Honorarium will pay off

Spokane County must address the lack of factual clarity provided in the Feb. 25 article “County bid loser to get $200,000.” There are three primary reasons that honorarium payments are the standard of the industry on design-build projects, such as the new Spokane County Regional Water Reclamation Facility. The article mentions only one reason, which is to attract bidders.

In making the honorarium payment, the county purchases the rights to all of the technical and intellectual information contained in the proposal of the unsuccessful bidder. This allows the county to refine its project and use the most cost-effective ideas to construct and operate the facility, which in turn saves money for our customers.

In return for the preset honorarium payment, unsuccessful bidders agree not to protest or litigate the proposal selection process. This approach substantially reduces risk and liability to the county.

The honorarium payment for this project comprises about one-tenth of 1 percent of the $140 million project cost and is not a measurable factor in the county’s sewer rates. However, Spokane County anticipates that the design-build approach will save our customers more than $10 million by the time that the project is completed.

Bruce Rawls

Spokane County utilities director