Finding Text
Criteria: Louisiana Revised Statute 38:2215 requires that the City shall award construction contracts within 45 days of receipt of bids and award said contract to the lowest responsible bidder or reject all bids. However, the City and the lowest responsible bidder, by mutual written consent, may agree to extend the deadline for an award by one or more extensions of thirty calendar days.
Condition: The City did not award the contract within 45 days of bid opening and was unable to provide documentation of mutual written agreement for the extension of the time period for the award of the contract.
Cause: The City did not have proper policies and procedures in place to ensure that the contract was awarded within the proper time frames.
Effect: The City did not comply with Louisiana Revised Statute 38:2215.
Context: While the LCDBG program was not considered a major program, a monitoring report by the grantor identified issues that were considered to be material weaknesses.
Recommendation: Adequate policies and procedures should be implemented to ensure compliance with Louisiana Revised Statutes.
Management’s Corrective Action Plan: This compliance finding relates to the previous administration. The City has provided written assurance to the Office of Community Development that this requirement will be met under any future LCDBG programs.