[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Chili 4-3-1996.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Code of Ethics — See Ch. 36.
Goods and services which are not required by law to be procured pursuant
to competitive bidding must be procured in a manner so as to assure the prudent
and economical use of public moneys, in the best interests of the taxpayers,
to facilitate the acquisition of goods and services of maximum quality at
the lowest possible cost under the circumstances, and to guard against favoritism,
improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption. To further these objectives
the Town Board is adopting internal policies and procedures governing all
procurement of goods and services which are not required to be made pursuant
to the competitive bidding requirements of General Municipal Law § 103
or of any other general or special law.
A.
Many large municipalities have a centralized purchasing
function. This is necessary when large numbers of bids must be created and
processed. The Town of Chili relies upon state and county contracts to satisfy
many of its purchasing needs and is able to avoid the necessity of having
a centralized purchasing system. Instead, the Town relies upon a decentralized
system where individual departments assist in the creation and processing
of bids.
B.
The Town is allowed to purchase off of certain state
and county bids by law, and often does. When making such a purchase, the state
or county bid award number must be placed on the purchase order or voucher.
Departments may request copies of a particular state bid award at any time
from the New York State Office of General Services; county bid awards may
be requested from the County Purchasing Department. (Any questions, see the
Director of Finance.)
A.
Each department should have one person assigned to handle
the paperwork necessary for the processing of departmental purchases. This
person should become well-acquainted with the purchasing process, understanding
the procedures used by the Town of Chili, in accordance with New York State
law. This process should never be circumvented, and it is the responsibility
of all persons involved in purchasing to ensure that it operates as smoothly
as possible.
B.
All purchases and requests for purchases must be:
(1)
Written on a purchase order/voucher;
(2)
Itemized to include the name of the claimant, a description
of the goods and/or services, and amount of claim;
(3)
Identified with the fund and budget line from which payment
is to be made and that such appropriation is within the budget;
(4)
Identified if subject to a quote or competitive bid process;
(5)
Approved and authenticated by the department head.
C.
All documentation such as the oral or written quotes,
RFP, public bids, approval process, resolutions, statement of awards and receipt
of goods are to be packaged and made a part of the voucher.
The procedures for determining whether a procurement of goods and services
is subject to competitive bidding and documenting the basis for any determination
that competitive bidding is not required by law is as follows:
A.
The department head shall initially review every purchase
to determine whether it is a purchase contract or a public works contract.
The department head must also review every purchase anticipated for the fiscal
year, group each purchase into items of similar nature routinely purchased
from a vendor or a group of vendors, and determine aggregate dollars anticipated
for each group of similar nature items. From this the department head makes
the determination if, over the course of the fiscal year, the Town will spend
in excess of the competitive bidding thresholds for the same or similar items
or services.
B.
The department head shall document each step of the process
in the above subsection and most importantly document if aggregate anticipated
purchase falls below or above the competitive bidding thresholds and any exceptions
to following the competitive bidding process (i.e., items will be purchased
from state or county bid awards).
The methods of procurement to be used are as follows:
A.
For aggregate annual purchase contracts for items of
a similar nature:
(1)
Under $1,000: Purchase may be made at the discretion
of the department head;
(2)
$1,001 to $3,000: documented telephone quotes from at
least three separate vendors (if available), with final approval by the Town
Supervisor;
(3)
$3,001 to $10,000: Formal written quotes from at least
three separate vendors (if available), with final approval by the Town Board;
(4)
Over $10,000: Requires a public bid per General Municipal
Law § 103 unless purchased under a state or county bid award with
Town Board approval; Town Board awards bid.
B.
For aggregate annual public work projects/contracts for
items of a similar nature:
(1)
Under $1,000: Purchase may be made at the discretion
of the Commissioner of Public Works/Superintendent of Highways;
(2)
$1,001 to $3,000: Documented telephone quotes from at
least three separate vendors (if available), with final approval by the Commissioner
of Public Works/Superintendent of Highways:
(3)
$3,001 to $10,000: Formal written quotes from at least
three separate vendors (if available), with final approval by the Town Board;
(4)
$10,001 to $20,000: Prices to be obtained by "request
for proposal" (RFP) from at least three separate vendors (if available), with
final approval by the Town Board;
(5)
Over $20,000: Requires a public bid per General Municipal
Law § 103 unless purchased under a state or county bid award with
Town Board approval; Town Board awards bid.
C.
For purchase of professional services/consultants: Prices
to be obtained by "request for proposal" (RFP) from at least three separate
vendors (if available), with final approval by the Town Board. EXCEPTION:
Should a professional service provider be designated on a retainage position
based upon Town Board evaluation and determination, then the services provided
and the terms of service shall not be subject to further RFP procedure and
the Town Board may contract periodically for supplemental services as needed
and upon negotiated terms of payment primarily because of the determination
of the Board on a previous basis as to desirability to have the ongoing availability
of such services and the comprehensive retainer understanding of the service
provider.
A.
The above price ranges refer to the total annual expense
for an item or group of closely related items. If regular purchases are made
during the year, the anticipated total expense is to be used to determine
which price range category applies.
B.
For example, the anticipated annual expense for janitorial
services by contract is $500 each month. Such contractual services would fall
within the $3,001 to $10,000 range for purchases and would require three formal
written quotes and final approval from the Town Board. This is because the
annual cost is $6,000.
A.
All quotes, written or oral, must contain the following
information: name and address of the vendor, name and phone number of the
contact person, date of quote and signature of person obtaining quotes. In
addition, written quotes must contain the signature of the contact person.
B.
All quotes shall be broken down by units and price per
unit when applicable and shall include additional charges such as freight,
installation charges, etc. Written public work quotes shall specify the work
to be done.
C.
Quoted prices are normally for one-time purchases. However,
if such purchases are routinely made during the year (i.e., copier paper),
quoted prices can be requested for a period up to the end of the year. In
this case, departments should request the quote in writing, even if the amount
is under $3,000.
[1]
Editor's Note: The "Request for Quotation” form, which accompanied
the resolution adopting this chapter, is on file in the office of the Town
Clerk.
Whenever any contract is awarded to other than the lowest responsible
dollar offerer, the reasons such an award is in the best interest of the Town
of Chili shall be documented and maintained with the documentation of quotes,
approval, purchase offer and voucher.
The Town Board sets forth the following circumstances when, or types
of procurement for which, in the sole discretion of the Town Board, the solicitation
of alternative proposals or quotations will not be in the best interest of
the Town of Chili:
A.
Emergencies where time is a crucial factor as set forth
in General Municipal Law § 103(4);
B.
Procurement for which there is no possibility of competition,
primarily sole source items;
C.
Procurement of professional services which, because of
the confidential nature of the services, do not lend themselves to procurement
through solicitation;
D.
Procurement for which solicitations of competition would
not be cost effective, such as purchase contracts below $500 and contracts
for public works below $2,000.
The Town Board shall annually review these policies and procedures.
The Town Supervisor shall be responsible for conducting an annual review of
the procurement policy and for an evaluation of the internal control structure
established to ensure compliance with the procurement policy.
The unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions of General
Municipal Law § 104-b shall not be grounds to void action taken
or give rise to a cause of action against the Town of Chili or any officer
or employee thereof.
These policies and procedures shall become effective as of the date
of adoption.
