MPO Policy and Procedures Manual - Indianapolis Metropolitan ...

8. Project Management
Contract Management
The City of Indianapolis MDC acts as the “fiscal agent” for MPO contracting. All contracts must
therefore be consistent with City of Indianapolis contracting policies. Since nearly all contracts
are federally funded, and since the INDOT acts as a pass-through for these funds, federal and
state contracting policies also typically apply. For these reasons, deviations from normal
policies, procedures, and contracting language are normally not allowed. All of these federal,
state, and City requirements must also be passed on to any municipalities for which the City
acts as a pass-through, for example with interlocal agreements and any contracts executed on
the basis of those interlocal agreements.
Standard contracting issues
Forms:
• For direct services, the MPO uses a standard contract form that incorporates all
necessary federal, state, and local contracting policies. In general, the standard contract
provisions are non-negotiable, owing to the multiple commitments and requirements that
the form meets.
• The standard contract form requires signatures from (in order of execution) the City legal
department, the contractor, the Director of the Department of Metropolitan Development,
and the City Controller. This last signature coincides with the release of a purchase
order (PO); no work may be billed to the contract that predates the PO.
• Three original contracts are executed, one of which goes to the Contractor, the second
going to the MPO, and the third to the Controller’s office.
• The MPO has no standard license agreement, and vendor license agreements may be
used. However, license agreements must still contain signature lines for the City legal
department and the City Controller. As with contracts, a PO must be secured prior to
delivery of the products or services specified in the license agreement.
• Interlocal agreements are sometimes used. All federal, state, and local contracting
policies will be incorporated into the interlocal agreement, and any contracts based on
the interlocal agreement funding must incorporate these provisions. Generally, an
interlocal agreement requires that the partner invoice the MPO for a full invoice amount,
which is then paid out to the partner; the MPO will then invoice the partner for the 20%. If
the intent of the interlocal agreement is for the partner to secure third-party contractor
services, it is much simpler (and preferred) for the MPO to directly contract with the third
party, and invoice the partner for the local match up-front.
Fee type
The MPO generally utilizes a lump-sum contract. Under this fee structure, the MPO is entitled to
the services listed in the scope (upon which delivery, the contractor is entitled to the entire fee),
regardless of the actual cost. The MPO recognizes that unanticipated changes to
scope/schedule may occur that change the cost structure of the project, causing the fee to be
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