§ 2-233. Definitions.

Addendum means additional directions or modifications during the county procurement process to a solicitation which is issued as a separate advisory document after issuance of such solicitation by the procurement services director or his/her designee.

Administration consists of the county administrator and the assistant county administrators who are appointed by the board of county commissioners and shall serve as the administrative head of the county and shall be responsible for the administration of all departments of the county government which the board of county commissioners has authority to control pursuant to the general laws of Florida, or other applicable legislation.

Amendment means the method of changing the terms, conditions, or requirements of a contract or agreement beyond what is specifically provided for in that contract or agreement. All amendments shall be approved with equal dignity and formality as the original contract signed by the individuals holding the positions of the original signatories; provided however, that any amendment which causes a contract expenditure to exceed original amount, shall be approved by the board of county commissioners.

Black out period means the period between the time the authorization for invitation for bids or the request for proposals, qualifications, or information, or the invitation to negotiate, as applicable, is received at the Marion County Procurement Services Department, or given verbally by direction of the board of administration, and the time the board awards the contract.

Capital improvement project means any public improvement which the county undertakes, including the construction or reconstruction, in whole or in part, of any building, road, highway, street improvement, plant, structure, or facility necessary in carrying out the functions of the county government.

Change order means a written order amending a purchase order to correct errors, omissions, or discrepancies in it, to cover acceptable cost over-runs and freight costs, to incorporate requirements to expand or reduce the scope of goods or services ordered, or to direct other changes in the contract execution to meet unforeseen field, emergency, climatic, regulatory, or market conditions, and to track contingency expenditures if applicable.

Competitive bidding means two (2) or more bids or proposals submitted for the same item or services by responsible bidders.

Consultant's Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) means the official name for F.S. § 287.055, relating to the Procurement of architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, and registered land surveying services. These services shall be procured by letters of interest and qualifications, and by competitive selection and negotiation.

Contract means a deliberate, verbal or written agreement between two (2) or more competent parties to perform, or not perform, a specific act or acts. Any type of agreement, regardless of what it is called, for the procurement or disposal of supplies, services or construction.

Contractor means any person or firm having a contract with the county.

Cooperative purchasing means a procurement conducted by or on behalf of more than one public procurement unit.

Debarment means the exclusion for cause of a vendor or contractor from bidding and/or doing business with the county.

Emergency purchases means those procurements which shall be exempted from the mandatory bid requirements of this article in the event of an emergency. Because the circumstances of the delay, in complying with such requirements, would be detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the county, such emergencies shall include, but are not limited to, war, declared or undeclared; insurrection; hurricane; flood; tornadoes or any other form of disaster or unforeseen circumstances threatening destruction of life or damage to property. This exemption shall be in effect through any such circumstances, including the cleanup and repair to property period following such an event.

Employee means an individual of a governmental body of the county government under the control of the board of county commissioners who is drawing a salary or wages from the board.

Fixed assets means assets of a long-term character, which are intended to continue to be held or used generally for more than one fiscal year, such as land, buildings, improvements other than buildings, machinery and equipment.

Initial determination means the determination made by the procurement director in response to the initial informal part of the protest process.

Inventory means a detailed list showing quantities, descriptions and values of property and, frequently, units of measure and unit prices.

Invitation to bid means the solicitation document, which includes all documents attached or incorporated by reference, used for competitive sealed bidding for the purchase of goods and/or services.

Invitation to negotiate means a written solicitation for competitive sealed replies to select one or more vendors with which to commence negotiations for the procurement of commodities or contractual services. The invitation to negotiate is used when the agency determines that negotiations may be necessary for the county to receive the best value. A written solicitation includes a solicitation that is electronically posted.

Lobbying means the attempt to influence the thinking of county elected officials or county staff for or against a specific cause related to a solicitation for goods or services, in person, by mail, by facsimile, by telephone, by electronic mail, or by any other means of communication.

Local business program means a program wherein local businesses may register with Marion County Procurement Services for notification of solicitation opportunities for purchases and for notification of opportunities for targeted procurement training.

Local government means any county or municipality.

Local vendor means a Marion County person, firm, or corporation of which:

(1)

Has its headquarters, manufacturing facilities, or locally owned franchise located in, or having a street address within, the legal boundaries of Marion County for at least one year immediately prior to the issuance of the request for quotation or formal bid solicitation (post office boxes do not qualify as a business address). If a business is operated out of a residence, that residence shall be on record with the Marion County Tax Collector for at least one year immediately prior to the issuance of the solicitation request; and

(2)

Thirty (30) percent, or more, of its full-time employees working in the locally owned franchise or locally managed facility, shall have primary residences located within the legal boundaries of Marion County; and

(3)

The owner or principal officer, with legal authorization to execute contracts, of such local vendor maintains a primary residence within the legal boundaries of Marion County.

Open purchase order means a purchase order whereby a vendor provides to the county supplies, services, or construction work on demand or on a prescribed schedule which shall not exceed a period of twelve (12) consecutive months. An open purchase order may be used as a release and encumbrance document to authorize the county to order, on an as-needed basis, a predetermined amount of supplies, services, or construction work from an open end contract.

