Department Functions / Responsibilities
The Purchasing Department is responsible for securing all equipment, materials, and services required by the various departments of the City of Decatur.
Mission
Our mission is to provide quality service through strong customer advocacy, effective communication, and a productive working relationship with both city departments and suppliers alike. We exist to fulfill the need for required goods and services and to do so in a professional, responsive, timely, and cost effective manner.
Selling to the City of Decatur
Registration provides a means to send notification of applicable bid or quotation invitations to interested suppliers.
Register with the Purchasing Department by completing the Bidder/Vendor List Application . The Purchasing Department uses these forms to maintain lists of qualified vendors and evaluate bidder capability.
A prospective vendor interested in doing business with the City may write or visit the Purchasing Department to obtain an application form and commodity code list. These forms are available in PDF format for download from this page.
Upon receipt of the completed application, the Purchasing Department will add the supplier’s name to the bidders list in the appropriate category of the commodity, product, or service offered for sale.
Invitation for Bid
Whenever a department of the City has requested equipment or materials in excess of $15,000.00, the Purchasing Department will issue an Invitation for Bid (IFB) to all vendors that are on the “Bidders List.”
Upon receiving an IFB, the vendor should carefully read the entire document. It is the vendor’s responsibility to obtain all bonds, insurance and any other requested documents, as outlined in the IFB.
It is also the vendor’s responsibility to adhere to all times and dates noted in the IFB, i.e. bid openings, pre-bid conferences and on-site meetings.
After the opening bids, Department Directors and other City personnel, as warranted, will evaluate all bids and make a recommendation to the Purchasing Agent as to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
Request for Proposals
The City of Decatur will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) in lieu of an IFB when sealed bidding is neither practicable nor advantageous to the City.
The RFP must contain a performance statement of work to be accomplished.
By using the process of RFP, the result must promote overall economy for the purpose intended and encourage maximum practicable competition that satisfies the City of Decatur’s needs.
An award will be made to the responsible offer or whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the City, taking into consideration, price and the other evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposals.
