(A) The following policies and procedures, consistent with and/or in compliance with the Indiana State Board of Accounts standards of guidance, shall be applied to any and all encumbrances:
(l) Allowed encumbrances (appropriations carried over).
(a) A lawful contract has been entered into with a vendor or contractor on or before December 31, an appropriation exists for the entire amount of the contract and all or part of the contract has not been paid by that same December 31.
(b) A purchase order has been issued on or before December 31, an appropriation exists for the entire amount of the purchase order, and all or part of the purchase order has not been paid by that same December 31.
(c) Proceeds of a bond issue that have been fully appropriated and remain unexpended as of December 31.
(d) Appropriations which are obligated by a contract or an agreement executed on or before December 31 between the county and any federal or state agency, including but not limited to:
1. A criminal justice planning grant;
2. A local road and street project; or
3. A federal grant requiring local matching funds.
(2) Multi-year contracts and purchase orders. It is recognized that some contracts and purchase orders may be for a period of more than one year. In such circumstances the full amount of the signed contract may be encumbered and a single purchase order may be created renewable on a year-to-year basis for the life of the contract. For example, but not limited to, allowed encumbrances (appropriations carried over), consistent with the Indiana State Board of Accounts standards of guidance, also include ongoing projects of a county. For Lake County, such projects include:
(a) Road or bridge projects of the Lake County Highway Department;
(b) Drainage projects of the Lake County Drainage Board; and
(c) Building and/or upgrade projects of the Lake County Commissioners.
(3) Closure of prior year encumbrance.
(a) An encumbrance shall be considered "stale" if there has been little to no activity within the prior last 12 months.
(b) By March 31st of the following year, preferably in a joint meeting, all prior year purchase orders/encumbrances shall be reviewed by:
1. The department/office head of any department/office originating any purchase order/ encumbrance; and
2. The Purchasing Department, all stale encumbrances shall be identified.
(c) The Director of the Purchasing Department shall have sole discretion in classifying an encumbrance as a stale encumbrance, and all decisions of the Director of the Purchasing Department shall be final.
(d) By April 30th of the following year, the purchasing shall close all stale encumbrance/ purchase orders that have been identified from the prior year.
(B) The above policies and procedures shall apply to all current year, past year, and future year encumbrances in existence.
(Ord. 1456A, passed 2-9-2021)