HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1834

BYRepresentatives Cooper, Ferguson, G. Fisher, Haugen, Walk, Dorn and R. Meyers 

Regulating county bidding procedures.

House Committe on Local Government

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (14)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen, Chair; Cooper, Vice Chair; Ferguson, Ranking Republican Member; Horn, Nealey, Nelson, Nutley, Phillips, Raiter, Rayburn, Todd, Wolfe, Wood and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Steve Lundin (786-7127)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT MARCH 1, 1989

BACKGROUND:

Counties with a purchasing department must use a formal competitive bidding procedure to award any contract, or to make any lease or purchase, for nonroad related purposes.  However, the formal competitive bidding procedure may be dispensed with if the value of the contract, lease, or purchase is less than $3,500 in value.  When the formal competitive bidding procedure is dispensed with, the county must post on a bulletin board in its office a notice of its intention to let such contracts or lease agreements where the value of the lease or contract is in excess of $1,000 to less than $3,500 in value.  Whenever the formal competitive bidding procedure is dispensed with for purchases with a value of between $1,000 and $3,000, the county must have a procedure to secure telephone or written quotations from enough vendors to assure establishing a competitive price and purchase from the lowest responsible bidder.

A county must publish notice of its intention to dispose of its property, with a few exceptions when the value of the property is less than $500.  The sales of county property must be authorized by the county legislative authority after holding a public hearing on the matter.  Sales of county property must be at a public auction.  Notice requirements for the auction must state the terms of selling real property, if any are to be required.

A county road engineer is required to file an annual recommended plan for laying out, constructing and maintaining county roads on or before the first Monday in July of each year.  Within two weeks of the filing of this plan, the county legislative authority must consider the plan.

A county may create up to nine road districts in the county. Road districts may impose a regular property tax levy of up to $2.25 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.  Moneys acquired from the property tax levy of each road district, that are not diverted to non-road related uses, must be placed into a separate road fund for each road district, and must be expended for proper road purposes within the road district.

The county legislative authority of each county must file a detailed estimate of all expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year with the county auditor on or before the second Monday in August of each year.  Each county road budget must establish the percentage of sums to become available for various purposes, instead of the amounts to be spent for such purposes.

Each year the Department of Transportation is required to prepare an estimate of the money to be paid to each county in the forthcoming calendar year to permit the county to prepare a county road budget.

Purchases of equipment by a county that are to be paid from the county road fund or equipment rental and revolving fund must be by formal competitive bidding if the price is in excess of $3,500.

SUMMARY:

The maximum dollar value of nonroad related purchases, contracts, and leases, and road related purchases, that a counties may make without using a formal competitive bidding procedure is increased from less than $3,500 to less than $10,000.

If a county establishes a special bid solicitation process for nonroad related purchases of a value between $1,000 and $10,000 the county annually must establish an array of general categories for contracts, leases, or purchases, and a roster of potential bidders for each category.  Bid proposals shall be sought from vendors on an appropriate list for purchases of between $1,000 and $10,000.

The same special bid solicitation process for nonroad related purchases of a value of between $1,000 and $10,000 is established for road related purchases by counties.

The maximum value of county property that can be sold without using the formal property selling procedure, that involves notice and public hearings by the county legislative authority, is increased from $500 to $1,500.  In addition to a public auction, counties are permitted to sell property at privately operated consignment auctions that are open to the public, or a sealed bid procedure with the contract awarded to the highest and best bidder over a minimum sale price established by the county legislative authority.  A county no longer would have to state the terms that real property may be sold under when making notice of a sale by auction.  Notice requirements are provided for sales of county property using a sealed bid procedure.

The date is changed from the first Monday in July to the first Monday in October when the road engineer must file an annual recommended plan for road work to the county legislative authority.  The county legislative authority would no longer have to consider such a plan within two weeks of its filing.

The requirements are removed that a separate road fund be maintained for each road district and that moneys arising from a road district tax levy may be expended for proper road purposes only within the road district.

A specific amount of money would be appropriated for each category within a county road budget, instead of a specific percentage of the total budgeted amount.

The requirement is eliminated that the Department of Transportation prepare an annual estimate of the amount of money it will pay to counties to develop their road budgets.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Earnest Geissler, County Road Administration Board; Mike Daniels, Director, Grays Harbor Public Works; Duke Schaub, Associated General Contractors of Washington.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    This is an agreed upon bill.  This modernizes county statutes and reduces costs.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      Why not increase the dollar amount to $20,000 as school districts currently have?