§ 16-060. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

Except as otherwise provided by ordinance or general law, the Purchasing Agent may engage independent contractors to perform services for the county and the offices thereof, with or without the furnishing of material, where the annual aggregate cost does not exceed Fifty-Thousand dollars ($50,000.00) without notice, advertisement, or the securing of competitive bids or quotations. Services in excess of Fifty-Thousand dollars ($50,000.00) annually shall be subject to the requirements of either a request for proposal (RFP), or notice, advertisement, and competitive bidding unless the Board of Supervisors, in the exercise of its discretion, determines in each case that such a service may be obtained without such requirements. For the purposes of this section, approval of a contract for the services by the Board of Supervisors shall be deemed sufficient evidence of the Board of Supervisors having made such a finding.

(a)

If the RFP process is utilized, the specific procedural details of each RFP shall be provided in the text of the request but shall include the following:

(1)

A statement that the County reserves the right to negotiate directly with any party responding thereto and may enter into a contract with any responding party regardless of price if it is advantageous for the County to do so.

(2)

No public opening of proposals shall be required.

(3)

If the request seeks architectural design services requiring an expenditure in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), the request shall also include, in bold type, a disclosure that the contracting architect may be required to indemnify and hold harmless the County of Sutter against any and all liability, whether or not caused by the activity of the contracting architect.

(b)

Prior to distribution or publication, the request for proposal shall be submitted to the County Counsel's office for review as to legal form and sufficiency.

( Ord. No. 1652, § 4, 6-26-2018 )