§ 2-9.201. Purchasing and contracting procedures.

Purchases and contracts for supplies, equipment, maintenance services, and public projects shall be made pursuant to the following competitive bidding procedures which follow in this article. The estimated value of purchases and contracts shall include sales tax and freight.

(a)

Bidding waived based on estimated value. Purchases and contracts of an estimated value in the amount of $7,500.00 or less may be made without competitive process.

(b)

Open market bidding procedures. Purchases and contracts of an estimated value in the amount of $45,000.00.00 or less may be made by open market bidding procedures pursuant to the provisions of Section 2-9.204 of this article, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(c)

Informal bidding procedures. Purchases and contracts of an estimated value in the amount of $175,000.00 or less may be made by informal bidding procedures pursuant to the provisions of Sections 2-9.205 and 2-9.206 of this article, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(d)

Formal bidding procedures. Purchases and contracts of an estimated value in an amount greater than $175,000.00 shall be made by formal bidding procedures pursuant to the provisions of Sections 2-9.205 and 2-9.207 of this article, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(e)

Exceptions. The bidding procedures and force account restrictions set forth in this article shall be dispensed with when bidding would be impossible, impractical, or incongruent; in an emergency; when the price is controlled by law; when the commodity, maintenance service, or project can only be provided or performed by one vendor (including in cases in which standardization of City equipment would result in savings to the City); or when the estimated value of the purchase or contract is $7,500.00 or less. For the purposes of this section:

(1)

"Impossible" shall mean actual impossibility or extreme and unreasonable difficulty or expense.

(2)

"Impractical" shall mean incapable of being performed by the bid procedure.

(3)

"Incongruous" shall mean not suitable to the bid procedure.

(4)

"Emergency" shall mean circumstances or conditions that pose an immediate threat to the public health, welfare, or safety as determined by the City Manager, including, but not limited to, states of emergency as defined in Section 8558 of the Government Code of the State.

(f)

Cooperative agreements. No provision of this article shall be interpreted or construed to prohibit or prevent the City from purchasing or contracting for supplies, equipment, maintenance services, or Public Projects by contracts, arrangements, and agreements for cooperative purchasing programs not otherwise prohibited by law with any Federal government agency, the State, the County, the Simi Valley Unified School District, the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, any other public agencies, or with any cooperative purchasing alliance acting on behalf of governmental entities. Any such contract, agreement, or arrangement otherwise subject to open market or informal bidding procedures shall be first approved by the Purchasing Agent and if subject to formal bidding procedures shall be first approved by the City Council, or by the City Manager in accordance with the stated purchasing authorities set forth in this chapter. Cooperative multi-year agreements are allowed when initial year funding for ongoing requirements is provided in the budget and the City's agreement with the vendor allows the City to terminate the agreement without additional cost to the City if funding is subsequently not appropriated by the City Council. At the discretion of the appropriate approving authority, the bidding procedures of any agency may be used in such joint contracting arrangements. For purposes of this chapter, cooperative agreements include "piggyback" agreements under which a vendor with a currently operative contract with another public agency obtained through a competitive process agrees to provide the same supplies, equipment, maintenance services or Public Project work to the City at an equal or better price as that provided to the originating public agency.

(g)

Purchasing cards. The Purchasing Agent may establish or continue a program for the use of purchasing cards to facilitate the purchase of goods and services by authorized individuals on behalf of the City. A purchasing card program shall adhere to the provisions of this chapter and to policies and procedures approved by the City Manager.

(§ 1, Ord. No. 1271 and WWD-16, eff. June 15, 2017 as amended by § 1, Ord. No. 1281 and WWD-17, eff. December 14, 2017)