Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Dale V.C. Holness
Department: County Commission
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO DIRECT Office of the County Attorney to draft an Ordinance amending the County Business Opportunity Act, Section 1-81 of the Broward County Code of Ordinances, to exclude from the calculation of average annual gross receipts to be eligible for certification as a County Business Enterprise (“CBE”) any amounts paid by a certified CBE architectural firm directly to a subconsultant engineering firm pursuant to a contract with Broward County. (Mayor Holness)
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Why Action is Necessary
Board direction is required to direct the Office of the County Attorney to draft an Ordinance amending the Broward County Code of Ordinances.
What Action Accomplishes
Directs the Office of the County Attorney to draft an Ordinance for Board consideration.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
Under certain Broward County (“County”) contracts, architectural firms that are certified CBEs are required to contract with subconsultants for engineering services. All payments received by the architectural firm CBE for subconsultant engineering work are passed through directly to the subconsultant. As a result, while there may appear to be growth in the gross revenues of the architectural firm CBE, the profits of the architectural firm CBE actually remain flat or decline because the additional revenue is passed on to the engineering firms. Many times, this work is taken on by the architectural firm CBE at the request of the County in order to expedite important County projects, including those at the airport and seaport.
This proposed amendment would exclude from the calculation of average annual gross receipts to be eligible for certification as a CBE any amounts paid by an architectural firm CBE directly to a subconsultant engineering firm pursuant to a contract with the County. The change would allow the determination for eligibility to be certified as a CBE to more closely reflect the architectural firm’s income for architectural services. The County has implemented a similar method to calculate the volume of work for prime contractors where the prime contractor retains CBE firms. Under current County policy, the revenues that are passed through to a CBE firm are excluded from the calculation of the prime contractor’s volume of work to determine the prime contractor’s ranking in procurements.
Source of Additional Information
Heidi Richards, Chief of Staff, District 9, 954-357-7009
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
To be determined by the Office of Management and Budget upon presentation of a draft Ordinance.