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 The
Purchasing Division is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is
located on the Ground Floor of City Hall, 111 E. Maple, Independence, Missouri 64051-0519;
phone 816-325-7087; fax 816-325-7088.
The Purchasing Division seeks to secure equipment, materials and services for City
departments in an efficient, professional and timely manner, and at the lowest cost.
If you wish to contact a member of the staff, a list is included on this website.
Click Purchasing Staff.
To provide quality service through effective communication and a cooperative working
relationship with all departments and vendors, in order to fulfill the needs of
the City of Independence for goods and services in a professional, responsive, timely
and cost effective manner, and in accordance with all legal requirements and ethical
standards.
The first step in selling supplies and services to the City is to register on-line
with the Purchasing Division by completing a Vendor Information Form. To access
the form, you must acquire a vendor number and password. Contact us at 816-325-7087,
or email ahessenflow@indepmo.org, including your company information, and
we will email your vendor number and password to you. Once you have a vendor number
and password, go to www.independencemo.org. From the home page, click On-line Services,
then Purchasing On-line, click
Vendor Registration. Complete the information
and click Submit. The Purchasing Division will use this information to maintain
a database of qualified vendors and to evaluate bidder capability. All registered
vendors will be notified of any changes to our bidding methodology. (Approval as
a qualified vendor requires submission, via U. S. mail, of a W-9 Form, which can also be downloaded from this website.)
While registering as a vendor with the City places that vendor in the City's database
of possible vendors and allows purchases to be made from them, it does not provide
notification of bid opportunities. The City has contracted with DemandStar by Onvia
for the maintenance of an automated bid notification system, categorized by specific
commodities and services. Vendors who have subscribed to the service are notified
by fax or e-mail whenever an Invitation for Bid (ITB) or Request for Proposal (RFP)
has been offered for the commodity or service supplied by the vendor.
Vendors are not required to subscribe to DemandStar by Onvia to obtain bid documents
or to do business with the City of Independence. Vendors choosing not to subscribe
can view bid documents on Demand Star. The bid documents can then be downloaded
for a fee, or vendors can receive them free, via e-mail or fax, by contacting the
purchasing official identified in the bid details. All formal bids will be posted
on the DemandStar website (linked from our website) and advertised in the local
newspaper. For additional information or to subscribe to DemandStar, click here
or call (800) 711-1722.
Whenever a department of the City requests equipment or materials in excess of $25,000,
vendors who have subscribed with the City's third-party provider will be notified.
Upon receiving an Invitation to Bid, the vendor should carefully read the entire
document. It is the vendor's responsibility to obtain all bonds, insurance, and
any other requested documents, as outlined in the Invitation to Bid.
Pre-bid conferences may be held for formal, sealed bids to provide vendors with
the opportunity to ask questions regarding the bid. In these cases, the bid solicitation
will outline the time and place of the pre-bid conference and indicate if attendance
is mandatory in order to participate in the bidding process.
A public bid opening is required for formal, sealed bids. Public bid openings are
on the date and time specified in the solicitation in the Purchasing Division offices
located on the Ground Floor of City Hall, 111 E. Maple, Independence, Missouri 64051.
Bids must be stamped "received" in the Purchasing Division prior to the stated deadline
in order to be accepted.
Price agreements are used to purchase many goods and services the City buys repetitively
over the course of a year. These agreements are bid for commodities, equipment or
services for a specified period of time, usually one year with possible renewals.
Awards may be made to qualified, single or multiple vendors who meet specifications
and conditions.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) is used in lieu of an Invitation to Bid when sealed
bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the City. When the City
issues a RFP, it will contain a scope of service to be addressed by the proposal.
Only the names of the responders will be identified at the opening of the RFP.
Using the process of Request for Proposal must promote overall economy for the purpose
intended and encourage maximum practicable competition that satisfies the needs
of the City. An award will be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is
determined to be the most advantageous to the City.
The City of Independence sells its government surplus property online through GovDeals
www.govdeals.com.
GovDeals is a unique, state of the art, online auction service for government to
conduct online sales of surplus and confiscated property. Items will be continuously
posted on the web and can be accessed at www.independencemo.org (click “Online Services”
on the front page and then the “Purchase Surplus Property “ link under Finance),
or through www.govdeals.com
(click “Advanced Search” and then select “Missouri” and “Independence”. Citizens
can see the items before they purchase by making an appointment with a Purchasing
staff member (816-325-7093).
Purchases between $501 and $25,000 can be processed by a Request for Quotation via
telephone, fax or electronic media. Vendors may wish to supply catalogs or other
literature regarding their products to the Purchasing staff for review.
A petty cash check or procurement card is normally used to obtain items needed by
departments where the cost is $500 or less.
The Purchasing Division does not process public improvement and construction contracts.
Public Works generally handles these; however, depending on the project, they may
be administered by individual departments.
The City of Independence is exempt from Missouri Sales and Use Tax on purchases.
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