Doing Business with the City of Melbourne

Purchasing for the City of Melbourne runs through the Procurement Division, part of the Financial Services Department, which also oversees the city budget, utility billing, accounting and payroll.

The division states its mission as fair and equitable treatment of everyone involved in public purchasing by the City, getting the most value from public funds and keeping the Melbourne procurement system one of quality and integrity. Its phone number is 321-608-7060.

The Procurement Division sits on the second floor of City Hall, 900 E. Strawbridge Avenue, in Downtown Melbourne, with hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, according to the city's Vendor Guide as read in October 2026. The guide asks companies to call ahead for an appointment rather than walk in. A second Melbourne site, the Central Warehouse on Harper Road, stocks inventory for the water and sewer utility and holds the city's sales of surplus equipment, with morning and early afternoon windows on weekdays.

The Vendor Information page names three places a Melbourne solicitation appears: a bulletin board in the Procurement Division at City Hall, the Demandstar website, and the legal ad section of the Florida Today newspaper.

Demandstar is the electronic channel for Melbourne solicitations, where documents can be viewed, downloaded and printed; the Vendor Guide lists DemandStar's own help line, 1-800-711-1712, for questions about the platform rather than the city.

DemandStar describes itself as a free and easy eProcurement platform for governments, with free and paid subscription packages for businesses and notifications about relevant bids. For a Melbourne supplier, the city's Vendor Information page says formal quotes and formal bids and proposals are solicited by city staff through Demandstar, and the Vendor Guide adds that staff may also check DemandStar for price data on small purchases.

Melbourne sorts every purchase of equipment, materials, supplies and services into four dollar tiers set by the City of Melbourne Code of Ordinances and its Procurement Manual.

A Melbourne Small Purchase, up to $5,000, needs only price data that department or division staff gather from earlier purchases, from DemandStar or by phone. An Open Market Purchase, from $5,000.01 to $15,000, requires informal written quotations from at least three vendors, again collected by the buying department.

Above $15,000 the Procurement Division takes over in Melbourne. Formal Quotes, from $15,000.01 to $35,000, are solicited by division staff through Demandstar. At $35,000.01 and over, the city issues formal sealed Invitations to Bid or Requests for Proposals, which require public notice, a public opening and a formal award. Above the small purchase tier, the Vendor Guide says staff may use piggyback opportunities.

Formal bidding in Melbourne may be waived in three situations listed in the Vendor Guide: a purchase from a governmental entity or cooperative agreements, a sole source procurement, and an emergency purchase when a threat to public health, safety or welfare exists.

Bid and proposal openings in Melbourne are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. at City Hall, 900 E Strawbridge Avenue.

A sealed bid must reach the Melbourne Procurement Division and be time stamped by 3 p.m. local time on the day of the opening, and faxed bids or proposals are not accepted. Vendors may attend the public opening, which begins promptly at 3 p.m., but the Vendor Guide notes that bids are not evaluated at that time.

Some Melbourne solicitations include a pre-bid or pre-proposal meeting to walk bidders through the city's specifications, and addenda may follow from that discussion. Attendance at some of these meetings is mandatory, and a company that misses a mandatory session is barred from bidding on that solicitation.

Yes, Melbourne gives local bidders a price preference when they meet its Local Preference Policy.

The Melbourne policy favors vendors, contractors and service providers that have held a valid Local Business Tax Receipt from the City of Melbourne or Brevard County for at least one year before bid submission and whose business address is inside Melbourne city limits or Brevard County. Qualified city vendors receive a 5% preference and qualified Brevard County vendors a 2% preference. A local bidder whose price falls within that margin of the lowest responsive, responsible non-local bid is given the chance to match the low price.

The receipt behind that preference is handled by the city's Business Tax Receipts office. A Melbourne Business Tax Receipt must be obtained before a business begins operating, and Brevard County separately requires a county receipt for any business operating in the city. The initial application carries a $25 nonrefundable fee applied toward the first year's tax, the professional rate starts at $100 for one professional, and contractors must show general liability coverage of at least $300,000 per occurrence and $500,000 in annual aggregate.

Before applying for a Melbourne receipt, the city asks owners to confirm with the Brevard County Property Appraiser's Office that the location is inside city limits, to check land use with the Community Development Department at 321-608-7500, and to obtain any required State license first. Questions about which tax category applies go to 321-608-7038 or [email protected] on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and card payments by MasterCard, Discover or VISA, at City Hall or online, carry a convenience fee.

The City of Melbourne requires anyone doing business with it to register as a vendor, but it does not keep a list of potential vendors, and registration papers are processed only after a city department asks for them or a company wins a competitive procurement.

A Melbourne registration packet includes the Vendor Registration Form, an IRS Form W-9, proof of active registration with the Florida Division of Corporations on Sunbiz, and, for service contractors, a current Certificate of Insurance. Out of state firms must register in Florida as a foreign corporation or LLC. Packets go to [email protected] or by mail to City Hall.

A numbered purchase order is the main way Melbourne commits money, and purchase commitments made other than by purchase order, petty cash, check request or purchasing card are treated as unauthorized purchases. The city asks for delivery FOB Destination, Prepaid and Allowed, with the purchase order number on every package and invoice, and itemized invoices go to the Accounting Division at City Hall, according to the Vendor Guide; the city's purchase order terms and conditions instead name the Accounts Payable Division at the same address. Vendors choose payment by ACH deposit, by ACI payment to a VISA card, or by paper check, and the Vendor Guide warns that a lost check can take 30 days or more to reissue. The city is exempt from federal, state and local tax, and city policy bars staff from accepting gifts or gratuities.

Melbourne pays under the Florida Prompt Payment Act. Section 218.74 of the Florida Statutes sets a local government's payment due date for goods and services other than construction at 45 days after the date fixed in section 218.73, and unpaid amounts begin earning interest 30 days after the due date at 1 percent per month, which the vendor must invoice to collect. Under section 218.73, that clock starts when a proper invoice reaches the local government's chief disbursement officer, or, without a proper invoice, on the latest of the dates when delivery is accepted, services are completed, a rental period begins or a contract sets.

The Melbourne purchase order terms add their own rules. Prices stay fixed for the life of the order and include prepaid delivery to the stated destination, and changes take effect only through a written change order signed by the Procurement and Contracts Manager. A seller must invoice no later than 60 days after shipment, the city makes no payment in advance of accepting delivery, and payment counts as made when the city's check is mailed or an EDI funds transfer is started. The city may end an order for its convenience on 30 days' written notice, or after a default that continues 15 days past the city's notice.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, by re-reading the City of Melbourne Vendor Information, Vendor Guide, Procurement, Financial Services and Business Tax Receipts pages, its purchase order terms, sections 218.73 and 218.74 of the Florida Statutes and the DemandStar home page.