LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              March 28, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Tom Ramsay, Chair, House Committee on County
               Affairs
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB1892  by Lewis, Glenn (Relating to the threshold
               contract amount at which certain political subdivisions
               are required to engage in a competitive purchasing
               procedure and the criteria required to evaluate bidders
               in the competitive purchasing process.), Committee
               Report 1st House, Substituted
  
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*  No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.                    *
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The bill would increase the threshold in a purchasing contract before a
city is required to engage in competitive bidding.  The contract amount
would increase from $15,000 to $25,000.  The bill would also increase the
threshold in the statutes relating to historically underutilized
businesses and crime control and prevention districts.

Additionally, the bill would take into consideration another factor when
awarding a sealed bid.  The bill would change the criteria from lowest
responsible bidder to the bidder that provides goods or services at the
best value for the city.  Best value may include purchase price,
reputation of the bidder, quality of the goods, extent to which the
goods meet the city's needs, bidder's past relationship with the city,
impact on the ability of the city to comply with laws and rules relating
to historically underutilized businesses and nonprofit organizations
employing persons with disabilities, long-term cost to the city to
acquire the bidder's goods and services and any other relevant factor
that a private business entity would consider in selecting a bidder.
  
Local Government Impact
  
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, DB