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Highlands Today

Local Businesses Might Get Preference

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: August 24, 2008

SEBRING - Local businesses are likely to get an advantage over out-of-county businesses in getting Highlands County government contracts.

As some other Florida counties and cities already do, the Highlands County commissioners are likely to vote on Tuesday to give county businesses county business orders if they offer a slightly higher price than out-of-county firms.

Jed Secory, director of general services and purchasing for Highlands County, drew up the new "local preference" policy after hearing local businesses ask for such a policy for nearly a decade.

Secory started working on the "local preference" policy at the request of former county administrator Carl Cool, who retired May 31. When Michael Wright replaced Cool as the county's chief executive officer on June 1, Wright instructed Secory to keep working on the policy.

"In an average year, we issue over $20 million worth of purchases, and usually it's $20 million-plus," Secory said.

By giving local businesses and contractors a slight edge in winning those purchase orders or contracts, the county could keep Highlands County tax dollars in the county to help the local county economy come out of the recession.

The proposed policy has been reviewed and approved so far by Wright, Assistant County Administrator Ricky Helms, Community Services Division Director June Fisher, and the county commissioners' attorney, Ross Macbeth.

"I am recommending what I submitted," Secory said, "after reviewing different policies (of other counties that give their residents the "local preference" advantage). I think this policy is the fairest way of giving local preference and it's easy to understand."

If, as expected, the commissioners approve it on Tuesday, the local preference will apply to the county's purchase of everything from pens and pencils to computer keyboards to cleaning supplies to gasoline and vehicles.

"We're not reinventing the wheel," Secory said. "When Michael Wright came in, he assigned the task to the purchasing department to research (what other counties are doing) and come up with a policy that would fit with Highlands County.

"We based this on other (county's) policies that are out there and we made it so that it's applicable to our needs here in Highlands County.

Here's how the policy, which is an amendment to the county's existing purchasing policy, would work:

Local businesses will be given the purchase order or construction contract over an out-of-county business that bids lower as long as the local company does not bid higher by 5 percent for a contract worth up to $250,000.

For contracts above $250,000, the local business will win over an out-of-county bidder if the local company does not bid more than 2 percent over the out-of-county competitor.

The proposed policy also has caps on how much more the county can pay in order to give the county's business to a county business.

For what Secory called the "low end" contracts, of $250,000 or less, the local company's price can be no more than $12,500 over the out-of-county low bidder's price.

For the "high end" contracts, which run from $250,000 up into millions of dollars, the local company can bid no more than 2 percent over the out-of-county bidder up to a maximum of $40,000 over the low-bidder's price.

"That means that on a $2 million contract, you could be no more than $40,000 over (an out-of-county competitors price)," Secory said. If the contract is for, say, $8 million, the local company can still not go more than $40,000 over an out-of-county firm's price and still get the contract.

The five-page final version of the proposed policy is available under the "agenda" section of the county commission's Web site ( www.hcbcc.net). Before the policy was finalized and put on the agenda for Tuesday's county commission meeting, Secory said, "we had dialogue with Michael Wright, the assistant county administrator, the community services division director and the board attorney."

"In an average year, we issue over $20 million worth of purchases, and usually it's $20 million-plus," Secory said.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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