[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Groton 2-20-1989 by resolution. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
All claims for payment of invoices which are submitted
to the Village of Groton for payment must be approved by the Board
of Trustees. The commissioner or committee chairman of each department
will initial the invoice presented, thus approving such invoice for
payment. The Mayor will initial bills that do not fall under a specific
department or in the absence of the appropriate commissioner or committee
chairman.
B.
The Board of Light Commissioners is hereby authorized
to audit and order the payment of claims for the Village of Groton
Municipal Electric Department.
C.
Upon approval of claims for payment, the Village Treasurer
shall disburse checks for payment of such claims in an expeditious
manner.
D.
In the discretion of the Village Administrator, the
following claims may be paid prior to completion of the audit and
approval process:
[Amended 6-20-2005 by L.L. No. 2-2005]
(1)
Weekly and monthly payrolls;
(2)
Employee expenses, such as conference expenses, mileage
and other reimbursable expenses incurred in the performance of their
day-to-day duties;
(3)
Reimbursement of petty cash funds;
(4)
Utility bills;
(5)
Service contracts for a fixed monthly or annual amount;
(6)
Postage meter costs;
(7)
Debt service, including lease or lease-purchase payments;
and
(8)
Insurance premiums when such payment would avoid an
additional payment fee or penalty or to avoid compromising coverage.
[Amended 1-20-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992; 5-16-1994 by L.L. No.
2-1994; 12-20-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
A.
No
purchase order shall be required for purchases on behalf of the Village
of Groton which do not exceed $500. For purchases in excess of $500
and not exceeding $2,500, a purchase order must be completed and signed
by either the department head for which such order is being executed,
the Village Clerk, Village Treasurer or Village Mayor.
B.
Methods
of purchasing; documentation.
(1)
Competitive bidding initial determination.
(a)
Every purchase to be made that is anticipated to exceed $20,000 must
initially be reviewed to determine whether it is a purchase contract
or a public works contract. Once that determination is made, a good-faith
effort will be made to determine whether it is known or can reasonably
be expected that the aggregate amount to be spent on the item of supply
or service is not subject to competitive bidding, taking into account
past purchases and the aggregate amount to be spent in a year.
(b)
The decision that a purchase is not subject to competitive bidding
will be documented, in writing, by the individual making the purchase.
This documentation may include written or verbal quotes from vendors,
a memo from the purchaser indicating how the source makes the item
or service exempt, a memo from the purchaser detailing the circumstances
which lead to an emergency purchase, documentation that the item will
be purchased through state or county bid or any other written documentation
that is appropriate.
(2)
Once an initial determination is made as to whether or not a purchase
is subject to competitive bidding, the following method of purchase
will be used:
(a)
Purchase contracts.
|
Estimated Amount of Purchase Contract
|
Method
|
|---|---|
|
$2,501 to $7,999
|
Verbal quotations
|
|
$8,000 to $19,999
|
Written/FAX quotations or written request for proposals
|
|
Over $20,000
|
Competitive bid
|
(b)
Public works contracts.
[Amended 1-19-2015 by Ord. No. 1-2015]
|
Estimated Amount of Public Works Contract
|
Method
|
|---|---|
|
$2,501 to $12,499
|
Verbal quotations
|
|
$12,500 to $34,999
|
Written/fax/e-mail proposals or written requests for proposals
|
|
Over $35,000
|
Competitive bid
|
(c)
A good-faith effort shall be made to obtain at least two quotations.
If the purchaser is unable to obtain the required number of proposals
or quotations, the purchaser will document the attempt made at obtaining
the proposals. In no event shall failure to obtain the proposals be
a bar to procurement.
(3)
Documentation is required for each action taken in connection with
a procurement.
(4)
Documentation and an explanation are required whenever a contract
is awarded to other than the lowest responsible offeror. This documentation
will include an explanation of how the award will achieve savings
or how the offeror was not responsible. A determination that the offeror
is not responsible shall be made by the purchaser and may not be challenged
under any circumstances.
(5)
Pursuant to General Municipal Law § 104-b, Subdivision
2f, this purchasing policy may contain circumstances when or types
of procurement for which, in the sole discretion of the governing
body, the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will
not be in the best interests of the Village. In the following circumstances,
it may not be in the best interests of the Village of Groton to solicit
quotations or document the basis for not accepting the lowest bid:
(a)
Professional services or services requiring special or technical
skill, training or expertise. The individual or company must be chosen
on accountability, reliability, responsibility, skill, education and
training, judgment, integrity and moral worth. These qualifications
are not necessarily found in the individual or company that offers
the lowest price and the nature of these services are such that they
do not readily lend themselves to competitive procurement procedures.
