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City of Salem, NJ
Salem County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (4) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Salem 10-5-1992 by Ord. No. 9223; amended in its entirety 12-2-2013 by Ord. No. 13-11. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
ATTACHMENTS
Schedule 1: Authorized City Employees (ACE's)
No article or service shall be contracted for or purchased by any department, board, agency or office of the City except in accordance with the procedures set forth herein. The City of Salem will not be bound by any purchase or contract made contrary to this policy, and any employee or representative of the City of Salem who violates the policy may face disciplinary action as well as personal liability for any costs or obligations improperly incurred.
This procedure is to be used by all authorized City employees (ACEs), those individuals listed on Schedule 1, when purchasing materials, supplies or services.[1] The forms and procedure instituted herein provide a consistent system for purchasing. They will also provide improved financial controls and information through the use of an encumbrance system.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.
The City CFO will be responsible for the operation of this system. The approval of all purchases must be made through the City CFO.
ACEs will continue to locate vendors and obtain price quotations. The ACE must contact a minimum of three suppliers to request their prices for the required materials. No order is to be placed or commitment made at this time. This initial contact is purely informational.
The following procedures will be used to make all purchases except for emergency purchases and certain exempt items. Such purchases will be controlled by separate procedures:
A. 
ACEs are responsible for preparing the requisition forms as well as obtaining quotation information from vendors and placing all orders.
B. 
If all information is not accurately completed, you will create your own delay in securing approval of a purchase order. All forms will be distributed by the CFO's office.
C. 
Requisition forms are to be completed as follows:
Entry
Explanation
1.
Date
The date of the requisition
2.
Vendor
The selected vendor, address and telephone number
3.
Deliver to
The delivery address for the order, department and location (warehouse)
4.
Via
Proposed method of shipment
5.
Delivery requested
The requested delivery date (ASAP is not acceptable)
6.
Quantity
The quantity required
7.
Description
A complete description of the required item
8.
Price
The quoted price
9.
Unit
Unit size request
10.
Appropriation charge
The account number from which payment is to be made and amount to be charged
11.
ACE's signature
The approving signature of an authorized official (See Schedule 1.[1])
12.
Resolution number State contract I.D. Number
Enter state contract I.D. number on face of purchase order, if purchases are over the present statutory bid requirement.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.
D. 
Care should be taken to fully describe the needed item(s), using brand or trade names only as examples, so that all vendors quote a price on the same item. For this reason, written quotations are preferable and should be used whenever possible. Recognizing that there are situations when this is not always possible, telephone quotations will in these instances be acceptable.
E. 
If the purchase price exceeds more than the current quote amount as set by N.J.D.C.A. but is less than current statutory bid requirement (see N.J.S.A. 40A:11-3), the ACE must obtain three quotes. A written record of the vendors contacted and their terms is to be attached to the requisition form and sent to the City CFO. These quotation record forms are available from the CFO's office. If the vendor selected was not the low proposal, the reason for rejecting each of the lower proposals must be recorded in writing on the same sheet.
F. 
A purchase order and voucher has been combined on one form, which forms are available from the office of the City CFO. This form must be completed for every requisition. If a number of items are to be furnished by a single vendor, these shall all be listed on the form to reduce paper work. The purchase order/voucher shall be completed in the same manner as previously required.
G. 
On receipt of a completed requisition form, the CFO's office will check for proper account coding on the form and verify that the items to be purchased are charged to the proper budget account. The budget account balance will be checked to determine if there are sufficient funds to pay for the items you wish to order.
H. 
If there are sufficient funds to cover the purchase, the CFO's office will assign a purchase order number on the order voucher form and encumber the amount against the department account. If funds are not available, it will be so noted and this request form returned to the department.
I. 
Upon receipt of the signed purchase order from the CFO's office, the purchase may be made.
Goods and services will be delivered directly to a designated location unless otherwise specified on the purchase order. The individual accepting delivery will sign the delivery/packing slip. This delivery slip is to be attached to one of the ACEs outstanding purchase order copies. The vendor will return the certified voucher and delivery slip directly to the City CFO. The CFO's office will match purchase order, voucher, vendor invoice, and delivery receipts. If all agree as to items delivered and ordered, the amount quoted and charged, it will be processed for payment according to § 54-16. Upon approval of the bill list, the City CFO will process the payment of said bills. Unless special arrangements have been made, the City will pay for complete delivery. If partial payment is necessary, please contact the CFO's office for instruction.
