Tampa Council Weighs Giving Preference To Local Vendors

Are local vendors getting a fair share of the city's business?

City council members want to know and are discussing the possibility of changing the city's procurement policies to give a competitive edge to local companies vying for government work.

Councilwoman Mary Mulhern says the Iorio administration should adopt new policies giving locals preference over out-of-town firms on bids for good and services.

"We need to change the way we look at the local economy," she said at today's council workshop. "There is growing consensus that local is what's going to save us."

Gregory Spearman, the city's purchasing director, said vendors in the Tampa Bay area get an estimated 80 percent of the $200 million in contract dollars spent every year.

The city generally awards contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, Spearman said.

But, he added, the city's procurement policy treats multinational companies that have stores here as local companies, regardless of whether the profits stay in the area.

"If they have stores here, they are considered local businesses," Spearman said.

That, and the amount of money going to outsiders, riled several council members.

"What you're saying is that about 20 percent of our dollars are going elsewhere," John Dingfelder said. "Bottom line is that more than $36 million is going somewhere else."

Several local business owners urged the council to change the procurement laws.

"The jobs are a red herring," said Carla Jimenez, owner of Inkwood Books in Tampa and a member of the Tampa Bay Independent Business Association. "The money they make doesn't stay in the local economy; it literally leaves town with the overnight deposit."

Councilman Charlie Miranda said he opposes such a move. Giving locals a preference would decrease competition and could drive up the cost of doing the work, he said.

"This would end up costing taxpayers more money," he said.

Some cities and counties across the country have adopted laws that allow them to offer the contract to a local vendor if their proposal is within 1 to 5 percent of the lowest bid.

Hillsborough County considered a similar proposal several years ago, said Councilman Tom Scott, a former county commissioner, but ditched it because of a lack of support.

"The community came forward and said they didn't want this," Scott said.

City Attorney Chip Fletcher said the legal department will study the proposal but warned that courts typically perceive local preference laws to be anti-competitive in nature.

"There are legal constraints," Fletcher said. "These things do get challenged."