PURCHASING AND BIDDING
The official budget document shall be considered as the authority for all expenditures which are made during the fiscal year. Overall expenditures for any fiscal period shall not exceed the budgeted amount for any one fund except with approval of the School Budget Review Committee. Categorical breakdowns within funds shall be used primarily for budget control for the current fiscal year and for future budget planning.
Before the District enters into any contract for any public improvement to cost more than the currently-established bid threshold amount, the Board shall adopt proposed plans and specifications, proposed form of contract, estimate of total cost, and hold a hearing thereon in accordance with Iowa law. In addition, the Board shall solicit competitive bids as required by the statutes of the State of Iowa. The Board shall award a competitively-bid contract to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.
Before the District enters into any contract for any public improvement to cost at least the statutory threshold for competitive quotations, but not in excess of the established competitive bid threshold, the Board shall follow the competitive quotation procedures as required by the statutes of Iowa, including the use of plans and specifications prepared by a licensed architect and/or engineer. The District may also submit a quote to use its own employees. The Board shall record the quotes in Board meeting minutes and award the contract to the lowest responsive, responsible contractor.
The above procedures need not be followed if a routine maintenance and repair project is being done by District employees. The procedures also need not be followed if emergency public improvement repairs are necessary to prevent the closing of a school, and the administrator of the Area Education Agency issues a certificate to that effect.
The Superintendent shall approve all purchases of goods and services made in the name of the District, except those authorized by direct action of the Board of Directors. The Superintendent shall have the authority to authorize purchases for any single item or single group of items without competitive bids for goods costing $25,000 or less without prior Board approval. For goods or equipment costing more than $25,000, the Superintendent shall compare prices of the goods either by competitive bids or by quotations prior to making a recommendation to the Board.
When using federal Child Nutrition funds to purchase goods and services, dollars spent annually must be estimated. It is acceptable to categorize (e.g. groceries, milk, produce, small equipment, large equipment, supplies, and chemicals). A formal sealed bid procurement process is required when annual spending in the category exceeds $25,000 annually. An informal process is used for all other purchases under the threshold annually. Documentation of information procurement activity is kept on file.
The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder based upon total cost considerations, including, but not limited to, the cost of the goods and services being purchased, availability of service or repair, delivery date, prior record of the bidder, and other factors deemed relevant by the District. The District retains the right to reject all bids and to waive any irregularities in its discretion.
DECORAH COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Page 1 of 2
PURCHASING AND BIDDING
It shall be the policy of the Board of Directors to purchase products and services from enterprises within the District community which offer the goods and services if the cost and other considerations are relatively equal. The District shall give preference to purchasing Iowa products and purchasing from Iowa based businesses if the bids submitted are comparable in cost and meet the required specifications. When spending federal Child Nutrition Funds, geographical preference is allowed only for unprocessed agricultural food items. Other statutory purchasing preferences will be applied as provided by law. The Superintendent or designee is responsible for ensuring compliance with federal suspension and disbarment requirements.
In addition, when practical, the District will endeavor to coordinate and combine purchases with other governmental bodies to take advantage of volume price breaks. In such cases, the procedures of this policy need not be followed if the other entity has utilized bidding or other comparative purchase procedures.
Date of Review: April 9, 2018
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Date of Revision:
September 17, 2018
01520616 |
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Legal References:
23A.3, Chapter 26, 72.3, Chapter 73, 278.1, 279.28, 285.10, 297.7, 297.8, 297.22, 301.1, 362.3, 721.2, Code of Iowa
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DECORAH COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Page 2 of 2