25-0078-RG_EXTERNAL_AUDIT_SERVICES_RFQ_GENERAL_TERMS_AND_CONDITIONS.pdf

Request for Qualifications on External Audit Services, SDMC No. 25-0078-RG

SECTION 8. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GENERAL PROPOERS INFORMATION:

Interested vendors are advised that the District will not consider bids which contain an escalation clause for the initial contract period. It is understood that normal bid processing time will be 30 - 60 days after opening date of bid and that prices reflected by this bid will be firm through bid processing time and the delivery of items awarded.

No price escalations (increases) will be permitted during the initial term of this contract. Price de-escalation (decrease) is permissible at any time during the contract term. The District reserves the right to require a decrease based on industry pricing indicators (PPI and CPI) Contractors may request a price increase at renewal, if any. Price increase requests must be based on the Producer Price Index (PPI) Table Containing PPI-U All Items Indexes and Annual Percent Changes, http://data.bls.gov index for related commodity, final demand, seasonally adjusted, and may not exceed 4 percent.

The price increase request must be submitted 30 days before the expiration of the Contract, to the Contract Administrator, in writing and substantiated by a copy the appropriate (meaning specific to that Contractor’s commodity code) PPI index.

PURCHASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This proposal, and the corresponding contract of award agreement and purchase orders will constitute the complete agreement. District will not accept proposed terms and conditions that are different than those contained in this Request for Proposal. By virtue of submitting a bid, vendor agrees to not submit to any School District of Manatee County employee, for signature, any document that contains terms and conditions that are different than those contained herein and that in the event any document containing any term or condition that differs from those contained herein is executed, said document shall not be binding on the District.

MINOR IRREGULARITIES/RIGHT TO

REJECT: The District reserves the right to accept or reject all bids, or separable portions thereof, and to waive any minor irregularity, technicality, or omission if the District determines that doing so shall serve the Districts’ best interests. The District may reject any response not submitted in the manner specified by the solicitation documents.

CLARIFICATIONS OR REVISIONS: The District reserves the right to seek clarifications or request any information deemed necessary for proper evaluation of submissions from all Selected Firms deemed eligible for Contract award.

Failure to provide requested information may result in rejection of the response.

EX PARTE COMMUNICATION: To assure proper and fair evaluation of submissions, after submissions are received the District prohibits ex parte communication initiated by the submitter to Board members and discourages ex parte communication initiated by the submitter to any District official or employee evaluating or considering the submissions prior to the time a decision http://data.bls.gov/ has been made. Communication between a submitter and the District will be initiated by the appropriate District official, employee, or designated consultant in order to obtain information or clarification needed to develop a proper and accurate evaluation of the submission. Ex parte communication may be grounds for disqualifying the offending submitter from consideration or award of the contract then in evaluation or any future contract.

PURCHASES BY OTHER PUBLIC

AGENCIES: With the consent and agreement of the successful proposer’s, purchases may be made under this bid by other governmental agencies within the State of Florida. Such purchases shall be governed by the same terms and conditions as stated herein.

AUTHORITY: The School Board of Manatee County, Florida is the sole legal entity having authority to award a bid or bind the District regarding any agreement resulting from this invitation. The Superintendent of Schools acts as the Chief Executive Officer of the District and shall have, and is hereby delegated by the School Board, authority to issue any notice, effect any cancelation, perform any inspection, or take any other action to ensure compliance with the terms of this invitation or any agreement resulting there from on the School Board’s behalf without further action by the School Board.

CLARIFICATION OF RFP: Proposers should submit via Vendorlink any questions electrotonically regarding this bid. Only questions submitted electronically will be included in an addendum. See “Anticipated Schedule” section for deadline date. Questions received after the date posted in the “Anticipated Schedule” section will not be acknowledged. Changes to the bid which have a material effect shall be communicated to bidders.

ADDENDA TO RFP: From time to time, addenda’s may be issued to this proposal.

Any such addenda will be posted on (www.myvendorlink.com). Such notices will contain clarifications to details of the solicitation and/or responses to questions submitted during the preview period. Each bidder is responsible for monitoring these sites for information concerning this solicitation.

EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEETING:

Evaluation meetings will be open to the public pursuant to Florida State Statue

286.011 and noticed on The District Web Site (www.manateeschools.net) and on the School District bulletin board located in the lobby at the School Support Center, 215 Manatee Avenue West, Bradenton, Florida, 34205. Any portion of a public meeting at which a negotiation with a vendor is conducted pursuant to a competitive solicitation, at which a vendor makes an oral presentation as part of a competitive solicitation, or at which a vendor answers questions as part of a competitive solicitation is exempt from Florida Statue 286.011. See Key Events and Dates page contained herein.

