Important changes to Sarasota County Procurement
Sarasota County has taken a series of steps to assure the integrity of its procurement system, strengthen the management of its procurement processes, make the processes more transparent, and enhance procurement opportunities of goods and services for local businesses.

NIGP Follow Up Discussion Meeting - Wednesday, Feb. 15

These changes are contained in the current Sarasota County Procurement Manual. Highlights from that manual below are offered to help guide customers in working with Sarasota County.
 

1.     Who may now obtain quotes for goods and services at Sarasota County?
Staff within individual business units may obtain quotes for goods and services up to $3,000, with one written quote from the requestor. Procurement staff must obtain quotes for all products and services estimated to cost $3,001 to $50,000 and above. Quotes in this range will be solicited only from local businesses when feasible. 

Quotes will be solicited under the following guidelines:

$3,001 to $25,000          Three written quotes procured by Procurement

$25,001 to $50,000        Invitation for Quotes solicited by Procurement

Over $50,000                 Formal solicitation solicited by Procurement

2.     Are local vendors given preference when soliciting quotes (Sections 2.3.3 E and 2.4.2. G)?
Procurement will obtain quotes only from local businesses when feasible. If Sarasota County is unable to identify three qualified local vendors, quotes may be solicited from non-local vendors as well.   

3.     What is the standard term for annual agreements (Section 2.1.2)?
The standard term for annual agreements will be one year, with two optional one-year renewals. 

4.     When is an annual agreement necessary (Section 2.1.4)?
Annual agreements are necessary when the estimated cost of recurring products or services surpasses $50,000 in total over the course of a fiscal year. Annual agreements for recurring services in excess of $100,000 must be executed by the Sarasota County Commission. (Section 2.1.5 d). 

5.     What is an Informational Bulletin (Section 2.5)?
An Informational Bulletin (IB) is a method used to post proposed qualifications and/or specifications for input from potential bidders or proposers prior to advertising a solicitation.  

Recent changes to the IB process include:

•  IB’s must be posted for a two-week period (exceptions may be granted by the Chief Financial Planning Officer or the Deputy County Administrator)

• IB’s require the approval of two Executive Directors prior to advertisement

•  IB’s are required for all construction bids

• IB’s include proposed qualifications and specifications

• IB’s will be posted for Requests for Proposals

6.     How is Sole Source procurement changing (Section 4.2)?
Sole source procurement now requires the submittal of an Exemption Request form that is approved by both the Chief Financial Planning Officer and the Deputy County Administrator.   Upon their approval, Procurement will post an “Intent to Sole Source.” This notice will allow any other qualified vendors to notify the county if they are able to provide the same product or service. 

7.     What changes have been made to the Piggybacking process (Section 4.3)?

• Piggyback contracts will be limited to a maximum term of three years

• Piggybacking cooperative purchasing agreements (such as State of Florida contracts or GSA) will require a written analysis of the availability of local vendors

• Piggybacking solicitations from other jurisdictions is limited to products

• The Deputy County Administrator and the Chief Financial Planning Officer will approve a list of entities whose solicitations may be piggybacked

Sarasota County uses various types of solicitations including Invitation For Quotations (IFQ’s), Requests For Proposals (RFPs), Bids and Request for Professional Services (RPS’s). All county solicitations estimated to exceed $50,000 are advertised through Onvia’s DemandStar site.

• You can reach Sarasota County’s Procurement Department directly at 941-861-5266
• For more information on a specific solicitation, refer to DemandStar or
• Contact information provided in the solicitation to reach the Procurement Analyst directly (see the staff directory on the left)

Disaster Assistance Program
Sarasota County has a disaster assistance program in the event of an emergency, such as, hurricane, fire, etc. In the event vendors' services would be required, response time is very critical. This outside support would be required within eight hours of notification.

If a vendors' firm or agency would like to be included in the Sarasota County Disaster Assistance Program, complete the Disaster Assistance Program application and fax it to Sarasota County Asset Management. Insure that the form, located under resources, is completely filled out and the appropriate classifications of products/services you can provide are checked. All information will be kept on file.