The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to amend the Local Business Preference Program to provide an additional bid preference for businesses located in the city.
The council decision follows the passage of Measure BB in July by voters, who agreed to amend the city charter to allow the city to give preference to bidders located in Los Angeles on competitive bid contracts.
Businesses that qualify for grants and are located in Los Angeles will receive a 10% bid preference on contracts that exceed $150,000, and qualified Local Small Businesses will receive an additional 2% bid preference.
Businesses located in Los Angeles County but outside city limits will qualify for a 6% bid preference, with an additional 2% bid preference for small businesses.
“At long last, we’re giving businesses in the city the kind of leg up they’ve needed to better compete with out-of-city businesses, which are accustomed to getting the overwhelming majority of the contracts we give,” Councilman Paul Koretz said. “I’ve consistently been hearing from small- and medium-sized businesses that they were undercut by folks from outside the city.”
