SF 3800

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/27/2018 08:51am

A bill for an act
relating to education; modifying contract requirements for milk for school lunches
and vocational training programs; amending Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement,
section 123B.52, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, section 123B.52, subdivision 1, is amended
to read:

Subdivision 1.

Contracts.

A contract for work or labor, or for the purchase of furniture,
fixtures, or other property, except books registered under the copyright laws and information
systems software, or for the construction or repair of school houses, the estimated cost or
value of which shall exceed that specified in section 471.345, subdivision 3, must not be
made by the school board without first advertising for bids or proposals by two weeks'
published notice in the official newspaper. This notice must state the time and place of
receiving bids and contain a brief description of the subject matter.

Additional publication in the official newspaper or elsewhere may be made as the board
shall deem necessary.

After taking into consideration conformity with the specifications, terms of delivery,
and other conditions imposed in the call for bids, every such contract for which a call for
bids has been issued must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, be duly executed
in writing, and be otherwise conditioned as required by law. The person to whom the contract
is awarded shall give a sufficient bond to the board for its faithful performance.
Notwithstanding section 574.26 or any other law to the contrary, on a contract limited to
the purchase of a finished tangible product, a board may require, at its discretion, a
performance bond of a contractor in the amount the board considers necessary. A record
must be kept of all bids, with names of bidders and amount of bids, and with the successful
bid indicated thereon. A bid containing an alteration or erasure of any price contained in
the bid which is used in determining the lowest responsible bid must be rejected unless the
alteration or erasure is corrected as provided in this section. An alteration or erasure may
be crossed out and the correction thereof printed in ink or typewritten adjacent thereto and
initialed in ink by the person signing the bid. In the case of identical low bids from two or
more bidders, the board may, at its discretion, utilize negotiated procurement methods with
the tied low bidders for that particular transaction, so long as the price paid does not exceed
the low tied bid price. In the case where only a single bid is received, the board may, at its
discretion, negotiate a mutually agreeable contract with the bidder so long as the price paid
does not exceed the original bid. If no satisfactory bid is received, the board may readvertise.
Standard requirement price contracts established for supplies or services to be purchased
by the district must be established by competitive bids. Such standard requirement price
contracts may contain escalation clauses and may provide for a negotiated price increase
or decrease based upon a demonstrable industrywide or regional increase or decrease in the
vendor's costs. Either party to the contract may request that the other party demonstrate
such increase or decrease. The term of such contracts must not exceed two years with an
option on the part of the district to renew for an additional two years, except as provided in
subdivision 7. Contracts for the purchase of perishable food items deleted text begin , except milk for school
lunches and vocational training programs, deleted text end in any amount may be made by direct negotiation
by obtaining two or more written quotations for the purchase or sale, when possible, without
advertising for bids or otherwise complying with the requirements of this section or section
471.345, subdivision 3. All quotations obtained shall be kept on file for a period of at least
one year after receipt.

Every contract made without compliance with the provisions of this section shall be
void. Except in the case of the destruction of buildings or injury thereto, where the public
interest would suffer by delay, contracts for repairs may be made without advertising for
bids.