A. Purchase Requisition:
1. The purchase requisition shall be the standard document utilized for the systematic procurement of goods/services when the estimated monetary value of the item or group of items exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
2. The purchase requisition must have an authorized signature by the requesting department head, or an authorized representative, before it may be processed. The department head, or an authorized representative, on file with the county clerk's office, shall be the only individuals who may sign purchase requisitions for their department.
B. Responsibilities Of Department Head; Limitations:
1. Purchase order/claim forms shall be completed by the department head or his designee for the purchase of all goods and services.
2. No goods and services shall be purchased for which funds are not available within a department's approved budget without the prior authorization of the county board.
3. Goods and services that have been ordered and received on or before November 30 must have funds available in the current budget year for payment within the first thirty (30) days of the new fiscal year. To ensure proper accounting, any goods and services received after November 30 are considered new fiscal year purchases and must have a purchase order/claim form completed that indicates the proper accounting period and the original purchase order/claim number.
4. All purchase order/claim forms shall be signed and approved by the department head and turned into the county clerk's office on an ongoing basis.
5. The county board approves purchase order/claims once a month. To ensure timely payment to vendors all purchase order/claim forms, except for certain utility claims, shall be turned into the county clerk's office no later than the first Tuesday of each month. Utility claims (telephone, electric, gas, water, broadband, etc.) received at the beginning of the month for the prior month may be submitted to county clerk's office until twelve o'clock (12:00) noon of the day of the regular monthly county board meeting.
6. Mandatory obligations that require payment to vendors prior to the regular monthly county board meeting should be submitted along with a written report and purchase order/claim to the county administrator who will present to the county board chair for approval. If considered mandatory and approved by the county board chair said purchase order/claim will be submitted to the county clerk's office for payment. Mandatory purchases are subject to final approval of the Jo Daviess County board and shall be forwarded by the county administrator to the Jo Daviess County board prior to the meeting date for final approval.
C. Records: All purchase order/claim forms completed by each department will have such purchase commitments entered into the financial management system as an "encumbrance" against an appropriate budgetary account on an ongoing basis. Such "encumbrance" will be removed when an invoice is entered for payment for the purchased goods and/or services.
D. Procedures:
1. The county clerk's office is responsible for the accounts payable function (claims). All purchase order/claims are to be submitted to the county clerk's office when the corresponding invoice or bill associated with the transaction becomes available. The county clerk's office is responsible for entering all claims into the county's financial system.
2. Purchase orders/claims are to be filled out electronically on the official purchase order/claim form provided by the county. Department heads are responsible for all purchases made by their employees and are also responsible for training employees about the county's purchasing process and the requirements of this chapter.
3. The following information will be included on all county purchase order/claim forms:
a. Detailed description of item requested;
b. Vendor name and number;
c. Quantity;
d. Cost per item;
e. Total cost;
f. (Expense) account number;
g. (Expense) account YTD balance; and
h. Any other such information as may be required.
4. All purchase order/claim forms shall have attached to them the corresponding purchase requisition (if applicable) and invoice or bill associated with the transaction when this documentation becomes available. Invoices should reflect the purchase order number for cross reference. Departments are responsible for maintaining a copy of all purchase order/claims for their records.
E. Account Balances:
1. Budget Allocation: No department head has the authority to spend more money in a budget year than was allocated by the county board to that department or agency in the annual budget. The final audit will serve as the basis for determining whether the department head has exceeded the budget allocation.
2. Budget Warning Flag: If a department attempts to process a purchase order/claim into the county's financial system and an unencumbered balance does not exist or the amount of the purchase order/claim is more than is available in the appropriate expense account line, a budget warning flag will appear and the system will not allow the purchase order to be processed.
3. Department Head Responsibility And Department Procedures:
a. At no time will the department head spend more than the total budgeted dollar amount allocated to their department without prior approval as outlined in this chapter.
4. Parent Committee Responsibility:
a. The parent committee shall review and address concerns regarding the current year to date budget position of the department when presented by the department head.
5. Transfers: Transfers between funds are not allowed once the budget has been adopted except for county board approved transfers from the contingency fund.
a. Budget Expense Categories: Each individual general fund and special fund expense budget is classified into four (4) major expense categories:
(1) Class I - expense lines 401 to 499 are designated for salary and fringe benefit costs;
(2) Class II - expense lines 501 through 799 are designated for operational costs including commodities and contractual services;
(3) Class III - expense lines 800 through 899 are designated for costs associated with capital outlay;
(4) Class IV - expense lines 901 through 990 are designated as other costs including contingency and interfund transfers.
b. Line Item Transfer And Overage Policy:
(1) No purchase order/claim shall be authorized unless an unencumbered balance exists in the appropriate expense account without the approval of the county board or county administrator.
(2) The county administrator may approve the transfer of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) from one line item to another line item within class II, class III, or class IV departmental budget lines when the county administrator deems it reasonable and appropriate.
(3) All requests for the transfer of funds from or to any class I expense line item must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the county board.
(4) The county board may approve the transfer of funds, over five hundred dollars ($500.00), within a departmental budget from one line item to another when the county board deems it reasonable and appropriate.
(5) The county board may also approve expenses charged to expense line items that have zero or negative balances when circumstances reasonably warrant. Any authorization for an overage of more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) must be approved by the county board prior to initiating any transaction. All transfers and transactions initiated under this subsection shall be reported to the county finance, tax and budgets committee.
6. Claims Reporting:
a. A complete monthly claims report shall be distributed to each county board member prior to the regular monthly county board meeting showing all claims to be paid and said report shall identify the creditor, the department or county official which purchased the goods or service, the fund from which payment is to be made, the amount of payment to be made, and the accounting period when the expense was incurred.
7. Approval Of Purchase Order/Claim With Negative Balance: If the county board approves a purchase order/claim with a negative balance, it will then be submitted to the county clerk's office, with the corresponding invoice, for completion. (Ord. 2011-4, 5-10-2011)