(A) Definitions. For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
PURCHASING AGENT. The Clerk Treasurer, the Town Marshal, the Fire Chief, the Utility Superintendent, the Public Works Superintendent, and other town employees who may be designated by the Town Council, from time to time, in writing.
SMALL PURCHASE. A purchase of supplies and/or services in an amount less than $50,000.
SUPPLIES. Any property, including equipment, goods, and materials.
(B) Purchases. For all small purchases of supplies:
(1) (a) A purchasing agent shall solicit and compare prices from as many responsible suppliers as is practical. RESPONSIBLE SUPPLIER shall mean a supplier who has the apparent ability to timely and responsibly deliver the described supplies and/or services and who submits a bid or quote conforming in all material respects to the requisite description or specifications. In the event there are three or more available suppliers who are believed to be responsible, a purchasing agent shall solicit and attempt to secure no less than three proposals. A purchasing agent shall purchase from the responsible supplier who submits the lowest responsive bid unless there is a compelling reason to purchase from another, taking into consideration any applicable preferences, past experience, timeliness of delivery, reputation and standing in the industry or profession.
(b) Comparison pricing can be obtained via telephone, letter, email, fax, or website.
(2) (a) For purchases of supplies, the following purchasing preferences may be applied to responsible providers who offer a responsive quote:
1. Under I.C. 5-22-15-16, a price preference of 10% is available to suppliers offering supplies that contain recycled materials or post-consumer materials.
2. For purchases resulting in a contract, a price preference of 5% is available to suppliers that qualify as a “local Indiana business”, as defined in I.C. 5-22-15-20.9.
3. A price preference of 15% is available to suppliers that qualify as an “Indiana small business”, pursuant to I.C. 5-22-15-23.
(b) In assessing whether a bid or quote is responsive, the purchasing agent and/or purchasing agency may evaluate whether the supplies and delivery schedule offered conform in all material respects to the specifications and whether the supplier has complied with all applicable statutes, ordinances, resolutions, or rules pertaining to the award of a public contract.
(c) A supplier who wants to claim a preference provided by this policy must indicate in the quote which preference is claimed and the supplier must certify that it qualifies for the stated preference. In order to be considered for the Indiana small business preference, suppliers must provide the purchasing agent with information regarding the number of employees employed by the supplier and the average sales and receipts for the prior year.
(d) The purchasing agent will use the “U.S. Small Business Administration Table of Small Business Size Standards...” in assessing whether a particular supplier qualifies as a small business.
(e) Suppliers are only eligible to claim one type of preference. The purchasing agent shall follow the procedures outlined in I.C. 5-22-15-10 in assessing purchasing preferences.
(3) As required by I.C. 5-22-15-21, supplies manufactured in the United States shall be specified and purchased by the town unless the purchasing agent determines that any of the following apply:
(a) The supplies are not manufactured in the United States in reasonably available quantities.
(b) The price of the supplies manufactured in the United States exceeds by an unreasonable amount the price of available and comparable supplies manufactured outside the United States. For purposes of this section, UNREASONABLE AMOUNT shall mean 15%. Accordingly, if the price of supplies manufactured in the United States exceeds, by 15% or more, the price of available and comparable supplies manufactured outside the United States, the difference in price shall be deemed to be unreasonable and the purchasing agent may specify and/or purchase the supplies manufactured outside the United States.
(c) The quality of the supplies is substantially less than the quality of comparably priced available supplies manufactured outside the United States.
(d) The purchase of supplies manufactured in the United States is not in the public interest.
(4) (a) Purchases will not be artificially divided so as to constitute a “small purchase.”
(b) Nothing in this policy shall be interpreted as precluding the purchasing agent from making a special purchase under I.C. 5-22-10.
(C) Purchasing agents’s separate authority.
(1) Except as otherwise provided herein, for all purchases up to $5,000, a purchasing agent, after complying with all applicable policies, may commit to make the purchase. For all purchases in excess of $5,000, a purchasing agent shall comply with these policies, but shall have no authority to accept a quote or proposal or otherwise commit the town to the purchase. Formal action by the Council is required for all purchases over $5,000.
(2) The Utility Superintendent or the Public Works Superintendent, after complying with all applicable policies, and with the approval of their Council representative or the Town Council President, may commit to make purchases of up to $7,500. Except as set forth herein, with regard to emergency purchases, formal action by the Council is required for all purchases of supplies over $7,500.
(D) Emergency purchases. The Utility Superintendent or the Public Works Superintendent, in the event of an emergency, defined as an event or condition that interrupts the provision of essential services or poses an immediate threat to public health or safety, after complying with all applicable policies, and with the approval of their Council representative or the Town Council President, may commit to make purchases of up to $25,000. All Town Council member and the town’s Clerk Treasurer shall be notified, as soon as is practicable, of all emergency purchases.
(E) Documentation. All purchases must be documented by a purchase order, invoice, or receipt in a form and manner acceptable to the town’s Clerk Treasurer.
(Ord. 2018-02, passed 2-6-2018; Ord. 2022-05, passed 5-4-2022)