(A) Duties and responsibilities.
(1) There is hereby established an Office of Purchasing under the direction of the Purchasing Agent and the office will be responsible to the Finance Director for the entire purchasing program.
(2) The office or designee shall have the following responsibilities, in addition to any others designated by the City Council:
(a) Act to procure all necessary supplies, materials and services subject to City Council approval, for the efficient operation of the city at the lowest possible cost;
(b) Discourage collusive or restrictive bidding and endeavor to obtain as full and open competition as possible on all purchases;
(c) Establish all rules and regulations authorized by this ordinance and amend, when necessary, with the approval of the City Council;
(d) Keep informed of current developments in the field of purchasing, prices, market conditions and new products, and keep abreast of the benefits of research done in the field of purchasing by: other governmental jurisdictions, national technical associations, trade associations having national recognition and by private businesses and organizations;
(e) Prescribe and maintain forms necessary to the operation of this ordinance;
(f) Prepare, adopt and maintain a vendor’s catalog file; said catalog shall be filed according to materials and shall contain descriptions of vendor’s commodities and prices;
(g) Exploit the possibilities of buying “in bulk” to take full advantage of discounts;
(h) Act to procure all federal and state tax exemptions to which the city is entitled;
(i) Cooperate with other personnel to secure the maximum efficiency in budgeting and accounting; and
(j) Declare as irresponsible those bidders or vendors who default on their quotations, and to disqualify them from receiving any business from the city for a stated period of time, as determined by the City Council.
(B) Operation procedures.
(1) All departments shall henceforth submit requisition orders to the Purchasing Office as the first step in procuring supplies, materials, services or equipment.
(2) The purchasing designee shall review each request form, have the authority to consult the Requesting Department, and make any necessary revisions. The designee must communicate with the Requesting Department before making any decision that deviates from the original request.
(3) When the estimated cost of materials, supplies and contractual services, except as otherwise provided herein, exceeds $25,000, they shall be purchased by sealed bids, formal bidding procedures, and from the lowest and best bidder after an adequate period of public notice.
(a) Any work or other public improvement which is not to be paid for in whole or in part by special assessment or special taxation, and supplied needed for use by the city, and when the expense thereof will exceed $25,000 shall be constructed either:
1. By a contract let by the City Council to the lowest responsible bidder after advertising for bids; or
2. Any such contract may be entered into by the proper officers without advertising for bid, if authorized by a vote of two-thirds of all the Aldermen then holding office.
(b) Public notices shall be published in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the city and shall be published at least ten days prior to bid closing. The newspaper notice required herein will include at a minimum: a brief description of the item to be purchased or sold, where bid blanks and specifications may be secured, the time and place for bid opening and a rejection rights clause.
(c) The Purchasing Office shall also solicit sealed bids from all responsible prospective suppliers, vendors and contractors. The Purchasing Agent shall have the authority to pre-qualify any potential contractor or vendor and solicit sealed bids from them.
(d) The Purchasing Agent shall have the authority to call a pre-bid conference with prospective bidders after draft specifications have been prepared. Such conferences help detect unclear provisions and tend to widen competition by removing unnecessarily restrictive language.
(e) Liability protection shall be sought on service procurement specifications to protect the city from any unforeseen liability or loss. Service procurement specifications shall include a hold-harmless and a certificate-of-insurance clause. The hold-harmless insert requires the contractor or service provider to save and hold-harmless the city from any alleged damage as a result of work performed or not performed. The certificate-of-insurance clause specifies the contractor must furnish a proof of purchase, which indicates the existence of insurance in sufficient quantities to protect all parties in the event of loss.
(f) Bond, with sufficient sureties, in such amount as shall be deemed adequate, not only to insure performance of contract in the time and manner prescribed in the contract, but also to save, indemnify, and keep harmless the city against loss, may be required of each bidder upon contracts involving amounts in excess of $25,000 when, in the opinion of the Purchasing Office, the public interest will be served thereby.
(g) All sealed bids shall be publicly opened by the Purchasing Agent of the city, or by an officer or employee in the office of the Purchasing Agent duly-authorized in writing by the Purchasing Agent to open such bids. Bid openings shall be witnessed by a representative of the City Clerk’s office and the involved department head or designee. Written notice of all bid opening dates and times shall be forwarded to the City Clerk and involved department head or designee upon bid letting. All such bids shall be open to public inspection in the office of the Purchasing Agent for a period of at least 48 hours before award is made.
(h) Any agreement or collusion among bidders or prospective bidders in restraint of freedom of competition by agreement to bid a fixed price, or otherwise, shall render the bids of such bidders void. Each bidder shall accompany his bid with a sworn statement, or otherwise swear or affirm, that he or she has not been a party to any such agreement. Any disclosure in advance of the opening of bids, of the terms of the bids submitted in response to an advertisement, made or permitted by the Purchasing Agent shall render the proceedings void and shall require re-advertisement and re-award.
(4) The purchasing designee, with consent of the City Council, shall have the authority to reject any or all sealed or quoted bids.
(a) In determining the responsibility of any bidder, the Purchasing Agent may take into account other factors in addition to financial responsibility, such as past records of transaction with the bidder, experience, adequacy of equipment, ability to complete performance within a specified time limit and other pertinent considerations.
(b) Any and all bids received in response to an advertisement may be rejected by the Purchasing Agent if the bidder is not deemed responsible, or the character or quality of the services, supplies, materials, equipment or labor does not conform to requirements or if the public interest may otherwise be served thereby. If the contract is awarded to a bidder other than the lowest, a written statement of reasons shall be prepared and placed into the public record.
(5) Purchases of materials, supplies and contractual services with the estimated value of less than $10,000 may be made on the open market without public advertisement, and the requirements of the formal bid procedures are not applicable.
(a) Open market purchases shall be based on three competitive bids, whenever possible, and shall be solicited by mail, phone and bulletin board notice.
(b) Open market purchases shall also be based on the lowest responsible bidder, whenever feasible.
(6) Emergency purchases above $25,000 may be made in order to protect life, health or safety of citizens. Those permitted to purchase emergency materials shall be department heads and they shall be required to submit a monthly record of emergency purchases. All emergency purchases must be approved by the City Council as required by state law.
(7) Notwithstanding the foregoing, architects, engineers and land surveyors shall be contracted in accordance with the Illinois Local Government Professional Services Selection Act (50 ILCS 510/1 et seq.).
(8) Disposition of surplus, obsolete or worn-out material or equipment for sale, shall be done by the Purchasing Office in conformance with competitive conditions, including when necessary, newspaper advertising and sealed bids. Items valued at $10,000 or less may be sold by Purchasing. Items valued greater than $10,000 must be approved for sale by the City Council. The sale or trade of vehicles, regardless of value, must be approved by the City Council.
(9) All contracts to which the city is party shall contain a non-discrimination in employment clause which provides, “The contractor shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, creed, sex, color or national origin throughout the contract period”.
(10) The purchasing designee, or authorized representative, shall assist in the inspection or supervise the inspection of all deliveries or contractual services to determine adherence to advertised specifications.
(11) The purchasing designee shall be vested with the authority to require the prompt reporting and subsequent reassignment of any surplus materials, supplies or equipment. These transfer capabilities include, but are not limited to, obsolete items, surplus items and items no longer in use.
(1960 Code, § 3.12) (Ord. 5587, passed 5-20-1996; Ord. 8957-2021, passed 6-21-2021; Ord. 8969-2021, passed 7-19-2021)