January 20, 2011

Ms. Jessica C. Eales

Assistant City Attorney

City of Houston

P.O. Box 368

Houston, Texas 77001-0368

OR2011-01016

Dear Ms. Eales:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 406487 (GC No. 17894).

The City of Houston (the "city") received a request for the final bid tabulation and spec awarded for a specified RFQ number. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.104 of the Government Code. You also state that release of the requested information may implicate the proprietary interests of Adobe Equipment, Equipment Depot, and Sunbelt Industrial Trucks. Accordingly, you provide documentation showing that you have notified the third parties of the request and their right to submit arguments to this office. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception in the Act in certain circumstances). We have considered your claimed exception and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.104 of the Government Code excepts from required public disclosure "information which, if released, would give advantage to a competitor or bidder." Gov't Code § 552.104(a). The purpose of section 552.104 is to protect the purchasing interests of a governmental body in competitive bidding situations where the governmental body wishes to withhold information in order to obtain more favorable offers. See Open Records Decision No. 592 (1991) (discussing statutory predecessor). Section 552.104 protects information from disclosure if the governmental body demonstrates potential harm to its interests in a particular competitive situation. See Open Records Decision No. 463 (1987). Generally, section 552.104 does not except information from disclosure after bidding is completed and the contract has been executed. See Open Records Decision No. 541 (1990).

You state that the submitted information relates to a bidding process that was cancelled before a contract was awarded. You explain that the request for quotes will be reissued, and that the third party vendors will be able to resubmit their old bids or submit new ones. You assert that release of the submitted information would harm the city's ability to obtain the lowest price, because potential bidders would know the amount of previous bids. Based on your representations and our review, we conclude that the city has demonstrated that release of the submitted information would harm its interests in a competitive situation. Accordingly, the city may withhold the submitted information under section 552.104.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Misty Haberer Barham

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

MHB/eeg

Ref: ID# 406487

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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