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Photography
by Jeff Wilson
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Buying Section
The buying section is responsible for the purchase of goods and
services. Within this realm of responsibility, the buying section
ensures the most economical purchase within the following guidelines:
• purchases under $5,000 will receive competitive verbal quotes when
deemed economically appropriate when in the County’s best interest
to do so;
• purchases between $5,000 and $14,999 will receive competitive verbal
quotes;
• purchases between $15,000 and $24,999 will receive competitive
informal written quotes;
• purchases $25,000 and over will be handled through a formal
competitive sealed solicitation process and shall be handled by the
contracts section; and
• purchases $25,000 and over will be awarded by Commissioners’ Court
based on results of the competitive sealed solicitation process.
The buying section may also establish low value contracts (contracts
under $25,000) in order to obtain fixed pricing for many county
departments rather than have pricing for individual county
departments.
Contracts Section
The contracts section is responsible for the administration of the
formal competitive solicitation process of purchases that exceed
$25,000. In addition the contracts section provides the following
services to the county departments.
Review specifications submitted by user departments:
• to prevent unnecessarily restrictive requirements and to allow for
fair competitive bids;
• to ensure the information is complete and understandable so as to
prevent undue questions from vendors at later dates;
• to ensure the Purchasing Department has an understanding of what is
being requested in the event vendors have questions that are
non-technical;
• to ensure that there are no terms and conditions contained in the
specifications that conflict with Brazoria County terms and
conditions;
• to ensure that all of the required contract attachments are included
in the package (i.e., bond requirements, insurance requirements,
equipment requirements, software requirements);
• to ensure all costs are requested and that there will be no hidden
costs (i.e., freight, warranties, installations) to the County; and
• to ensure the pricing is requested in a way that allows an equal
comparison that will allow a determination of award.
Additional services include:
• offer county departments additional cost savings by suggesting the
request of added value items, such as upgrades, warranties and other
costs to be included in the contract at no additional charge to the
County;
• act as a negotiator and/or mediator between the county departments
and vendors for contract negotiation or poor vendor performance;
• perform contractual audits to ensure costs are invoiced and paid in
accordance with the terms of the contract; and
• make award recommendations to Commissioners’ Court based on the
results of the competitive sealed solicitation process.
In short the Purchasing Department is a second pair of eyes for the
county departments and a service to the entire County of Brazoria. The
Buying Section and the Contracts Section are continuously working with
county departments and reviewing purchasing data in order to determine
potential cost saving contracts for the future.
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