Clerical errors on bid documents to supply Bartholomew County Sheriff Department with six new trucks and one new car led to lower bids being rejected by county officials and fewer vehicles being purchased.
Bartholomew County Commissioner Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said several different auto dealerships that made clerical errors that cost a big sale for their employer — and about $20,000 for county taxpayers.
Three dealerships submitted bids to provide the sheriff’s department with the new vehicles, but the two lowest proposals could not legally be considered because their submitted bids were incomplete, Kleinhenz said.
The only dealer who properly completed and submitted all required paperwork — the John Jones Auto Group of Salem — bid $20,000 more than the lowest bidder, Kleinhenz said. The higher-than-expected winning bid means the sheriff’s department will have to settle with only five new trucks, instead of six, Commissioner Tony London said.
Bids are occasionally rejected because the vendor’s offer doesn’t meet specifications, bid bonds are not included or non-collusion affidavits weren’t provided.
But other mistakes that can make an otherwise legitimate bid get tossed out can be as simple as the lack of a signature, Kleinhenz said.
“It’s just like sending a check to pay an electric bill that you forgot to sign,” the commissioner said. “The electric company can’t cash it. And if three dealerships submit proposals, and only one did it properly, you have to accept the proper bid.”
For years, the county has established a policy that if a purchase (such as replacing seven aging vehicles) will cost $150,000 or more, the county must formally bid it. That means they have to write up specifications, advertise them and solicit proposals. In addition, all bids must opened during a public meeting, according to Indiana law.
Since the John Jones group has done business with the county in the past, and their bid is reasonable, Kleinhenz said the county might face consequences if they refused to award the contract to the Salem auto dealer.
“If I owned that dealership, I would be upset if the county didn’t accept my bid,” the commissioner said
The vehicles being purchased from the John Jones Auto Group for $178,960 are:
Five 2021 Dodge Ram 1500 SSD (Specialize Services Division) Crew Cab 4 by 4 pickup trucks (unit price: $30,699. Total: $153,495).
One 2021 Dodge Charger with rear wheel drive for administrative purposes (unit price: $25,465).
Those prices only pay for the basic vehicle. However, a division of the dealership called John Jones Police Pursuit Vehicle will sell and install items such as sirens, light packages, partitions, K-9 holding facilities, gun racks, prisoner transport and exterior graphics.
Several law enforcement agencies forego the bidding procedure and purchase new vehicles only from dealerships who have negotiated contracts with the state, Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said.
These contracts provide bulk purchasing power, which usually translates into the lowest possible cost to city, county and state law enforcement agencies, Myers said. Utilizing state contracts also saves time and reduces confusion, the sheriff said.
“I’ve talked to a lot of other sheriffs who said they just purchase their vehicles off the state bid,” Myers said. “I’m just not sure why we are one of the only counties that does not automatically go with the lowest negotiated contracts with the state.”
In response, Kleinhenz said that giving local dealers an opportunity to bid is the only reason Bartholomew County doesn’t automatically go with the state bid.
“As commissioners, we hear complaints frequently from both dealerships and constituents that want us to buy local,” Kleinhenz said. “So our policy is to give local businesses every possible chance to bid on items we’re about to purchase. That’s what our process does, and we are not in favor of cutting out local businesses by implementing a process that only allows us to go with a state bid.”
In addition, there have been times when the state bid was not the lowest, so Kleinhenz says he and the other commissioners want to keep all their options open.
“There have been occasions where another dealer had a lower bid,” he said. “Sometimes that occurs because they have a surplus, or there are vehicles they have access to.”
Kleinhenz admits that since the two lowest bidders submitted incomplete proposals, “we got burned this time,” he said.
But throwing out every proposal and starting the entire process again to seek new bids undermines the integrity of the county’s bidding process, the commissioner said. He also indicated this situation was a rarity, adding the commissioner’s bidding process almost always results in the lowest cost.
While Myers says he realizes the commissioners want to save taxpayer’s money just as much as he does, “I would like to figure out something, so this doesn’t happen again,” the sheriff said.
To avoid such an occurrence, Kleinhenz suggests that a sheriff’s representative be appointed to follow up with local dealerships to ensure all paperwork they submit is properly filled out.
