It is the intent of the City Council to maximize the amount of business that is awarded to vendors, businesses, and companies that are located in the City of St. Charles. This policy has been established for the purpose of providing guidance to City staff and vendors regarding how preference will be given.
It is the policy of the City of St. Charles to award purchases to local vendors and suppliers in procurement transactions whenever practical and in the best interest of the City. The amount of preference shall be a maximum of one (1%) percent for any qualifying transactions.
A local vendor or supplier is any individual or business that maintains a substantial business site within the City prior to submission of a bid, quote or proposal.
Factors to be considered by the City in applying the local vendor preference shall include the economic benefit to the City of St. Charles, the number of employees hired by the local vendor, suppliers who reside in St. Charles, and other factors as deemed relevant by the City Administrator or his designee.
In no event shall any preference bidding be afforded to any local vendor that is, at the time the bid is submitted, not current on real and personal taxes owing to City of St. Charles, unless said tax liability is being protested or challenged under the laws of the City or the State of Illinois.
When goods and services are to be procured utilizing the benefits of combined purchasing, pool purchasing opportunities, cooperative purchase opportunities available with other entities, or other acceptable purchasing methods that result in increased cost savings to the City due to volume discounting, the local preference provision may be waived by the City Administrator or his designee upon a showing of substantial cost savings to the City. Local vendors may be given the opportunity to match any pricing obtained through these purchasing methods.
Due to state law, the Local Vendor Preference policy cannot apply to public works projects. Due to federal restrictions, federally funded programs must also be exempt. Exemptions should also be made for vehicles, emergencies, sole source purchases, and cases in which a local vendor is not qualified as determined by the City Administrator or his designee.