Township of Lower, NJ Chapter 18 Claims, Payment of; Purchasing; Payroll

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Lower by Ord. No. 76-42 (Sec. 2A-5 of the 1975 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 18-1 Preamble.

It has been deemed necessary and desirable to institute an orderly system for the purchase of materials, supplies, and the like, for use by the Township and it has been deemed necessary and desirable to institute an orderly system for the approval of claims, the recording thereof and the payment of claims by the Township, and it has been deemed necessary and desirable to establish an orderly payroll system for the payment of all salaries and wages by the Township.

§ 18-2 Purchasing.

[Amended by Ord. No. 83-3]

A. A requisition and purchase order system shall be instituted in the Township.

B. No employee or official of the Township shall incur any liability on the part of the Township unless it shall have been properly authorized by a purchase order.

C. In cases of emergencies during off hours, work may be authorized but a purchase order must be obtained on the next working day

D. In instances where numerous miscellaneous purchases are made from a particular vendor, a purchase order may be issued in an amount not to exceed $400 for a specific month. If purchases exceed that amount, an additional purchase order must be issued.

E. Each Councilman shall designate in writing and file with the Treasurer's office and the Township Clerk's office the person or persons in his department who shall prepare and sign requisitions for purchase orders.

F. The requisition and purchase order system shall be operated as follows:

(1) The requisition and purchase order shall be combined on one form.

(2) The forms shall be prepared in quadruplicate.

(3) The requisitions shall be prenumbered.

(4) The requisitions shall be prepared, coded and signed by the properly designated person.

(5) The requisition shall be approved by the Councilman of that department or by the person properly designated.

(6) The requisition shall be given to the office of the Treasurer.

(7) The Treasurer shall check the requisition to the budget appropriation. If funds are available, the Treasurer shall encumber said requisition and authorize the purchase by assigning a purchase order number and signing same. The Treasurer may deny a purchase if any of the foregoing provisions have not been met.

(8) The purchase order shall be distributed as follows:

(a) Original (white) shall be the voucher. The voucher shall be signed by the claimant under "Claimant's Certification and Declaration," signed by a Township official under "Officer's or Employee's Certification" with all necessary invoices and delivery slips attached thereto.

(b) First copy (yellow) shall be the purchase order (vendor's copy) and retained by the vendor.

(c) Second copy (pink) shall be given to the department that is to receive the purchase.

(d) Third copy (gold) shall be retained by the Treasurer's office and filed by budget appropriation order until payment is made. It, and all attachments, shall be attached to the voucher and submitted to the Township Clerk for approval by the Township Council for payment.

§ 18-3 Payment of claims.

[Amended by Ord. No. 83-3]

A. Any person claiming payment from the municipality shall present a detailed bill of demand on the voucher referred to in § 18-2F(8) above to the special bill meeting day. The certificate of claimant appearing on voucher must be executed. Claims received after this date shall not be processed for payment until the next special bill meeting unless the Township Council shall so direct in writing.

B. Claims shall then be presented to the Township Council at the special bill meeting, who, if satisfied the claims are proper, shall approve the same by majority vote. After such approval is given, the Township Council shall file the claims with the Township Clerk at the end of the special meeting. The Township Clerk, after final processing and spreading in the minutes, shall file same with the Treasurer. If the bill is not approved, it shall remain unpaid and shall be struck from the list.

C. The Treasurer shall then verify that the signatures of the officer or employee of the department for which the claim is made, who has been duly designated in writing by the Councilman of that department and filed in the office of the Treasurer, certifying that the materials have been received by or the services rendered to the local unit, appears on every claim. Checks shall then be prepared for payment of the claims, and the check number and date shall be recorded on the voucher.

D. The checks shall then be mailed to the claimant not later than seven days after the special bill meeting.

E. Claims shall be considered by the Township Council which shall approve the same by roll call vote, except that the Township Council may reject any claim presented to it, stating the reason for such rejection. Any disapproved claim shall be referred back to the Township Clerk with such instructions as the Township Council may give at the time of disapproval.

F. It shall be the duty of the Township Clerk to record all claims in the official minutes indicating that the Township Council has by formal action approved the same.

G. After the formal approval by the Township Council at the special bill meeting, the checks shall be signed by the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, the Township Clerk or the Assistant Township Clerk, and countersigned by the Treasurer.

H. Vouchers shall then be kept on file in check number order by special bill meeting date order.

§ 18-4 Payroll.

[Amended by Ord. No. 83-3]

A. There is hereby established a payroll account in the Township. At the first meeting of the Township Council in January of each year there shall be approved an account to be designated the "Township of Lower Payroll Account," and from time to time the Treasurer, upon receipt of a check or bank transfer for the amount due the payroll account, shall deposit the same to the credit of the payroll account, charging the appropriate budgetary accounts with that amount. The Treasurer shall thereafter draw checks on the payroll account to the employees entitled to payment from those accounts. All payroll checks shall be signed by any one of the same officials who sign other checks for the Township.

B. The Township Council shall pass a salary resolution at the first meeting in January of each year, and at such other times as necessitated by contractual agreements with the various employee collective bargaining units, with the ranges set forth by the salary ordinances and contractual agreements in effect at that time.

C. The Treasurer shall pay all full-time and part-time (not hourly) employees on a biweekly basis (26 regular pays) based on the salary resolution stated in Subsection B above.

D. Each two-week pay period will end on Friday. Hourly employees will be paid their rate of pay times the hours worked within the pay period on the pay date following the end of the pay period. Overtime earned within the pay period will be paid on the pay date following the end of the pay period, unless a request to have it accrued is filed with the Treasurer's office.

E. The heads of each department shall certify the time sheets to the office of the Treasurer the next working day after the end of the pay period.

§ 18-5 Failure to comply.

Failure to comply with the foregoing provisions of this chapter shall result in appropriate disciplinary action against any or all of the individuals so failing to comply, the nature and extent of which disciplinary action shall be determined by a majority of the Township Council.