(A) All purchases and expenditures in excess of $400 shall require one of the following approval processes before being made:
(1) An ordinance or resolution other than the annual appropriation, budget and/or tentative budget enactments;
(2) A contract approved by the Council;
(3) Approval by the Village Administrator per other applicable law, provided said purchase and/or expenditure is $2,500 or less; and
(4) Approval of the expenditure by the Council at a regular or special meeting of the Council, the consent to which shall not be unreasonably withheld, if it is within the bounds of the annual budget measures of the village.
(B) In addition to division (A) of this section, no purchases or expenditures shall be made on behalf of the village, by or for any department, employee, board, agency or unit thereof, without first obtaining a “purchase order” from the Village Fiscal Officer which certifies that the funds needed for the purchase or expenditure are available, and further submitting a “purchase requisition” on a form approved by the Village Fiscal Officer. Such “purchase requisition” shall be signed by the Village Administrator, or in his or her absence, by the Village Fiscal Officer.
(C) Emergency purchases and expenditures are exempt from the provisions contained in this section; however, ratification of the emergency purchase or expenditure shall be sought from the Village Administrator and a purchase order from the Village Fiscal Officer at the earliest available opportunity. The burden of proof of an “emergency” is on the person making the emergency purchase or expenditure.
(D) The penalty for violating divisions (A) or (B) of this section, shall be any or all of the following, at the discretion of the Council (to which the effected department, employee, board, agency or unit thereof, shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of the county within 30 days of the finding of the Council):
(1) Restitution for the illegal purchase or expenditure, to be made by the person or persons violating division (A) or (B) of this section;
(2) An oral or written reprimand from the Council, directed to the person or persons violating division (A) or (B) of this section;
(3) A written suspension, without pay, of the person or persons violating division (A) or (B) of this section, for a term not to exceed 90 days; and
(4) For illegal purchases and expenditures in excess of $800 or situations in which the person or persons violating division (A) or (B) of this section, has or have been found to be a prior violator by the Council, a discharge of the person or persons violating division (A) or (B) of this section.
(E) All departments, employees, new employees, boards, agencies, or units thereof, are to receive a copy of this section. Further, any person or persons threatened with a penalty under division (D) of this section, shall have the right to notice of the hearing before the Council, the right to be present at the hearing, the right to retain legal counsel to represent them at the hearing, and the right to present evidence in their own defense.
(F) Division (D) of this section, shall not apply to any situation in which a potential violator of division (A) of this section, has first obtained a written preliminary opinion from the Village Administrator that the contemplated purchase or expenditure in excess of $400 is an “emergency”.
(G) The Village Administrator, as the executive manager of this section, shall be exempt from division (A) and (B) of this section.
(Ord. 805, passed 3-21-2016)