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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 are subject to competitive verbal quotes when deemed
economically appropriate when in the County’s best interest
to do so;
• purchases between $5,000 and $14,999 are
subject to competitive verbal quotes;
• purchases between
$15,000 and $50,000 are subject to competitive informal
written quotes;
• purchases $50,000 and over will be
handled through a formal competitive sealed solicitation
process and shall be handled by the contracts section; and
• purchases $50,000 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, not to exceed $50,000, 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 $50,000. 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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