Posting means the act whereby the county places, in a designated location, a listing which indicates the vendor or vendors that county staff is recommending to receive the award of an invitation for bid or request for proposal. It is also public notice of any official action by the county in matters relating to this article, including suspension or debarment.

Principal officer means any officer of a corporation with authority to execute contracts and documents on behalf of the corporation.

Procurement means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring any supplies, services or construction. It also includes all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any supplies, services, or construction, including the description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract administration.

Procurement services director means the person holding the position as head of the procurement services department.

Professional services means any narrow discipline wherein a known practitioner has, through education and experience, developed expert advisory and programming skills as a vocation. It is any service performed primarily by vocational personnel which requires the analysis or certification of a professional before the services are acceptable to the user of the service. It includes any other advisory, study, or programming activity where the procurement services director determines that the level of skills and/or creativity or the potential or known practitioner warrant procurement in lieu of competitive bid or quotation process.

Proposal means an executed formal document submitted to the county stating the goods and/or services offered to satisfy the need as requested in the request for proposal.

Protest means a process by which a prospective bidder or proposer may attempt to resolve an aggrievement in connection with the pending award or other element of the solicitation process leading to the award of a contract.

Protest meeting means the meeting held after the initial determination is released and responded to by the aggrieved vendor within three (3) business days of the initial determination.

Protest meeting determination means the determination made in writing as a result of the protest meeting.

Purchase order means a document which authorizes the delivery of specific merchandise or the rendering of certain services and the making of a charge for them.

Purchasing card means a card issued to designated county employees with the authorization of the department head and the procurement services director, or his/her designee, which authorizes the user to purchase specific goods or services as set forth in the policies and procedures for the purchasing card.

Quotation means any oral or informally written offer made by a vendor, to the county, to furnish specific goods and/or services at a stated price.

Request for information (RFI) means a formal written request, or an informal written, oral, or electronic request, or a combination of formal and informal requests, for soliciting information to obtain recommendations from suppliers for a procurement that cannot be described in sufficient detail to prepare a solicitation.

Request for proposal (RFP) means a solicitation of the responses for goods and/or service for which the scope of work, specifications or contractual terms and conditions cannot reasonably be closely defined. Evaluation of a proposal is based on prior established criteria which may include, but may or may not be totally limited to, price.

Request for qualifications (RFQ) means a solicitation of responses from vendors whereby they are invited to submit a summary of their particular qualifications and to state their interest in performing a specific job or service for the county. From such submissions, the county selection committee determines which of such vendors shall be short-listed, interviewed, and recommended to the board of county commissioners for permission to negotiate for scope of work and fees.

Responsible bidder means an individual or business which has submitted a bid, offer, proposal, quotation, or response which, as determined by the county, has the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements. The experience, integrity, reliability and capacity, facilities, equipment and credit which give reasonable assurance of good faith and performance. The county may also consider and give weight to the bidder's previous conduct and performance under previous contracts with the county and other agencies (including, but not limited to delinquency), and determine the quality of the bidder's previous work. County staff may, after bid opening, request additional information from the bidder concerning his/her ability to perform; and the bidder may voluntarily, after opening, provide additional or corrective information concerning its responsibility as bidder.

Responsive bid means a bid or proposal which conforms, in all material respects, to the invitation to bid or request for proposals.

Responsive bidder means an individual or business which has submitted a bid, offer, proposal, quotation or response which, as determined by the county, conforms in all material respects to the solicitation which may include, but is not limited to, pricing, surety, insurance, specifications of the goods or services requested, or any other matter, unequivocally stated in the invitation for bids as a determinant of responsiveness. A lack of conformity in these matters, which is non-substantive in nature, may be considered a technicality or irregularity which may be waived by the county; provided, however, that failure of a bidder or proposer to certify the firm has a drug-free workplace in accordance with F.S. § 287.087, shall result in rejection of the bid or proposal as nonresponsive.

Selection committee means the committee approved by the county administrator or his/her designee to review offers and responses to requests for proposals (RFP) and requests for qualifications (RFQ) in accordance with the policies and procedures of the procurement services department, and when required, in accordance with the State of Florida Competitive Consultants Negotiation Act (CCNA). A selection committee shall not have a predominant amount of staff from one department. A supervisor and subordinate may not serve on a selection committee together unless approved in advance by the county administrator.

Sole source means the only existing source of the items that meet the needs of the using department as determined by a reasonably thorough analysis of the marketplace and upon approval of the county administrator, or by the board of county commissioners, if the purchase or future purchases will meet or exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) per fiscal year.

The county means Marion County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, or any of its authorized representatives pursuant to ordinance, resolution, or administrative code.

(Ord. No. 11-52, § 1, 9-20-2011; Ord. No. 15-12, § 1A, 8-18-2015; Ord. No. 18-06, § 1A, 2-20-2018)