Such services include but are not limited to services of an attorney,
services of a physician, technical services of an engineer, securing
insurance coverage or services of an insurance broker, services of
a certified public accountant, investment management services, actuarial
services, services of a fiscal advisor, computer software or programming
services for customized programs, services of a consultant for the
writing of grant applications and/or administration of grant funds,
etc.
(b)
Emergency purchases pursuant to § 103, Subdivision 4, of
the General Municipal Law. Due to the nature of this exception, these
goods or services must be purchased immediately, and a delay in order
to seek alternate proposals may threaten the life, health, safety
or welfare of the residents. This section does not preclude alternate
proposals if time permits.
(c)
Purchases of surplus and secondhand goods from any source. This exception
is due to the difficulty of comparing prices of used goods where a
lower price may indicate an older product.
(d)
Goods or services of $2,500 or less.
(6)
Minority- and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) participation
in procurement and contracting.
[Added 1-19-2015 by Ord. No. 1-2015[1]]
(a)
In an effort to affirmatively increase procurement and contracting
opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses, the Village
will attempt to solicit at least one minority and/or women business
enterprises and encourage section 3 business participation as part
of its procurement process, when appropriate. The above purchase/contracting
thresholds will apply.
(b)
For purposes of the above, the M/WBE must be certified by Empire
State Development (ESD) through the Division of Minority and Women
Business Development (DMWBD). The Village will keep documentation
of the M/WBE and/or Section 3 solicitation in its records and any
response(s) thereto.
(c)
Because the state does not have a Section 3 business database available,
the Village will encourage Section 3 businesses to participate in
bidding, where appropriate. It will be incumbent on the business to
self-certify its status as a Section 3 business and the Village may
rely upon such self-certification in maintaining its records.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also provided for the redesignation
of former Subsection B(6) as Subsection B(7).
(7)
This section of the Code shall be reviewed annually by Village Board
members and department heads.
C.
E.
A
job order or brief description of what the purchased item(s) is (are)
being used for must be included on the purchase order copies that
are delivered to the Village Clerk and retained by the originator
of the purchase order.
F.
The
Village Clerk will attach copies of purchase orders to the invoice,
once received. This will enable the Village Board of Trustees to audit
compliance with this policy.
G.
In
the interest of obtaining items and/or materials in the most expeditious
manner, where appropriate, purchase orders may be delivered to the
Village Clerk's office by FAX transfer or e-mail. The Village
will not be liable to any party due to errors or delays in receipt
in the transmission by FAX machine of forms, orders, offers to sell
or provide services, etc.
H.
The
Village Clerk/Treasurer shall be designated to ensure that the provisions
of this purchasing policy are complied with. Further, the Village
Clerk/Treasurer shall maintain a file of documentation on quotations
and proposals for goods and services when required.
I.
No
board member, officers or employees of the village or their families
shall be interested financially in any contract entered into by the
Board of Trustees. This shall also preclude acceptance of any gratuities,
financial or otherwise, by any of the above persons from any supplier
of materials or services to the village.
A.
Budget planning. Budget planning shall be an integral
part of program planning so that the budget may effectively express
and implement all programs and activities of the village. Budget planning
shall be a year-round process involving Board participation by board
members, department heads and other personnel throughout the village,
as well as interested citizens.
B.
Budgeting system.
(1)
In developing each operating annual budget, it will
be the policy of the Board to provide optimum service for residents
of the village consistent with the taxpayers' ability to support such
a program and efforts to achieve a balanced budget.
(2)
Before presenting the budget, the Board will scrutinize
it thoroughly so that, once adopted, it can be adhered to as presented.
C.
The village will follow its adopted budget as closely
as possible in the expenditure of funds. To this end, the Board of
Trustees shall require that it approve in advance all expenditures
of funds in excess of amounts budgeted for each category in the annual
budget.
D.
Budget Officer.
(1)
The Board of Trustees authorizes the Budget Officer
to make transfers of funds between and within functional unit appropriations.
Transfers made during a given month must appear on a budget status
report which is submitted to the Board for information at the next
regular business meeting of the Board.
(2)
In addition, the Budget Officer will accompany this
budget status report with a supplementary report which identifies:
(a)
Transfers which significantly change the intent of
the use of budgeted money.
(b)
Significant overspending or underspending of an account.
(c)
Transfers into or out of an account in which Board
members have expressed a special interest.
(d)
Other information that he believes will contribute
to the Board's understanding of the budget status.
(3)
The Budget Officer will require a budget transfer
form to be used by department heads when initiating a request for
transfer of funds. This budget transfer form will provide:
