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Commissioners conditionally approve $30,098 tariff payment to clear elevator inspection hold
Summary
Collin County's Commissioners Court approved a conditional change order that would fund a federal tariff payment tied to elevator work, contingent on written confirmation the contractor will pursue and return any refunds; the measure passed 4-1.
Collin County Commissioners Court voted 4-1 to approve a conditional change order to cover federal tariffs tied to elevator work at a county facility, after staff warned subcontractor certification and final inspections were being withheld until tariffs were funded.
Judge (speaker 1) introduced Change No. 29 to the medical examiner and parking garage contract and said the county faced a tariff expense that staff described as a relatively small change compared with the total project. Assistant Purchasing Agent Marcy Christman said the contract is silent on tariffs and staff negotiated conditional acceptance so that "the vendor did sign off on the change order that included the conditional acceptance of the tariff part," and that "they won't be inspected if we don't do this change order." County Administrator Yoon Kim added that the tariffs are a "government-mandated fee" and that purchasing included a requirement that the contractor notify the county in writing if it received any tariff refunds and that the county may request an audit trail.
Director of bidding projects Sandeep Katheria and staff said the elevators have been installed but the TKE subcontractor is withholding final inspections until the tariff payment is funded. Commissioners debated whether approving payment would forfeit legal remedies later; Judge (speaker 1) said the act of approving payment would limit the county's ability to claim it was improperly forced to pay, while Kim said the county could litigate later if the contractor received a refund and failed to advance it back to the county.
Commissioner Fletcher (speaker 4) moved to conditionally approve the change order if contractor Chrisman provided a written commitment to pursue refund(s) and documentation; the court directed staff to seek the written agreement and to return the item on June 1 if it could not be obtained. The motion passed 4-1. The court recorded the tariff amount staff cited as $30,098; earlier remarks by the Judge referenced a different figure while the page loaded, which staff clarified during discussion.
Next steps: staff will request written confirmation from Chrisman that it will pursue refunds and will seek documentation/audit trail of any refund activity; the court instructed staff to bring the item back on June 1 if written confirmation cannot be obtained.
