Section 500.390  Cancellation of Solicitations; Rejection of Offers

a)         Policy

Any solicitation may be canceled before or after opening when the Procurement Officer believes cancellation to be in the OAG's best interest.  Nothing shall compel the award of a contract.

b)         Cancellation of Solicitation; Rejection of All Offers

A solicitation may be canceled in whole or in part when the Procurement Officer determines in writing that such action is in the OAG's best interest for reasons including, but not limited to:

1)         the OAG no longer requires the supplies, services or construction;

2)         the OAG no longer can reasonably expect to fund the procurement;

3)         proposed amendments to the solicitation would be of such magnitude that a new solicitation is desirable;

4)         ambiguous or otherwise inadequate specifications;

5)         the solicitation did not provide for consideration of all factors of significance to the OAG;

6)         prices exceed available funds and it would not be appropriate to adjust quantities to come within available funds;

7)         all otherwise acceptable offers received are at clearly unreasonable prices; or

8)         there is reason to question whether the offers may not have been independently arrived at in open competition, may have been collusive, or may have been submitted in bad faith.

c)         Notice of Cancellation

When a solicitation is canceled, notice of cancellation, including a brief explanation of the reason for cancellation, shall be posted to the Auditor General Bulletin.

d)         Rejection of Individual Offers

1)         Individual offers may be rejected for reasons including, but  not limited to:

A)        the vendor that submitted the offer is nonresponsible as determined under Section 500.430 (Responsibility);

B)        the offer is not responsive, that is, it does not conform in all material respects to the solicitation;

C)        the supply, service or construction item offered is unacceptable by reason of its failure to meet the requirements of the solicitation, including, but not limited to, specifications or permissible alternates or other acceptability criteria set forth in the solicitation; or

D)        the proposed price, which may include options, is clearly unreasonable.

2)         Notice of Rejection.  Upon request, offerors whose offers have been rejected shall be advised of the reasons for rejection.

(Source:  Amended at 37 Ill. Reg. 3741, effective April 1, 2013)