One of the most challenging tasks facing a fire district Board of Trustees is purchasing new equipment, especially new firefighting apparatus. One reason this task is challenging is the requirement that an Illinois fire protection district must comply with the competitive bidding requirements set out at 70 ILCS 705/11k. While other units of local government in Illinois have long been required to purchase items through a competitive bidding process, it wasn’t until January 1, 2015, that the Illinois legislature imposed this binding legal requirement on fire protection districts.
Many fire district trustees serve multiple terms on the Board of Trustees, sometimes serving for twenty, thirty, forty years, or more. As a result, many trustees remember and are accustomed to the “old” way of doing things – like purchasing a fire truck — and old habits die hard. In addition, some newer trustees may not be aware of the “bidding” requirement now required by Illinois law.
To further complicate the process, the statute mandating competitive bidding has been amended at various times since it was first mandated. And, with some frequency, there are further amendments to the requirements proposed on a frequent basis. For all of these reasons, it’s good for trustees to periodically review what is required if a fire protection district is going to purchase any items costing $20,000.00 or more.
GENERAL RULE. With certain listed exceptions, 70 ILCS 705/11k of the Illinois Fire Protection District Act requires that “… all contracts for supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $20,000.00 shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder after advertising as required …” by the statute. But, numerous exceptions to this requirement exist, as is partly explained below.
LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER. It should be noted that this language does not mean that in all cases the district must accept the lowest bid in dollar amounts that is submitted to it. The statute includes language stating that the fire district Board of Trustees “… is not required to accept a bid that does not meet the district’s established specifications, terms of delivery, quality, and serviceability requirements …”.
STATED EXCEPTIONS. The statute as originally written also exempts from the competitive bidding requirement contracts “… which, by their nature, are not adapted to award by competitive bidding …”, and the statute includes various examples of these types of contracts.
PURCHASE FROM DEALER OR AMNUFACTURER. The statute, amended in 2024, also provides that, where equipment is being purchased directly from a dealer or original manufacturer, the threshold amount required for competitive bidding is higher. For equipment purchases – and only for this category of items – competitive bidding is required only where the cost will be in excess of $50,000.00 – not $20,000 as for other purchases.
“EMERGENCY EXPENDITURES”. Another exception to the competitive bidding process is “contracts for emergency expenditures”. This statute does not define what qualifies as an “emergency expenditure”, but it would only include contracts that must be signed to address a bona fide emergency, and then the contract must be approved by a vote of 75% of the members of the board.
JOINT PURCHASES. Historically, purchases under the Illinois’ “Governmental Joint Purchasing Act” have been allowed by this statute. In addition, the bidding statute specifically allows a board to “… enter into contracts for supplies, materials, or work involving an expenditure in excess of $20,000.00 through participation in a joint governmental or nongovernmental purchasing program that requires as part of its selection procedure a competitive solicitation and procurement process …”.
Unfortunately, the legislature did not further describe exactly which purchasing programs meet the requirements set out in the newly amended statute, so this appears to be an additional area of possible confusion and dispute for fire protection districts, apparatus vendors, and attorneys.
IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL ESTATE. While the various exceptions set out in the statute apply, the statute also states that the “acquisition, by direct or beneficial ownership, of improvements to real estate … is included in the types of transactions subject to this statute.
PROCESS REQUIREMENTS. The statute further details exactly what is required for a publication to conform to the requirements of the statute, and further requires posting on a fire district web site under certain conditions. It also explains the procedure that fire districts must follow to open a bid received in response to a bidding request.
DISCLAIMER: The above information is not a complete listing of all of the steps that a fire district is required to take to comply with the “competitive bidding” requirements of the Illinois Fire Protection District Act at 70 ILCS 705/11k. This article, and the additional explanations on this web site, are intended only to alert trustees about the general requirements of Illinois law. Discussion of these topics with the fire district’s attorney is strongly encouraged, in the event that any questions about this information exist.
