Whenever any law of this state provides a limitation upon the amount of money that a county can expend upon any public work or construction project without letting such public work or construction project to contract under competitive bidding procedures, a county shall not circumvent such provision by dividing a public work or construction project or quantum of work to be performed thereunder, which by its nature or character is integral to such public work or construction project or serves to accomplish one of the basic purposes or functions thereof, into several contracts or separate work orders or by any similar device.
§ 7-5-2305, MCA