9.48 Joint purchasing programs.

(A) A county or township may do any of the following:

(1) Permit one or more other counties or townships to participate in contracts into which it has entered for the acquisition of equipment, materials, supplies, or services, and may charge such participating counties or townships a reasonable fee to cover any additional costs incurred as a result of their participation;

(2) Participate in a joint purchasing program operated by or through a national or state association of political subdivisions in which the purchasing county or township is eligible for membership.

(3) Participate in contract offerings from the federal government that are available to a county or township including, but not limited to, contract offerings from the general services administration.

(B) Acquisition by a county or township of equipment, material, supplies, or services, through participation in a contract of another county or township or participation in an association program under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, is exempt from any competitive selection requirements otherwise required by law, if the contract in which it is participating was awarded pursuant to a publicly solicited request for a proposal or a competitive selection procedure of another political subdivision within this state or in another state. Acquisition by a county or township of equipment, materials, supplies, or services pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section is exempt from any competitive selection requirements otherwise required by law. No county or township shall acquire equipment, materials, supplies, or services by participating in a contract under this section if it has received bids for such acquisition, unless its participation enables it to make the acquisition upon the same terms, conditions, and specifications at a lower price.

(C) A county or township that is eligible to participate in a joint purchasing program operated by or through a national or state association of political subdivisions in which the purchasing county or township is eligible for membership may purchase supplies or services from another party, including another political subdivision, instead of through participation in contracts authorized by division (A)(2) of this section if the county or township can purchase those supplies or services from the other party upon equivalent terms, conditions, and specifications but at a lower price than it can through those contracts. Purchases that a county or township makes under this division are exempt from any competitive selection procedures otherwise required by law. A county or township that makes any purchase under this division shall maintain sufficient information regarding the purchase to verify that the county or township satisfied the conditions for making a purchase under this division. Nothing in this division restricts any action taken by a county or township as authorized by division (A)(1) of this section.

Effective Date: 11-05-1997; 11-05-2004