Explanation
Background: The purpose of this legislation is to temporarily waive a provision of the Columbus City Codes Chapter 329 which require the opening of bids at the time designated in the invitations for bids.
The Department of Finance and Management has become aware of a Microsoft platform issue that affects how bid due times are displayed in invitations to bid posted on the D365 bidding platform for some vendors of the City. Certain vendors see bid due times displayed within D365 in the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) zone, in a 24-hour clock format, rather than their own time zone or the Eastern time zone. The time displayed, however, is not labeled with the time zone, and adding a time zone label is not an available platform option at this time. The UTC time zone is five hours ahead of the Eastern time zone. Due to this display issue, some vendors believe they have five additional hours after the City's stated bid deadline in which to submit a bid.
Neither the City nor any given vendor have a way of knowing in advance if accounts are affected by the incorrectly displayed time zone issue. The City cannot know ahead of a bid if a vendor with the account issue will attempt to bid. While the Auditor’s Office is actively working with Microsoft to get a fix for this prioritized and completed, there is not an internal option at this point to allow the City to directly correct the issue.
In order to support and maintain fair bidding practices during the duration of this Microsoft platform issue, the Director of Finance and Management, in consultation with the City Attorney’s Office, recommends and directs that all City bids processed through D365 remain sealed until at least five (5) hours after the City's stated bid due time to allow for any vendors experiencing the above-described Microsoft system issue to timely report that issue to Vendor Services and for Vendor Services to timely report it to the City bid requester. Where a vendor is determined to have experienced the above-described time zone issue, through timely reporting and provision of evidence thereof to Vendor Services, such bids shall remain sealed, be cancelled, and be rebid by the City bid requester. Any vendor who reports issues relating to the time zone view outside of the extended five (5) hour time frame after bid deadline will not be accepted and the project will not be rebid.
This temporary practice only applies to bids completed through the D365 platform. Bids created in the D365 platform to generate an RFQ number, but completed through the Bonfire or Bid Express portals are not affected by the time zone issue, and this extension would not apply.
The Department of Finance and Management will update Council periodically on the status of any repairs to the Microsoft platform to correct this issue that it receives from the Auditor’s Office, who will continue to work directly with Microsoft to implement a solution.
This temporary waiver shall expire on June 1, 2026 unless extended via subsequent legislation. This temporary waiver may expire sooner should the Department of Finance and Management report to Council that the Microsoft platform issue described above has been resolved.
Fiscal Impact: None.
Emergency action is requested in order to begin the practice of delaying and/or cancelling the unsealing of bids as soon as possible to support fair bidding practices during such time as the time zone display issue continues within Microsoft’s platform and D365.
Title
To waive certain competitive bidding provisions of the Columbus City Codes Sections 329.18(a)(5) and 329.18(b)(5), which require, in part, bids to be opened at the time designated in the invitation for bids, to allow for a delay or cancellation in the opening of bids which are the subject of a time zone display issue affecting the Microsoft platform and the City’s D365 system for certain vendors; and to declare an emergency. ($0.00)
Body
WHEREAS, a Microsoft platform issue exists that affects the time zone in which bid due times are displayed in the invitations to bid posted on the D365 bidding platform for some vendors of the City, which results in those vendors believing that they have additional time after the City's stated bid deadline in which to submit a bid; and
WHEREAS, the City and affected vendors do not have any way of knowing that the vendor's D365 accounts are displaying an incorrect time zone, unless and until an affected vendor experiences a bidding issue and informs Vendor Services or another City representative; and
WHEREAS, the City Auditor’s Office is not able to directly correct the issue within D365 at this time, as Microsoft must fix the issue at its platform level; and
WHEREAS, in order to support and maintain fair bidding practices during the duration of this Microsoft system issue, the Director of Finance and Management, in consultation with the City Attorney’s Office, requests that City Council waive certain competitive bidding provisions of the Columbus City Codes Sections 329.18(a)(5) and 329.18(b)(5), which require, in part, bids to be opened at the time designated in the invitation for bids, to allow for a delay in and/or cancellation of opening of bids which are the subject of a time zone display issue for which the City receives timely notice and evidence from any affected vendor; and
WHEREAS, the Director of Finance and Management recommends and directs that all City bids processed through D365 remain sealed until at least five (5) hours after the City bid requester's stated bid due time to allow for any vendors experiencing the Microsoft system time zone issue to timely report that issue to the City (Vendor Services) within five hours of the City's stated bid deadline; in cases of bids where a vendor experiences the above-described time zone issue, and timely reports and provides evidence thereof to the City (Vendor Services), such bids shall remain sealed, be cancelled, and be rebid by bid requester; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Finance and Management, in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the waiver of the provisions of the Columbus City Codes Sections 329.18(a)(5) and 329.18(b)(5), which require, in part, bids to be opened at the time designated in the invitation for bids, in order to begin the practice of delaying and/or cancelling the unsealing of bids as soon as possible to support fair bidding practices during such time as the time zone display issue continues within Microsoft’s platform and D365, for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety and welfare; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That Council finds it is in the best interests of the City to waive those certain competitive bidding provisions of the Columbus City Codes Sections 329.18(a)(5) and 329.18(b)(5), which require bids to be opened at the time designated in the invitation for bids, to allow for the delay and/or cancellation of the unsealing of bids which are the subject of a time zone display issue affecting the Microsoft platform and the City’s D365 system for certain vendors.
SECTION 2. That such waiver shall expire on June 1, 2026 unless extended via subsequent legislation, or may expire sooner should the Department of Finance and Management report to Council that the Microsoft platform issue described above has been resolved.
SECTION 3. That all other requirements, except for the bid opening requirement, of the Columbus City Codes Sections 329.18(a)(5) and 329.18(b)(5) remain in effect.
SECTION 4. That for reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared an emergency measure and shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten (10) days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.