BUDGETARY LIMITATIONS: The District reserves the right to reject any item or items and/or increase or decrease quantities as required due to budgetary limitations.

NON-FUNDING CLAUSE: In the event sufficient budgeted funds are not http://www.myvendorlink.com/ http://www.manateeschools.net/ available for a new fiscal period, the Purchasing Department shall notify the vendor of such an occurrence and the contract shall terminate on the last day of the current fiscal period without penalty or expense to the District.

PUBLIC RECORDS: Any material submitted in response to this Solicitation will become a public record pursuant to Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, when The District receives the responses. Any claim of confidentiality is waived upon submission, unless addressed as set forth below. A Vendor’s response to this solicitation shall be a public record and subject to production, disclosure, inspection and copying consistent with the requirements of Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. All information in a Vendor’s response (including, without limitation, technical and price information) will be a matter of public record, subject to the provisions of Florida’s Public Records Act, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, regardless of copyright status. Submission of a response to this solicitation shall constitute a waiver of any copyright protection which might otherwise apply to The District’s production, disclosure, inspection and copying of such response and contract, or any part thereof, except those parts asserted to be exempt under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes. The response, upon submission shall be the property of The District (except those parts asserted to be exempt in the manner set forth below), and The District, in its sole discretion, shall have the right to use, reproduce, and disseminate the response. The District reserves the right to use any and all information contained in a response received to this solicitation.

Any content submitted to The District which is asserted to be exempt under

Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, shall be set forth on a page or pages separate from the rest of the response, and clearly marked “exempt,” “confidential,” or “trade secret” (as applicable), with the statutory basis for such claim of exemption, confidentiality, or trade secret specifically identified in writing on each and every such page. Failure to segregate and so identify any such content shall constitute a waiver of any claimed exemption, confidentiality, or trade secret as applied to the portion of the response or other document in which the content is set forth.

IF THE CONTRACTOR HAS

QUESTIONS REGARDING THE

APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER

119, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO

THE CONTRACTOR'S DUTY TO

PROVIDE PUBLIC RECORDS

RELATING TO THIS CONTRACT,

CONTACT THE CUSTODIAN OF

PUBLIC RECORDS:

Public Record Custodian, Communications/Public Records Associate, 215 Manatee Avenue W.

(941) 708-8770 Bradenton, Florida, 34205 publicrecords@manateeschools.ne t

NOTIFICATION OF AWARD: After award by the School Board of Manatee County, proposers are invited to visit our website www.myvendorlink.com.

VISITOR IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM: A

Visitor Identification System has been mailto:publicrecords@manateeschools.net mailto:publicrecords@manateeschools.net implemented by the District. A driver’s license or government issued photo id will be required for scanning into the system and a visitor’s pass will be issued to individuals visiting District sites.

PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE:

Documented poor performance of contractors on previous contracts with District or other governmental entity will be considered during evaluation and may be sufficient cause not to award.

VARIANCE TO BID DOCUMENTS: For the purpose of RFP evaluation, proposers must clearly stipulate any or all variances to the bid documents or specifications, no matter how slight. If variations are not stated in the vendor’s bid proposal, it shall be construed that the RFP proposal submitted fully complies in every respect with our bid documents.

PROPOSER’S ERRORS: Where unit price and total price cannot be reconciled, the quoted unit price shall govern. Where numerical price and written price cannot be reconciled, the written price shall govern. No submissions or amendments made after bid or proposal opening shall be considered.

RFP TABULATIONS: After approval by the School Board, proposal tabulations will be available for review on the e-procurement service website (www.myvendorlink.com).

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD RFP:

Once proposals are evaluated and a recommendation for award is received by the Purchasing Department, a Notice of Intent to Award will be posted on the e-procurement service website (www.myvendorlink.com). The recommendation for award is not official until this notice is posted.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND

KICKBACKS: Any proposer giving or offering to any employee and/or official of the District, either directly or indirectly, any rebate, percentage of contract, money or other things of value as an inducement or intended inducement, in the procurement of this or any other RFP/bid, shall be deemed in violation of this agreement, in addition to being in violation of any other municipal, county, state and federal laws and/or ordinances.

IDENTIFICATION: The contractor and sub-contractors shall be required to see that their personnel maintain visible personal identification on each employee.

