4-90-010 General Procurement Standards

(1) In general, the objectives of purchasing and procurement are to buy materials, supplies, services and equipment of the right quality, in the right quantity, at the right price, from the right source, with delivery at the right place and in compliance with the applicable cost principles.

(a) The policies in this section apply to all programs of the Nation’s governmental activities including the general, contracts, and reimbursable grants funds as well as any future governmental activities that have not already been named herein.

(b) The Nation’s economic development activities under SAMCOR, Inc. will follow their own adopted set of purchase and procurement policies.

(c) Where appropriate and authorized, there may be instances or circumstances in which following Federal purchasing and procurement policies is not practicable. For example, it is not always practicable for discretionary funded (hard dollars) procurements to follow Federal purchasing and procurement regulations. Those in charge of hard dollar procurements should facilitate this work regarding exceptions to the purchase and procurement policies not as the standard practice, but rather as seldom occurrences. All such exceptions require pre-approval by resolution by the Tribal Council, shall be thoroughly documented, shall not violate laws or regulations, shall have sound operational and/or financial reasoning, and shall not circumvent the intent of purchases and procurement policy as a whole.

(3) The Tribal Council adopts this procurement policy to ensure funds are expended as intended and to meet the following goals:

(a) Expenditures are made only after an appropriate level of management has reviewed the proposed expenditure.

(b) Expenditures are made in accordance with a properly approved budget.

(d) Expenditures are made only in accordance with applicable law.

(e) Compliance with applicable Federal cost principles found in 2 CFR Part 200.

(f) Where cost effective and allowed by law, expenditures are approved by electronic means.

(g) Expenditures are made in the best interest of the Samish Indian Nation.

(a) If a grant or contract has restrictions or requirements different than the Nation’s purchasing and procurement procedures, these additional procedures will be documented in the Grants and Contracts administration file. For example, using Federal funds to purchase real property (principally land and buildings) has many more policies and procedures involved than have been adopted in the Nation’s purchase and procurement policy. Additionally, Federal purchase and procurement regulations still apply to situations in which Tyee funds may be used to purchase real property on behalf of a grant-funded program.

(i) The Supervisor and Compliance Officer will cooperatively prepare a memorandum outlining the requirements and forward to the General Manager or Tribal Administrator and the Controller.

(ii) The Controller will review the requirements and work cooperatively with the Compliance Officer and Supervisor to develop an implementation procedure.

(iii) The procedure will be approved by the General Manger or Tribal Administrator.

(iv) The procedure will be maintained in the Grants and Contracts administration file.

(v) The Supervisor and Compliance Officer will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the procedure.

(vi) The procedure will expire when the grant or contract expires.

(b) The Nation will maintain an administrative system which ensures that the Nation and contractors perform in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of their contracts or purchase orders.

(a) The Nation’s code of conduct governing the performance of their employees engaged in the award and administration of contracts prohibits an employee, officer, or agent of the Nation from participating in the selection, the award, or the administration of a contract if a conflict of interest, real or apparent, exists. A conflict of interest exists when the employee, officer, or agent, any member of his or her immediate family, his or her partner, or an organization which employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible personal benefit from a firm considered for a contract.

(b) The officers, employees, and agents of the Nation may neither solicit nor accept gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary value from contractors or parties to subcontracts. Unsolicited items with an aggregate value of $50.00 or less are considered nominal and should not be construed as a conflict of interest.

(c) Any alleged violations of these standards of conduct will be referred to Human Resources Director who will consult with the Nation’s Tribal Attorney(s), General Manager or Tribal Administrator as appropriate. Where violations appear to have occurred, the offending employee, officer, or agent may be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to dismissal or transfer; where violations or infractions appear to be substantial in nature, the matter may be referred to the appropriate officials for criminal investigation and possible prosecution.

(6) The Nation must avoid acquisition of unnecessary or duplicative items. Consideration should be given to consolidating or breaking out procurements to obtain a more economical purchase. Where appropriate, an analysis will be made of lease versus purchase alternatives, and any other appropriate analysis to determine the most economical approach. The Nation is encouraged to use Federal excess and surplus property in lieu of purchasing new equipment and property whenever such use is feasible and reduces project costs.

(a) Contracts must be awarded to responsible contractors possessing the ability to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of a proposed procurement. In order to determine if a contractor is responsible, consideration will be given to such matters as contractor integrity, compliance with public policy, record of past performance, and financial and technical resources.

(b) Consideration may also be given for prior site or project knowledge that may result in a reduction of project cost.

(c) Contracts for architectural, engineering, audit and accounting (A/E/A) services may exclude price as an evaluation factor and focus on the contractor’s qualifications if a fair price can be negotiated.

(8) The Finance Department must maintain records sufficient to detail the history of procurements. These records will include, but are not limited to, the following: rationale for the method of procurement for large purchases because micro purchases and small purchases are established by the threshold amounts selection of contract type, project description and specifications, cost/price analysis, contractor evaluation and selection or rejection, and the basis for the contract price.

(9) Time-and-materials-type contracts may be used only after a determination that no other contract is suitable and must include a maximum price that the contractor exceeds at its own risk. “Time-and-materials-type contract” means a contract whose cost to the Samish Indian Nation entity is the sum of:

(a) The actual cost of materials; and

(b) Direct labor hours charged at fixed hourly rates that reflect wages, general and administrative expenses, and profit.

(c) As this formula generates an open-ended contract price, a time-and-materials contract provides no positive profit incentive to the contractor for cost control or labor efficiency. Therefore, each time-and-materials contract must set a ceiling price that the contractor exceeds at its own risk. Further, the Nation must assert a high degree of oversight in order to obtain reasonable assurance that the contractor is using efficient methods and effective cost controls.

(10) The General Manager or Tribal Administrator is a authorized to approve grant-funded procurements of a single item or service that is less than or equal to $50,000; however, procurements funded in whole or in part by Samish Council require approval by resolution regardless of the dollar amount. For procurements that renew each year, i.e., consultant contract for services provided, the threshold period should align with the period that the services are provided, i.e., annually, biannually, etc. These thresholds supersede any differences prescribed in other sections of ordinance, policy, or procedure.

(11) When acquiring certain telecommunications and video surveillance, use of Federal funding is prohibited to:

(a) Procure or obtain;

(b) Extend or renew a contract to procure or obtain; or

(c) Enter into a contract (or extend or renew a contract) to procure or obtain equipment, services, or systems that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system. As described in Public Law 115-232, Section 889, covered telecommunications equipment is telecommunications equipment produced by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities).

(i) For the purpose of public safety, security of government facilities, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes, video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, or Dahua Technology Company (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities).

(ii) Telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entities or using such equipment.

(iii) Telecommunications or video surveillance equipment or services produced or provided by an entity that the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of the National Intelligence or the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, reasonably believes to be an entity owned or controlled by, or otherwise connected to, the government of a covered foreign country.

(12) The Nation should, to the greatest extent practicable, provide a preference for the purchase, acquisition, or use of goods, products, or materials produced in the United States (including but not limited to iron, aluminum, steel, cement, and other manufactured products).

(a) The requirements of this section must be included in all subawards including all contracts and purchase orders for work or products.

(b) For purposes of this subsection:

(i) “Produced in the United States” means, for iron and steel products, that all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occurred in the United States.

(ii) “Manufactured products” means items and construction materials composed in whole or in part of nonferrous metals such as aluminum; plastics and polymer-based products such as polyvinyl chloride pipe; aggregates such as concrete; glass, including optical fiber; and lumber. [Res. 2021-02-015 § 2 (Att. 1), 2021.]