Blanket purchase orders may be issued in an amount up to $200 for miscellaneous purchases made from a particular vendor. These blanket purchase orders are valid for one month only, and the unexpended balance will be canceled from the encumbrance line each month. A new blanket purchase order may be received each month if necessary. All ACEs are responsible for the supporting documentation and appropriate signatures of purchaser when presenting the blanket purchase order for payment.
Materials or supplies exceeding the then current statutory bid requirement in any budget year must be purchased on a contract basis using sealed bids. ACEs anticipating such purchases mush have requested funding for such items in their annual budget requests. It is the responsibility of each ACE to prepare written specifications describing the item/service requested. That information is forwarded to the City Clerk, who will obtain authority from the governing body to advertise for bids in accordance with the Local Public Contracts Law, and issue a purchase order to the successful bidder for the contracted amount.
A. 
Items covered by standing supply contracts and purchase order (fuel, equipment maintenance contract, service agreement, etc.) may be ordered verbally. On delivery of contract goods or services, a contractor work order card should be complete. Delivery tickets/work order cards are to be completed indicating the following:
(1) 
Date.
(2) 
Time.
(3) 
Who authorized work order.
(4) 
Completion date.
(5) 
Number of man hours needed for completion of job.
(6) 
Hourly contract rate, as well as the materials expense charged for the job.
B. 
This work order is to be signed by the supervisor inspecting the work and verifying the material and services were received. A copy of the work order card is to be attached to the voucher for final payment to certify work was completed according to the contract agreement.
C. 
Requests from the ACE to increase the original contracted amount must be forwarded to the City CFO on a completed requisition form, which should also indicate the reason and the amount of the increase.
In the event that a purchase order is required to be canceled by an ACE, a purchase order cancellation form shall be filed with the City CFO. No goods or services listed on a canceled purchase order will be eligible for payment. The cancellation form is available from the office of the City CFO.
A. 
Emergency purchases will be restricted to situations requiring the immediate delivery of materials, supplies or services to meet an actual or imminent situation requiring action to protect the public health, welfare or safety.
B. 
The need for immediate delivery caused by poor planning is not an excuse to declare an emergency.
A. 
Whenever the immediate purchase of materials or supplies is required during an emergency and it is anticipated that the total purchase price will not exceed the statutory quote amount, the ACE will contact the vendor(s) able to provide the necessary items and verbally place the order with the vendor offering the best terms consistent with the demands of the situation. On the next working day, the ACE will prepare a confirming requisition order, clearly marking it as an emergency purchase and forwarding it to the CFO's office. A written explanation of the nature of the emergency, the number of vendors contacted and the reason for selecting the chosen vendor if a less costly proposal was made must accompany the confirming requisition order.
B. 
The CFO will determine the sufficiency of funds to pay for the confirming order. After signature by the CFO, a confirming purchase order-voucher will be issued to the vendor. The routine payment procedure will be followed.
Whenever an expenditure exceeds the statutory quote amount but is necessary to meet an emergency situation, the ACE will notify the CFO of the need. A written requisition describing the nature of the emergency, the time of its occurrence, the work required to be done and the need for invoking the emergency purchasing provisions of the Local Public Contracts Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-6) must be prepared by the ACE and certified by the ACE. The City CFO will then award a contract for the required work, services or supplies to meet the emergency. The Council shall provide for the payment of such contract.
Mileage reimbursement in the amount permitted by the prevailing IRS reimbursement rate shall be made to those individuals listed in Schedule 1[1] upon submission of a duly authorized requisition/purchase order.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.
All claims having first been properly processed through the foregoing procedures, shall be processed for final payment as follows:
A. 
The City CFO shall prepare and certify a bill list containing all claims approved pursuant to the foregoing procedures and present the list to the Council at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. The Council shall be called upon to approve the bill list by voice vote of its members. Any such approval shall be contingent upon availability of sufficient funds.
B. 
Once approved by the Council, all claims included on the bill list shall be promptly processed for payment by the City CFO by the issuance of checks, signed by the City CFO and the Mayor to the individual claimants on the approved bill list for the amounts approved for the respective claims.