Doing Business with the City

City Council has established the following levels of authority:

• Expenditures less than $1,000 require no additional quotes.

• At least two telephone or oral quotes must be obtained for expenditures between $1,000 and $2,999.99.

• At least three written quotes must be obtained for expenditures between $3,000 and $50,000.
• Departments are required to contact two Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) vendors to give them an opportunity to bid.

The process of formal solicitations for purchases greater than $50,000 include the following:

• The Invitation to Bid (ITB) or Request for Proposals (RFP) is typically advertised on Sundays in the Temple Daily Telegram.
• The ITB or RFP is released via the City’s online e-bidding system, Bonfire.
• Immediately following time due, a public opening is held virtually via Microsoft Teams or in-person at the City of Temple Purchasing office located at 3210 E Avenue H, Building C, Temple, TX.
• City Council awards the purchase or contract.

City Council has adopted a "local preference option" policy to consider a combination of price and additional economic development opportunities. For City Council to consider local preference when awarding a contract, the following criteria must be met:

• Competitive sealed bid process is used to procure the purchase
• Expenditure is less than $500,000
• Local bidder is located within the Temple city limits
• Local bidder submits a Local Preference Declaration with bid submission
• Local bidder's bid is within 5% of the lowest bid received

A purchasing cooperative (co-op) is a type of cooperative arrangement that aggregates demand to obtain lower pricing and better value from selected suppliers. Co-op agencies are organizations that are independent of the City of Temple and allow governmental agencies the ability to utilize contracts that were competitively bid.  This purchase option saves the City both time and money. The City is a member of various co-op purchasing programs such as:

• BuyBoard
• Department of Information (DIR)
• General Services Administration (GSA)
• NASPO ValuePoint
• National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA)
• OMNIA Partners
• Sourcewell
• The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS)

• Expenditures for those goods and services outlined in Texas Local Government Code, Section 252.022
• Professional and personal services
• Land purchases and leases

Visit the Comptroller's site for more information or to register as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) vendor.