Counties may purchase items from a joint bid with other counties under certain situations defined in the Oklahoma Statutes.

Purchasing Items with Other Counties

A group of counties may purchase items together providing the following procedures have been followed:
19 O.S. § 1501(A)(3)(o)

• The item(s) have been competitively bid.
• The notice to bidders lists each county that may participate in the purchase of the item(s) being bid.
• The notice of bid is advertised, as provided by the Oklahoma Statutes, in each of the counties that may anticipate the purchase of the item(s) being bid.
• All vendors on the list of qualified bidders of each participating county who offer the item(s) for sale receive notice of the bid request.
• The vendor awarded the bid is willing and able to provide the item(s) at the bid price.

Purchasing Heavy Equipment with Other Counties

The board of county commissioners has the authority to purchase heavy equipment with other counties jointly and to loan or lease such equipment across county lines.19 O.S. § 339(A)(9)

In purchasing heavy equipment with other counties, the entities listed below have the responsibilities indicated.

All Boards of County Commissioners Involved

All boards of county commissioners involved must:

• Select one county as the primary county in the purchasing transactions
• Agree to the equipment to be purchased and to the specifications

The agreement should be in writing and include provisions for the following items:

• Fuel
• Maintenance
• Storage
• Disposal
• Leasing to other counties
• Allowing member counties to withdraw
• Percentage of the cost each county will bear
• Repairs
• Scheduling
• Parts
• Labor
• Any other points that are considered necessary

A recommended best practice is for the casting and counting of votes during a joint board of county commissioners meeting to be thoroughly explained in the minutes of the meeting.

The agreement should be in the form of a contract and should be reviewed by the district attorneys in the counties.

Note:
A highly recommended best practice is that counties that desire to obtain heavy equipment through this procedure discuss the process with personnel from the Office of the State Auditor and Inspector, who are well acquainted with purchasing, accounting, and inventory procedures.

Each Board of County Commissioners

Each board of county commissioners must pass a resolution accepting the terms of the agreement.

The requisitioning officer for each board of county commissioners must prepare the requisition portion of SA&I Form No. 1116, Requisition-Purchase Order-Claim, for the agreed-upon portion of the purchase.

They should remember to indicate in the “Description” column that this is a joint purchase with other named counties. The requisitioning officer is expected to retain the fifth copy of the form and forward the remaining four copies of the form to the purchasing agents of the individual counties.

The Purchasing Agent

The purchasing agent is expected to forward a reproduced copy of the Requisition-Purchase Order- Claim and a copy of the resolution to the primary county’s purchasing agent within two days.

The Primary Purchasing Agent

The primary purchasing agent should proceed with bidding procedures as detailed in “Bidding” in Chapter Four, “Purchasing Methods and Procedures.” Proof of mailing is made a part of the official records of the primary purchasing agent.

The primary purchasing agent should forward all sealed bids along with state contract prices to the primary county clerk.

The Primary County Clerk

The primary county clerk should forward all documents to a joint meeting of all board of county commissioners (hereafter referred to as the joint board).

The Joint Board

The joint board should do the following:

• Open the bids in a joint board open meeting
• Compare them with the state contract price
• Ensure that the required non-collusion affidavit is present and signed.
  • A non-collusion affidavit is located on the back side of  SA&I Form No. 4040, Invitation to Bid. If vendors use their own bid forms, SA&I Form No.425, Affidavit for Filing With Competitive Bid, can be used for the non-collusion affidavit.
• Furnish a copy of each bid to each board of county commissioners in the joint board meeting.
• Select the lowest and best bid within thirty days of the bid opening
• Prepare a statement of explanation, which becomes a part of the minutes of the meeting, in the event the lowest bid is not selected
• Forward a copy of the joint board’s decision to each county’s purchasing agent

The Primary Purchasing Agent

The primary purchasing agent should do the following:

• Notify the successful vendor
• Maintain a copy of the notification as a part of the permanent records of the joint purchase.
• File a copy of the reproduced Requisition-Purchase Order-Claim from each county.
• Send the receiving officer designated by the joint board the original copy of this form from each county
• Forward all the copies of this form to the joint board

The Primary Receiving Officer

The primary receiving officer:

• Receives the item
• Obtains a delivery ticket from the delivering vendor
• Completes SA&I Form No. 4030, Receiving Report
• Retains the original copy of the receiving report
• Sends one copy of the receiving report and the delivery ticket to the primary county clerk
• Sends one copy of the receiving report, along with the original copies of the Requisition - Purchase Order - Claims from each county and a copy of the delivery ticket to the primary purchasing agent.

The Primary County Clerk

The primary county clerk:

• Forwards reproduced copies of the receiving report and delivery invoice to each county clerk
• Retains the copies received from the designated receiving officer as permanent joint board records

The Primary Purchasing Agent

The primary purchasing agent retains the following items as permanent joint board records:

• Reproduced copies of the original of the Requisition - Purchase Order - Claim from each county
• A copy of the receiving report
• The delivery invoice

Forward the following items to each county purchasing agent:

• The original of the Requisition-Purchase Order-Claim from each county
• A copy of the receiving report
• A copy of the delivery invoice

Each County Purchasing Agent, County Clerk, and Board of County Commissioners

Upon receipt of all documentation, each joint board representative will approve the proportionate share of costs and forward the warrant to the primary county clerk for payment to the vendor.

The Inventory Officers of Each County

The inventory officers of each county have the following responsibilities:

• Determine the inventory identification number that would be assigned to the equipment as if it belonged to that county alone
• Forward that inventory identification number to the primary inventory officer

The Primary Inventory Officer

The primary inventory officer marks the inventory identification number of each county on the piece of heavy equipment.