Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 82, Part 8 and Section 12-3-1207.

Present law requires the board of commissioners of each utility district to adopt a policy with the following provisions: (1) Provisions requiring competitive bidding in appropriate circumstances; (2) Provisions establishing appropriate competitive bidding procedures, which may forego public advertisement for bids if a vendor list is developed by the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts or the utility district, and bids for capital expenditures or purchases in excess of $10,000 not otherwise excepted from competitive bidding requirements are solicited from listed vendors; (3) Provisions establishing appropriate exceptions to the competitive bidding requirement; (4) Provisions establishing procedures for open-market purchases; and (5) Provisions establishing procedures for documentation of compliance with purchasing procedures, whether competitive, negotiated or open-market purchases. Present law authorizes municipalities to use competitive sealed proposals to purchase goods and services rather than competitive sealed bids when the municipal governing body determines that the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the municipality. Before making purchases through competitive sealed proposals, a municipality must adopt a procurement code that provides that competitive sealed proposals may be used only when qualifications, experience, or competence are more important than price in making the purchase and: (1) When there is more than one solution to a purchasing issue and the competitive sealed proposals will assist in choosing the best solution; or (2) When there is no readily identifiable solution to a purchasing issue and the competitive sealed proposals will assist in identifying one or more solutions. The public notice requirements for competitive sealed proposals is the same as for competitive sealed bids. A request for competitive sealed proposals must state the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors. This bill authorizes boards of commissioners of utility districts to exercise the same rights, subject to the same restrictions and requirements, as apply to a municipality for making purchases through competitive sealed proposals.