Vendor’s employees must be appropriately attired (including shirt).

Employees shall be required to dress neatly without vulgar or otherwise offensive apparel, commensurate with the location and types of tasks being performed.

SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICY: In accordance with School Board Policy and Procedures, no contract for providing supplies, equipment or services shall be affected with any individual or business entity in which any member of the School Board or the Superintendent has any financial interest. No contract for goods or services may be made with any business entity in which the Superintendent, Board Member or their spouse or child has an employment relationship or a material interest. No School Board employee may directly or indirectly purchase or recommend for purchase of goods or services from any business organization in which his/her spouse or child has a material interest as defined in Florida Statutes 112.

NON-EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT: This RFP does NOT establish an exclusive arrangement between the District and vendor. The District reserves, but is not limited to, the following rights:

The unrestricted right to use others to perform work, provide services or deliver the same or similar products as described herein when it is to the economic benefit of the District.

The unrestricted right to separately bid any work, products or services as described herein when it is to the economic benefit of The District.

DISPUTE: Bid tabulations with recommendations will be posted on the e-procurement service website (www.myvendorlink.com). A bidder who wishes to file a protest pertaining to a bid must file such notice in accordance with procedures prescribed by Florida Statute 120.57(3), Florida Administrative Code 28-110 and School District Policy 7.15.

The notice must be filed with the Purchasing Director.

Any person who is adversely affected by The District’s decision or intended decision shall file with the Purchasing Director, a notice of protest in writing within seventy-two (72) hours after the posting of the bid tabulation or Notice of Intent to Award and shall file a formal written protest within ten (10) calendar after filing the notice of protest. With respect to a protest of the specifications contained in an Invitation for Bid or Request for Proposal, the notice of protest shall be filed in writing within seventy-two (72) hours after the receipt of notice of the project plan and specification or intended project plan and specifications in an Invitation for Bid or Request for Proposal, and the formal written protest shall be filed within 10 days after the date the notice of protest is filed. Failure to file a notice of protest or failure to file a formal written protest shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under this chapter. The formal written protest shall state with particularity the facts and law upon which the protest is based. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation of the seventy-two (72) hour time periods provided in this paragraph.

Any person who files an action protesting a decision or intended decision pertaining to a bid pursuant to Florida Statute 120.57(3)(b), shall post at the time of filing the formal written protest, a bond payable to District in an amount equal to one percent (1%) of the total estimated contract value, but not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, which bond shall be conditioned upon the payment of all costs which may be adjudged against the protester in the administrative hearing in which the action is brought and in any subsequent appellate court proceeding.

In lieu of a bond, a cashier’s check, treasurer’s check, bank draft of any national or state bank payable to District will be an acceptable form of security. If, after completion of the administrative hearing process and appellate court proceedings, The District prevails, it shall recover all costs and charges which shall be included in the final order or judgment, including charges made by the Division of Administrative Hearings, but excluding attorney’s fees. Upon payment of such costs and charges by the protester, the remainder, if any, of the protest security shall be returned. If the protester prevails, protester shall recover from The District all costs and charges which are included in the final order of judgment, excluding attorney’s fees.

Failure to file a notice of intent to protest, or failure to file a formal written protest within the time prescribed in Florida Statute 120.57(3), shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

TAX EXEMPTIONS: The District is exempt from Federal Excise, State Sales and Use Taxes. Tax exemption certificates and numbers will be furnished on request.

INVOICES: The Contractor agrees that bills and invoices for fees or other compensation services or expenses shall cite the purchase order number, work order number, date of service, location of job, and name of person requesting the work. The invoice shall be submitted to the Accounts Payable Department within ten (10) working days upon completion of the job. The invoice shall be in detail sufficient for a proper pre-audit and post audit thereof. Each bill or invoice must properly identify the services, portion of services, and expenses for which compensation is sought. A copy of all applicable materials, rental, or sub-contractor invoices must be included with the invoicing to the District. The Contractor’s invoice will also reflect a breakdown of all standard hours and non-standard hours worked.

PAYMENT TERMS: The District complies with the Florida Prompt Payment Act (ss. 218.70-218.80).

Invoice payment is Net 45 days from the date of delivery or the receipt of satisfactory invoice, whichever occurs last, unless invoices specify early payment discounts. All payments, other than payments for construction services, due and not made within the time specified by this section bear interest from 30 days after the due date at the rate of 1 percent per month on the unpaid balance.