Calvert County Commissioners have asked staff to pursue creating a reciprocal preference for contracts awarded through the county’s procurement process. Commissioners made this decision following a presentation by staff on different procurement options.

As reported by Southern Maryland Newspapers Online,

Tim Hayden, director of the Department of Finance and Budget, and Roberta Baker, purchasing officer, gave a presentation to the BOCC Tuesday because of recent concerns and discussions surrounding local businesses and the county’s competitive bidding process. Baker and Hayden presented four options on how the commissioners could proceed, and they ultimately decided on a reciprocal preference rather than a local preference.

In a reciprocal preference, bids from businesses from counties that have a local preference are considered with their home county’s local preference weighed against them. Some counties give preference to local businesses that bid on contracts, which means Calvert businesses bidding in other counties are at a disadvantage when bidding in those counties.

Other options considered included continuing with the current process, which awards contracts to the lowest bidder, and a local preference.