About the program
The City defines a Local Business as any person or corporate entity with headquarters located in Greater Austin (“Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area”) including the counties of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson. The City defines headquarters as the location where:
- the company’s owners or leadership direct the company’s operations, or
- the company’s central administrative operations occur
The Local Preference program does not include subcontractors or professional service contracts.
Preference points
When applicable, if Local Business Offerers participate in Invitations for Bids (IFB) or Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the City, bids or proposals are subject to the following preferences points:
| Contract scopes | Total value | IFB points | RFP points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goods, general services, and construction | $50,00 to $100,000 | 5 | 10 |
| Goods & general services | $100,000 to $500,000 | 5 | 10 |
| Goods & general services | $500,000 to $50 million | 3 | 3 |
| Goods & general services | Above $50 million | 0 | 0 |
Best value competition
Best value competition under IFBs and RFPs are very similar. In both solicitation methods, the contract will be awarded to the Offeror submitting the bid or proposal that represents the best value to the City by virtue of receiving the most points.
Invitation for Bids (IFB)
The price criteria weight is fixed at 90 points. Bids may not be revised, and no negotiations are allowed. Each bid will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
|---|---|
| Price | 90 |
| Local business preference | 5 |
| Small business preference | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
Request for Proposals (RFP)
Price criteria weight is variable. In addition to criteria for Local and Small Business, there will be other evaluation criteria. Proposals may be revised, and negotiations are allowed. Each proposal may be evaluated based on criteria similar to:
| Criteria | Points |
|---|---|
| Proposed products and service | 25 |
| Company qualifications and experience | 25 |
| Key personnel qualifications and experience | 20 |
| Price | 20 |
| Local business preference | 10 |
| Small business preference | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
Price points
IFBs will include 90 points for price. RFPs will include a lower amount of price points. For both IFBs and RFPs, the low price will receive all price points. All other bids or proposals will receive a proportionate amount of the price points depending on their price’s relative distance from the low price, based on the following formula: (Low Price / Each Price ) X 90 Points.
IFB Example: A solicitation receives four (4) bids. Price Points are allocated as follows
| Offerors | Prices | Maximum points | Point allocation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offeror A | $200,000 | 90 | 90.00 |
| Offeror B | $250,000 | 90 | 72.00 |
| Offeror C | $550.000 | 90 | 32.73 |
| Offeror D | $50,000,100 | 90 | 0.36 |