Click here to skip to main content.
scenic picture from Washington state
SUBJECTS › PUBLIC WORKS › Purchasing and Bidding: Intergovernmental Purchasing and Piggybacking
Updated 08/05

Purchasing and Bidding: Intergovernmental Purchases and 'Piggybacking'

Contents

Intergovernmental Purchases and 'Piggybacking'

Excerpt from The Bidding Book, Report No. 52, Revised (Adobe Acrobat Document 706 KB), MRSC

Purchasing From Other Governments and on Other Governments' Contracts:

Federal Government:
The authority for cities to purchase from or through the federal government is found in RCW 39.32.070 - 090. The first statute states that cities are authorized to purchase equipment, supplies, materials, and other property, without advertising, giving notice, or inviting bids. RCW 39.32.080 suspends any charter provisions, ordinances, or policies that require bidding when dealing with the federal government. RCW 39.32.090 requires that an ordinance or resolution be passed before any particular purchase is made from the federal government or through a federal government contract.

Intergovernmental Purchases and Bidding:
As noted on preceding pages, RCW 47.24.050 and RCW 35.77.020 provide authority for cities to enter into agreements with the county in which they are located for repair or construction of any or all of the cities' streets or bridges. No bidding requirements apply to such projects. RCW 36.75.200 provides that a county may expend funds for the repair, maintenance, or construction of any bridges within a city if the bridge is essential to continuation of the county road system. A city may acquire surplus property from another government entity without regard to bid laws. RCW 39.33.010 authorizes such purchases "on such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon by the proper authorities."

Chapter 39.34 RCW allows cooperative purchasing between public agencies (political subdivisions).  For the purposes of this chapter, the term "public agency" means any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of this state including, but not limited to, municipal corporations, quasi municipal corporations, special purpose districts, and local service districts; any agency of the state government; any agency of the United States; any Indian tribe recognized as such by the federal government; and any political subdivision of another state.  Public agencies which have filed an Intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing Agreement (ICPA) with the each other may make purchases from each others contract awards, if the Vendor has agreed to such participation.  The awarding agency does not accept any responsibility for orders placed by other public agencies.  A public agency purchasing under another agency's contract accepts responsibility for compliance with statutes (including bid limits) governing purchase by or on behalf of itself.

Each participating agency must have the power to do individually what it agrees to do jointly.  Public agencies may purchase from contracts entered by other public agencies if
          The contract is determined to have been awarded in compliance with bidding requirements of the agency seeking to purchase, except note HB 2615 (2004).
          There is no statutory provision prohibiting such a purchase.

HB 2615 (2004) added this language to RCW 39.34.030:
          With respect to one or more public agencies purchasing or otherwise contracting through a bid, proposal, or contract awarded by another public agency or by a group of public agencies, any statutory obligation to provide notice for bids or proposals that applies to the public agencies involved is satisfied if the public agency or group of public agencies that awarded the bid, proposal, or contract complied with its own statutory requirements and either
                      (i) posted the bid or solicitation notice on a web site established and maintained by a public agency, purchasing cooperative, or similar service provider, for purposes of posting public notice of bid or proposal solicitations,
                   or ii) provided an access link on the state's web portal to the notice.

Cities frequently use the authority granted in RCW 39.34.030 to make purchases through the Office of State Procurement (OSP) of the Department of General Administration. Cities may be able to realize savings through the OSP's quantity purchasing, although an annual subscription fee is charged to participate. In order to make such purchases, a municipality must enter into a written agreement (an intergovernmental cooperative purchasing agreement) with the state Department of General Administration, a copy of which is filed with the city clerk and the county auditor. The OSP then sends to the city lists of contracts that have been entered into by that department with suppliers (vendors) and that the city is eligible to use. These contracts are general in nature and are obtained by the department from the various vendors. The vendors agree to provide the same items to cities under the same terms and conditions as provided to state agencies.

If a city decides to make a purchase under one of the listed contracts, it notifies the department of its intent to do so, and the department sends the city a copy of the particular contract.49 The contract contains instructions on the procedures used to make purchases. Under most contracts, the city or town makes the purchase directly from the vendor. In some cases, such as the purchase of motor vehicles, the department requires the purchase to be made through its office.

Sample Questions

  • We "piggybacked" on a county contract to purchase a grader last year, having entered into an interlocal agreement for such a purpose with the county. The county is now going to buy more graders from the same vendor without going out for bids. Can we piggyback on this purchase?
    Maybe. If the city (and county) can say in good faith that last year's purchase was not meant to be a one-time purchase, it might be able to argue that this year's purchase is covered by last year's arrangement with the vendor. However, a city may not utilize a piggybacking arrangement as a means to circumvent the bid laws. The safest course here is to solicit new bids.
  • Does a city have to enter a new interlocal agreement every time it makes a purchase on another city's contract?
    A separate agreement must be made with each public agency whose contract the city wishes to purchase from. However, a city can enter an interlocal agreement with another city to cover purchases of many different items. It does not need a separate agreement for each item.

Intergovermental Purchases Information from Nancy Locke, City of Seattle

 The following links are to materials provided by Nancy Locke, City Purchasing Manager, City of Seattle, at the September  2004 Pacific Northwest Purchasing Professionals (PNPPA) Conference.

Interlocal Cooperatives PowerPoint Presentation ( powerpoint document 90k )

Purchases through Interlocal Agreements Checklist for City of Seattle ( word document 35k )

Draft Instructions to City of Seattle Buyers Regarding Interlocal Agreements ( word document 45k )

Piggyback Contracts Database

MRSC has agreed to host contracts available for piggybacking from Pacific Northwest Purchasing Professionals (PNPPA) members and other local government agencies.

  • Upload Contracts - Follow this link to upload contracts that your agency wishes to make available to other agencies.
  • View Contracts - Follow this link to view contracts made available to local agencies for piggybacking purposes.

MRSC has not edited nor reviewed the contracts in the Piggyback Contracts Database.  Documents are provided as furnished to MRSC by the agency who posted them.  Your agency attorney should review the contract language before you use these documents. 


Return to Purchasing and Bidding Contents
Return to "Bid or not to Bid" Contents