[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Camden 4-13-2021 by Ord. No. MC - 5334. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be referred to as the "Buy Camden Ordinance."
The governing body of the City of Camden hereby directs all relevant City departments to take all actions necessary to ensure that the City of Camden is fully compliant with the provisions contained in this chapter and shall henceforth execute the provisions in this chapter.
A. 
A duly incorporated, registered and lawfully operating business in New Jersey shall be considered a "local business" for the purposes of this chapter if it is located in the City of Camden zip codes of 08101, 08102, 08103, 08104, or 08105 ("zip codes"), and
(1) 
It demonstrates that its principal place of business is in one of the zip codes, meaning that it has physical offices, conducts business, and manages all or substantially all of its operations in and from one of the zip codes; and
(2) 
It demonstrates that at least 60% of its employees who reside in one of the zip codes or work at least 75% of their total, regular hours on an annual basis in the zip codes; and
(3) 
To qualify, the local business must have their principal office in Camden County and been in operation for at least one year before it can be considered a local business under this chapter.
B. 
A "small business" under this chapter shall mean an independently owned and operated business concern that:
(1) 
Has no more than 100 permanent employees throughout all of its offices and locations; and
(2) 
Has annual gross revenues that do not exceed $5,000,000; and
(3) 
If a franchise business, is independently owned and operated in one or more of the zip codes.
C. 
The local business must not be delinquent on any City of Camden or Camden County assessments or taxes and must remain a company in good standing.
D. 
The local business must submit to the City adequate evidence of its qualification as a local business, including, but not limited to, documents evidencing its principal place of business, its employees' residences and any other evidence that supports its assertion that it is a qualified local business.
E. 
If for a period of more than 60 days during the term of a contract [defined as any contract for goods or services to which the City of Camden (or any of its departments) and the local business are parties] a local business no longer meets the criteria established in Subsection B herein, the City of Camden shall be entitled to withhold or recover funds for any additional work under the contract, or shall be entitled to terminate the contract.
The City of Camden shall direct all City departments seeking to enter into contracts of $25,000 or more to consider in the first instance a local business (including those businesses which meet the requirements of § 120-3 above and are registered with the City of Camden as a local business) when considering vendors' submissions of bids or request for proposals for goods or services.
All Camden City department staff must seek to include at least one local business in the pool of competitors for each purchasing contract at or below $25,000.
All Camden City departments should include consideration of a local business as a first option when awarding contracts for materials and supplies.
All Camden City department staff should include a businesses' location in one of the above zip codes as a priority factor when awarding contracts.
The City of Camden shall encourage all City staff utilizing a City credit or debit card for purchases at or below the established purchasing threshold to utilize local businesses whenever possible.
At least 30% of the City of Camden's total average spending on contracts for goods and services shall be allocated to local businesses, as permitted by law.
This chapter shall not apply to:
A. 
Emergency contracts under N.J.S.A. 40A:11-6;
B. 
Sole source contracts;
C. 
Public contracts with provisions conflicting with this chapter but required under state or federal law;
D. 
Goods or services contracts which are funded in whole or in part by a governmental entity and the laws, regulations, and policies governing such funding prohibit application of this preference.
This chapter shall apply to all bids or request for proposals issued after the effective date of this chapter.
For a community benefit agreement (CBA) entered into by the City after the effective date of this chapter, the City of Camden shall strongly encourage, but not require the other party to the CBA to comply with this chapter in contracting for goods or services.
Nothing in this chapter is intended, nor should it be construed, in the interpretation of this chapter or its application, as authorizing violations of the Local Public Contracts Law, state or federal procurement laws, other bidding or professional services solicitation statutes, other City ordinances or procurement policies, any memoranda of understanding between the City of Camden and the State of New Jersey, the Department of Community Affairs, or the Division of Local Government Services, or any other state or federal law.
Within 30 days after final passage, administration shall identify the Department which shall:
A. 
Be responsible for overseeing this Buy Camden Ordinance;
B. 
Establish policies and protocols for ensuring compliance with same;
C. 
Ensure sufficient staff to provide appropriate oversight of this chapter; and
D. 
Take other actions necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
If any section, subsection, clause, or provision of this chapter is held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this chapter shall not be affected by such invalidity.
This chapter shall take effect 20 days after its final passage and publication as provided by law.