity and proper contract oversight are observed.
- Consolidation of nine (9) Administrative Bulletins in one single, comprehensive Bulletin – Administrative Bulletin No. 600, “Purchasing Policies and Procedures” (included as Attachment B);
- Amending the County Ordinance Code to remove the need for County Administrator review and approval of service contracts at or below $200,000; and
- Increase the threshold for certain, ministerial payments via Warrant Request from $1,000 to $5,000.
The desired outcome is that these updates bring our procurement process closer to a more contemporary state consistent with other large, urban counties.
Summary of Primary Revisions
The proposed revisions to Administrative Bulletin No. 600, include the following:
- Transactions Under $200,000. All procurement transactions, including service contracts, under $200,000 would require approval by the Purchasing Agent only – Board of Supervisors and County Administrator review and approval are not needed. This streamlines the review workflow for departments and effectively delegates further discretion to department heads to recommend service contracts for approval directly to the Purchasing Agent. County Counsel review is still required on transactions that modify the County’s general conditions and service contracts above $50,000.
- Services Included Under a Purchase Order. Provides that services may be procured under a purchase order in conjunction with the purchase or lease of equipment or goods in certain circumstances. A common scenario is the procurement of equipment that also requires a service plan to be executed for maintenance, such as a copy machine lease. Currently, a purchase order is required to procure equipment (such as the copy machine) and a separate service contract is required for the vendor to provide maintenance on the proprietary equipment (such as maintenance on the copy machine). This practice essentially creates two transactions to effectuate one procurement event resulting in double the work for departments and a corresponding loss of productivity.
- Minimum Bid Solicitation Requirements. Establishes a common bid solicitation requirement between procurement of materials/supplies and service contracts tiered by denomination. This results in all procurement activities being subject to the same set of solicitation requirements. Departments must still comply with solicitation requirements for federal, state or other local policies, such as the SBE Program, that may require additional outreach over and above the minimum bid solicitation requirements. Also, the proposed policy allows for flexible solicitation options such as the use of continuous Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) to keep a pool of qualified vendors current at all times. A good example of this would be keeping an continuous solicitation in place to qualify Board and Care providers serving Contra Costa Health Plan (CCHP) members. The list remains dynamic and available for use by the department to meet changing needs.
- Minimum Contract Monitoring Requirements. Establishes monitoring requirements for service contracts by departments, including a requirement to document contract noncompliance and establish Corrective Action Plans with noncompliant vendors. Corrective Action Plans are to be filed with the Purchasing Agent for tracking purposes; however, it is the responsibility of departments to ensure that contractors take steps to achieve compliance.
- Exemptions Maintained and Expanded. The proposed policy maintains certain exemptions previously granted for specific procurement situations or for specific departments. For example, the policy encourages the use of Cooperative Purchasing Contracts for goods and services in lieu of defaulting to a local solicitation process for every procurement need. This method helps to ensure solicitation while expediting the procurement process and providing flexibility to departments. This is already a common practice in larger departments, such as Health Services and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, but the proposed policy attempts to encourage the use of Cooperative Purchasing Contracts by all departments where appropriate.
Invitation for Department Comment
On April 14, 2023, the County Administrator's Office opened a four-week, Invitation for Comment period for department heads to review and provide feedback on the proposed policy updates. A copy of the correspondence sent to Department Heads is included as Attachment C. The County Administrator’s Office received a total of 78 comments from seven (7) departments.
Of that figure, 72 were technical comments for which a response was provided and six (6) were editorial comments for which no response was provided but logged for transparency. Of the 72 technical comments, 59 were incorporated into the final draft policy and 13 were not incorporated into the final draft policy. A summary of comments received in response to the Invitation for Comment and disposition of those comments are included as Attachment D for reference. |
| Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s): |
Today’s action is seeking approval of modifications to Administrative Bulletin No. 600, “Purchasing Policies and Procedures”, including any edits from the Internal Operations Committee, and directing the County Administrator to prepare all necessary actions to implement the updated policy for consideration by the Board of Supervisors.
Recommendations
- ACCEPT report from the County Administrator on process undertaken to update Administrative Bulletin No. 600, “Procurement Policies and Procedures”.
- APPROVE Administrative Bulletin No. 600, “Procurement Policies and Procedures” and DIRECT the County Administrator to prepare all necessary actions to implement the policy for consideration by the full Board of Supervisors.
- PROVIDE any additional direction to staff as needed.
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