Professional Services Contracting Glossary CGJ - Civil Grand Jury

Purchasing regulations governing Professional Services contracts have not been updated significantly since 1989. As a result, purchasing regulations do not reflect 1996 Charter revisions which affect contracting or 1999 revisions to Chapter 21 of the Code which governs purchasing of commodities and services. Thus, there is no current direction from Purchasing to the departments relative to procedures for contracts below $50,000 or sole source contracts.

CGJ found that there is a widespread practice of awarding Professional Services Contracts below $50,000 without following a competitive solicitation process. Generally, departments believe that the absence of Purchasing regulations for contracts under $50,000 negates any requirement for competitive solicitation or, in many cases, HRC review. Several contracts for Professional Services were also found to have been developed using questionable practices relating to contract amendments. In those cases, the departments initially awarded contracts for less than $50,000 which excluded items integral to the contract, in order to stay below the $50,000 threshold. Once the contract was signed, amendments were provided that increased the contract beyond $50,000 - without a new competitive solicitation process (and, at times, without HRC review). A significant number of contracts with one or more of the problems found above were for public affairs and public relations consultants.

Sole source exemptions are frequently declared by the contracting departments on an assumption that there will not be other bidders, and often without documentation of a rationale. Validation - that the service provider is compliant with HRC rules, minimum compensation, and health-care accountability requirements - is generally taken as the only requirement necessary to allow declaration of a "sole source" circumstance. This is a frequent practice in the human services area, as well as in others.