Counties and CDHS Contracts and Procurement Training - 12/13/23

Source Selection Method Information

• Discretionary Purchases occur under $50,000 per project based on total known need at the time of the purchase. No competitive solicitation process is typically required.
• Documented Quotes are a publicly posted competitive solicitation between $50,000 and $250,000 per project.
• Request for Proposals are a publicly posted competitive solicitation over $250,000 per project.
• Request for Applications are a publicly posted competitive solicitation of any amount where CDHS is acting as the grant distribution manager and administrator.
• Exempt purchase may be entered into without a competitive process. Counties may be issued a contract or purchase order directly using this method. We refer to these as intergovernmental agreements, or IGA.

Thresholds Determining Award Type

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Contracts or Purchase Orders may be issued to counties either as the result of a discretionary purchase, exempt purchase or as an award following the evaluation of a published competitive solicitation.

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• Purchase Orders may be issued for dollar amounts up to $250,000 for goods and services or greater for goods.

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• Contracts need to executed for dollar amounts greater than $250,000 for services.

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CDHS Contracts and Purchase Order with Counties

Counties and Competitive Solicitation Opportunities

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As government agencies, counties are exempt for the State Procurement Code competitive process. However, this does not mean that counties will only be awarded through exempt intergovernmental agreements.

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• Counties may reply to competitive solicitations if eligible. Solicitations may be open to both government agencies, and any other private entity or non-profit which may be able to provide the services requested. Especially if the services are required statewide, but only delivered locally or regionally by multiple vendors. Please review individual solicitations for eligibility.
• If a county is requested to respond to a solicitation, where do I find solicitations?

https://vss.state.co.us/

https://cdhs.colorado.gov/procurement

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Open Bid and Grant Opportunities

Competitive Solicitation Process and Counties

• If a county responds to a competitive solicitation, are they exempt from State Procurement Rules during the solicitation process? No, if a county is responding to a competitive solicitation, they will participate in the process the same as any other responding entity or organization. Please see this video for more information on the CDHS procurement process : https://youtu.be/ikV_40sQBsw
• If a county responds to a competitive solicitation, are they guaranteed an award from the process? No, if a county is responding to a competitive solicitation, their response will be evaluated and awarded along with all other responding entities or organizations.
• Are counties ever guaranteed award money if there is a competitive solicitation? It’s possible, but of course, specific to each situation. For example, if the legislation or grant language expressly prefers county involvement, then counties may be engaged to provide services through an exempt intergovernmental agreement. If services are required in a geographical area, and counties are unable to provide them, a competitive solicitation may still be published, but counties would not be requested to respond or apply. If an opportunity falls into this type of scenario, a CDHS program or office would contact counties directly to discuss the opportunity.

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CDHS Procurement

Resources

• Colorado Vendor Self Service Information and Links
• Methods of Source Selection
• Laws, Rules and Policies
• CDHS Procurement Webpage

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Colorado Vendor Self Service

• The ColoradoVSS website www.colorado.gov/vss allows vendors to manage vendor account information, review and respond to solicitations.
• There is no cost to register. During the registration process, vendors are able to select NIGP commodity codes for goods and services. Vendors are notified via email of new solicitations pertaining to the commodity codes selected in their registration / account profile. It is recommended to use a broad approach in selecting commodity codes and checking the website frequently, so no opportunities are missed.
• For more information on how to do business with the State of Colorado please visit ACCESS Colorado https://www.colorado.gov/dfp/access
• Detailed registration instructions can be found in the Vendor Registration Quick Start Guide (found on the ColoradoVSS website).
• The ColoradoVSS Help Desk is available Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT and can be reached by calling 303-866-6464 or emailing VSSHelp@state.co.us

Methods of Source Selection

How we select our vendors:

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• Discretionary (R-24-103-204-02)
• State Price Agreements (R-24-102-202-01)
• Documented Quotes (R-24-103-204-03)
• Invitation for Bids (R-24-103-202a)
• Request for Proposals (R-24-103-203)
• Request for Applications (State Controller Policy)
• Competitive Negotiation (R-24-103-206-05)
• Emergency (R-24-103-206-01)
• Sole Source (R-24-103-205-01)
• Exempt (R-24-101-105-01)

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Laws, Rules and Policies

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There are statutes, rules, and policies governing the procurement functions for the State of Colorado, to include:

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• Procurement Code & Rules
• State Purchasing Office Policies
• Fiscal Rules
• State Controller Policies
• Personnel Rules
• Department of Human Services Policies

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CDHS Procurement Web Page

https://cdhs.colorado.gov/procurement

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• Open Solicitations
• Vendor Resources
• Bidding Help
• Agreement Templates
• Procurement Training Video

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Contracts and Procurement Contacts

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Lauren Ingalls – Director of Contracts and Procurement

lauren.ingalls@state.co.us

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Coming Soon! – Contracts Manager

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Coming Soon! – Procurement Manager