(A) Centralized purchasing. It shall be the policy of the town to maintain a centralized purchasing process with the Municipal Clerk as purchasing agent. It shall be the purchasing agent's responsibility to administer purchasing policies, institute reports necessary to permit analysis or purchasing performance, negotiate and approve term contracts in concert with town agencies, consolidate purchases of like or common items, analyze prices paid for materials and equipment, and generally define how to obtain saving and to coordinate purchasing procedures.
(B) Source of supply. The Municipal Clerk shall select sources of supply in concert with the appropriate town agency. This shall be accomplished with a view toward creating good vendor relations and promoting the best interests of the town. The town recognizes that frankness and fair dealings establish strong and lasting relationships with suppliers. As a general policy, purchases shall be awarded with local vendor preference on the basis of availability, best price, delivery and quality taking into consideration the reputation and performance capability of the suppliers.
(C) Commitment. In concert with town agencies, the Municipal Clerk shall conduct, and on approval from Council, conclude all negotiations affecting vendor selection, prices, terms, delivery and the like. Commitments and orders, to be valid, shall be stated by letter, contract or purchase order signed by the Municipal Clerk/Mayor.
(D) Surplus material. Agency/department heads shall advise the Municipal Clerk/Council in writing of any equipment or supplies not needed and which might be transferred to another agency/department for their use.
(E) Sale of town's personal property. Only the Municipal Clerk/Council is authorized to sell supplies which have become unsuitable for public use or to exchange the same for, or trade in the same on new supplies. Surplus supplies will be sold on a competitive basis to the highest bidder.
(F) Maintenance contracts. The Municipal Clerk will maintain all records and information concerning town maintenance agreements. Before renewing any agreement, the Municipal Clerk will check with the department/agency head to determine if the agreement should be renewed. Agreements found to be unnecessary will be terminated. Department/agency heads will advise the Municipal Clerk/Council of any change in the status of items covered by maintenance agreements.
(G) Limited purchase allowance. It is recognized that the purpose of a formalized purchasing procedure could be undermined by lost opportunity and time if required for incidental purchases. Therefore, the Town Council expressly delegates a limited purchase allowance to the following persons:
Person | Budgeted Allowance | Non- budgeted Allowance |
Chief of Police | $300 | $150 |
Municipal Clerk | $300 | $150 |
Mayor | $500 | $300 |
Town Administrator | $500 | $300 |
(H) Bids (invitation for bids or IFB) and request for quotations (RFQ). Except as otherwise provided herein, when the estimated cost of a procurement exceeds $2,500, an invitation for bids or request for quotations will be made from at least three (3) vendors.
(I) Procurement. To be included in this chapter as a vital part of the procurement process is the procurement flow chart (See Appendix) which allows the Mayor to approve budgeted expenditures $500 or less and non-budgeted $300 or less, but requires Council approval of budgeted expenditures $501 and over and non-budgeted $301 and over and gives the actual procurement process.
(J) Fiscal responsibility. Every procurement purchase or contract, modification, change order or contract price adjustment in excess of $50 shall be to prior approval as to the effect of this action on the current fiscal budget reported by the Municipal Clerk.
(K) Budget. All expenditures are to be adhered to as closely as possible within the realm of the annual fiscal budget which is approved every year by Council.
(L) Evaluation. Evaluations of vendors, contracts and bids shall be objectively measurable for discounts, transportation cost, and total or life cycle costs besides the actual contract price.
(M) Inter-local government agreements. In some cases, an inter-local agreement might be considered advantageous over contracting out to private companies.
(1985 Code, § 1-72) (Am. Ord. 2014-1, passed 4-15-2014; Am. Ord. 2015-3, passed 8-6-2015; Am. Ord. 2016-01, passed 6-23-2016)