Town of Philipstown, NY Chapter 40 Procurement Policy

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Philipstown 7-9-1992 by Res. No. 100-92. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Contracts and agreements — See Ch. 14.

§ 40-1 Evaluation of prospective purchases.

A. Every prospective purchase contract of goods, equipment, work or services and every prospective public works contract shall be evaluated to determine the applicability of General Municipal Law § 103. If it is determined that competitive bidding is not required by law, the documentation supporting this conclusion shall be kept in the Town's file.

B. Except for procurements made pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103, Subdivision 3, General Municipal Law § 104, State Finance Law § 175-b, Correction Law § 186 or § 40-6 herein, requests for proposals shall be solicited as provided herein.

§ 40-2 Formal bids required.

[Amended 2-4-2010 by Res. No. 55-10]

All purchase contracts for goods, equipment or services involving an expenditure of more than $10,000 or all public works contracts involving an expenditure of more than $35,000 shall be formally bid pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103.

§ 40-3 Requests for proposals or quotes; documentation.

A. All purchase contracts of goods, equipment, work or services estimated to be:

(1) Equal to or less than $10,000 but greater than $5,000 require that a written request for a proposal (RFP) be given to at least two vendors who shall be asked to submit written or FAX proposals or quotes.

(2) Equal to or less than $5,000 but greater than $2,500 require that an oral request be given to at least two vendors who shall be asked to submit oral, written or FAX proposals or quotes.

(3) Equal to or less than $2,500 shall be left to the discretion of the purchaser.

B. All public works contracts estimated to be:

[Amended 2-4-2010 by Res. No. 55-10]

(1) Equal to or less than $35,000 but greater than $10,000 require that a written RFP be given to at least two contractors who shall be asked to submit written or FAX proposals or quotes.

(2) Equal to or less than $10,000 but greater than $5,000 require that an oral request be given to at least two contractors who shall be asked to submit oral, writen or FAX proposals or quotes.

(3) Equal to or less than $5,000 shall be left to the discretion of the purchaser.

C. Any written RFP shall describe the desired goods, equipment, work or services, the quantity and the particulars of delivery. The purchaser shall compile a list of all vendors or contractors from whom written, FAX or oral proposals or quotes are requested, and the written, fax or oral proposals or quotes offered by the vendors or contractors. All information gathered in complying with this chapter shall be preserved and filed with the documentation supporting the subsequent purchase or public works contract.

§ 40-4 Award of contract.

The lowest responsible dollar offeror shall be awarded the purchase or public works contract unless the purchaser prepares a written justification setting forth the reasons why a contrary award furthers the purpose of General Municipal Law § 104-b.

§ 40-5 Required number of proposals.

A good-faith effort shall be made to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations. If the purchaser is unable to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations, the purchaser shall document the attempt made at obtaining the proposals. In no event shall the inability to obtain the proposals or quotes be a bar to the procurement.

§ 40-6 Exemptions.

Except when directed by the Town Board, no solicitation of written proposals or quotations shall be required under the following circumstances:

A. Acquisition of professional services.

B. Emergencies.

C. Sole source situations.

D. Goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handicapped.

E. Goods purchased from correctional facilities.

F. Goods purchased from another governmental agency.

G. Goods purchased at auction.

H. Purchase contracts for equal to or less than $2,500.

I. Public works contracts for equal to or less than $5,000.

§ 40-7 Expenditure Review Committee.

[Amended 7-14-1994 by Res. No. 112-94[1]]

A. The Town Board hereby creates an Expenditure Review Committee comprised of two members appointed by the Town Supervisor.

B. The Expenditure Review Committee shall serve as a preaudit advisory committee to all Town departments and employees who shall submit any contract for purchases over $250 and which requires Town Board approval under Town Law § 64 to said Committee for its review and advice before submitting the same to the Town Board for final approval. Approval shall not be required for purchases previously approved by the Town Board.

C. This policy may be suspended by a department or agency head and Expenditure Review Committee approval need not be obtained where an emergency requires that such expenditure be made to address the emergency at hand before such approval can be obtained. Such department or agency head shall be required to submit to the Town Board, in writing or in a public meeting, a full accounting as to the circumstances leading to the suspension of this policy at the time of requesting approval of the contract under Town Law § 64.

[1] Editor's Note: In order to accommodate the addition of this section, former §§ 40-7 and 40-8 were renumbered as §§ 40-8 and 40-9, respectively.

§ 40-8 Annual review.

These policies and procedures shall be reviewed annually by the Town Board at is organizational meeting or as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable and may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.

§ 40-9 Unintentional failure to comply.

The unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions of these procurement policies and procedures shall not be grounds to void any action taken or give rise to a cause of action against the Town or any officer or employee thereof.