 |
Executive Director's
Report- Legislative Wrap-Up Issue 2005
Counties can benefit from U.S. Communities program
The National Association of Counties, in conjunction with the National League of Cities, United States Conference of Mayors, National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, and the Association of School Business Officials International, sponsor what is referred to as U.S. Communities (USC). USC is a nonprofit instrumentality of government that assists public agencies in reducing the cost of purchasing goods through the purchasing power of agencies nationwide. Stated differently, USC is a mechanism through which products are bid for on behalf of public entities on a national basis with an eye on realizing significant volume discounts.
The USC program works very much like the joint bid program operated through the Association of County Commissions of Alabama (ACCA). The Alabama program works generally as follows. A group of county employees develop specifications for products to be purchased, bids are solicited, the bids are received and checked for compliance, and the contracts are awarded to the lowest responsible bidder through one of the county commissions. County commissions may then purchase any of the designated projects without having to go through a local bid process.
The Alabama County Joint Bid Program was established only after the Legislature granted counties specific authority to jointly bid for items required to be bid under Alabama's law. However, under this grant of authority, the joint bid program must operate in full compliance with Alabama's bid law.
The USC program works essentially the same as the county joint bid program except that the contracts are solicited on a national basis and awarded by local governmental entities throughout the United States on behalf of participants in the program. There is no guarantee that the process will comply with any particular state's statutory bidding requirements.
The obvious question is: "Can county commissions in Alabama participate in the USC program and if so, to what extent?" In the opinion of the ACCA staff and the State of Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, the answer is "yes" but to a limited extent. The two organizations have taken the position that a county commission may purchase a product from the USC list if the purchase is for $7,500 or less and if that the county commission anticipates that it will not expend more than $7,500 on like products during the current fiscal year. This position is predicated on the informed assessment that neither Alabama's bid law nor any other law in the state authorizes county commissions to enter into joint bid programs with governmental entities in other states.
Promotional information found on the USC website (www.uscommunities.org) tends to indicate that Alabama law authorizes the state's local governments to participate unrestricted. The website refers to Section 11-102-1 of the Code of Alabama. This section is what is commonly referred as the "Joint Powers Act." It is our position that this section only allows counties and municipalities within the state of Alabama to enter into contracts to jointly exercise or perform powers each entity can legally exercise or perform on its own. Additionally, the Joint Powers Act must be read in conjunction with the Alabama Bid Law. The Alabama Bid Law does not authorize counties in Alabama to purchase products from bid lists developed in other states, nor does it allow counties to purchase items, even under the joint bid program, which were not properly bid in accordance with Alabama's Bid Law.
The ACCA Board of Directors and staff are of the position that counties in Alabama should be authorized to participate fully in the USC program. With that in mind, the ACCA supported legislation introduced during the 2005 regular session of the state legislature that would have done just that. The legislation passed the House of Representatives but died in the Senate as did hundreds of others because of the protracted stalemate in the upper chamber. We are confident the legislation would have passed in the Senate if the body could have considered it. The legislation will be introduced again in a subsequent session.
|
|
