Opinion ID: 1781589
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Grant of Injunction as to the Other Components

Text: The trial court also determined that the ITB did not include a solicitation of bids for the central-control equipment and the operating-support system; it ordered that these items be rebid. The court erred. Even TFT argues that the ITB was clearly designed to elicit a bid for the entire TAR system and not just for the receivers. The ITB specifically listed the three major components of the system, and all three bidders made an effort to price the receivers, the central-control equipment, and the operating-support system. The Addendum to the ITB also stated that the vendor's price on the additional items would be considered in the selection of the successful bidder for the 12,000 UHF TAR receivers. The evidence in the record shows that the Purchasing Division intended initially to solicit bids only for the receivers and a price matrix for the other components. The Purchasing Division then decided to purchase these components from the same vendor that supplied the receivers. TFT argues that awarding the entire system to a bidder based on the price bid for only the receiver violates Alabama's Competitive Bid Law. The trial court never ruled as to whether the State's approach violated Alabama's Competitive Bid Law. Instead, the trial court simply found that the ITB did not solicit bids for any components of the system other than the receivers. When the State issued the ITB, the AEMA did not know how many receivers would be required, nor how much funding it would receive from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); therefore, it decided to buy initially 12,000 receiver units. (R. 164, 171.) The unit price of the receivers was an important element in AEMA's determination because the agency intended to purchase increasingly more receivers as funding became available. (R. 120, 126-27, 149-50.) The receivers would be the most numerous of the items to be purchased. (R. 126-27.) The State had only limited funding from FEMA and intended to purchase the additional componentsthe central-control equipment and the operating-support systemas funds became available; therefore, the State also sought price quotations for the additional components that would eventually be needed to make a complete system. (R. 171-73.) The use of a single vendor to supply all of the components of the system ensures that the components will be compatible, and the solicitation of prices for these other components locks in a price for their future purchase. No evidence in the record supports the trial court's finding that the ITB did not include the central-control equipment and the operating-support system. In its Addendum to the ITB, the agencies specifically requested that prices for these components be listed in a price matrix, in response to written questions from WSI and Federal Signal. These prices were supposed to be considered in determining the successful bidder. However, because TFT did not submit separate prices for the central-control equipment and the operating-support system, the State could not compare its prices with those of WSI. We do not find that the State's method of soliciting bids on this contract violates the Competitive Bid Law. Alabama Admin. Code § 355-4-1-.03(8)(a) permits the State to determine the lowest responsible bidder on the basis of an individual item, group of items or in any way determined to be in the best interest of the state. The Legislature specifically authorized the Finance Department to promulgate regulations with respect to the performance of its duties, and those regulations have the effect of law. Ala.Code 1975, § 41-4-35. The agencies found it to be in the best interest of the State to solicit bids for the TAR receivers, based on the funding available at the time, and to solicit, at the same time, prices for the additional components, in order to guarantee a price for those components to be purchased when funding became available. While we do not find the State's actions in this particular case to constitute fraud or an abuse of discretion, we do not hold that awarding a contract on the basis of one item alone will never violate the Competitive Bid Law.