Purchasing Legislation

Important Purchasing Legislation Update
The following legislation was passed by the 77th session of the Texas Legislature.

• Threshold for competitive bids raised to $25,000
• Competitive bid threshold for all Texas cities raised from $15,000 to $25,000

Electronic Receipt of Bids
Cities may now receive formal bids in an electronic format. By legislation, each government's ruling body must adopt rules to ensure the identification, security, and confidentiality of bids and proposals. By its very nature, this will be phased in depending upon each governmental entity.

Inter-local Agreements
Cities may now enter into Inter-local agreements with government entities in ANY state.

Reverse Auctions
Governmental entities in Texas can procure good/services by utilizing the Reverse Auction method on the Internet.

Design Build
Texas cities will be allowed to use alternative project delivery methods for certain projects: construction, rehabilitation, alteration, or repair of a facility. This includes use of design-build, construction manager, or job-order contracting.

Best Value
Contract awards may now be made based on either the lowest responsible bidder or to the bidder who provides goods / services at the best value for the municipality. By law, best value takes into consideration the following factors:

• Bidder's past relationship with the municipality
• Extent to which the bidder's goods / services meet the municipalities needs
• Impact on the ability of the municipality to comply with laws/rules relating to historically underutilized businesses
• Purchase price
• Quality of the bidder's goods / services
• Reputation of the bidder and the bidder's goods/services
• Total long-term cost to the municipality