Rebid for new El Paso sheriff’s vehicles comes in at higher cost

As expected, a second round of bids for El Paso County sheriff’s units led to a higher bid.

In November, Caldwell Country Ford had the lowest bid offered at $2,041,753 for more than 80 vehicles.

Though the bid was completed, the county decided not to accept the November bid. Instead, the El Paso County Commissioners decided to send the item back for a rebid after adopting a new policy of local preference that allows the acceptance of higher bids within 3 percent of the low bid if they are local businesses.

“It’s not worth the effort to send the bid back in,” said Avery Knapp, a sales fleet manager for Caldwell Country Ford in an exclusive interview with ABC-7 last month. “It’s sort of a mini-protest.”

Knapp told ABC-7 he wouldn’t bid again, and as a result the lowest bid the second time around was a higher price.

According to the purchasing agent, the second round of bids led to an increase in cost of roughly $32,000. The amount was within the 3 percent, but as expected Knapp didn’t place a bid for Caldwell Country Ford.

Ironically, had he placed a bid they would have won.

“Had he bid he likely would have won,” said Joe Lopez, the county’s purchasing agent.

According to Lopez, while the local bids were within 3 percent, the paperwork required to show how the local business would benefit the county wasn’t filled out properly. Regardless, the bid for more than 50 county vehicles will go to Casa Ford in El Paso.

County Judge Veronica Escobar has previously stated that the local preference benefits local businesses, and offers more positives for the county than negatives. She is not at commissioners court today, she is in Washington, D.C. discussing issues tied to transportation, trade and commerce along the border.

For more news on El Paso County Commissioners Court, follow ABC-7s Matthew Smith on Twitter at @MattSmithABC7.