(A) The Judge/Executive, or his or her designee, shall first determine the need for any item required and whether or not the contract is for less than the maximum amount allowed by law without required use of a formal-bid process.
(B) Small purchases are those procurements not exceeding the amount of $30,000, established by law or regulation, for a formal-bid process. Administrative costs for small, low-dollar-value purchases can be minimized by utilizing some of the following practices:
(1) State-centralized stores;
(2) Petty cash fund;
(3) Telephone requests for quotes;
(4) Simple, handwritten, request-for-quote forms;
(5) Requirements or blanket-type orders combining similar or like low-dollar-value items; or,
(6) Travel requests.
(C) Procurement requirements shall not be parceled, split, divided or purchased over a period of time in order to avoid dollar limitations.
(D) The Purchasing Manager shall obtain three price quotes from vendors and select the one most advantageous to the Fiscal Court that meets the needs of the user groups, except when the cost of the product or service is less than $500.
(E) The Purchasing Manager shall maintain records of all small purchases made by vendor and type of product or service.
(F) A PRE-QUALIFIED VENDOR is defined as a source of recurring small purchases that is established through taking price quotes and market analysis to determine a source for items that individually would not have to be bid, but collectively would exceed the bid limit. The analysis shall determine, through a system of quotes and/or bids, the lowest-price source for the combined items authorized to be purchased at the source. This process will greatly facilitate the procurement of recurring purchases at the most economical price to the county.
(G) Purchasing cards are available for prior-approved use and small purchases under $200. The Judge/Executive, or his or her designee, will make the decision as to who receives a purchasing card as specified in the Kenton County Fiscal Court Purchasing Card User Manual.
(H) In the event an authorized employee makes an unauthorized purchase with a county purchasing card, that employee shall be personally liable for the purchase and may be subject to disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, repayment of that purchase.
(Ord. 120.9, passed 8-24-99; Am. Ord. 121.42, passed 10-27-20)