[Ord. No. 1945 §1, 9-10-2008; Ord.
No. 2454, 10-24-2022]
A. Authority To Approve Non-Emergency Purchases. City employees occupying the following positions have the authority to approve non-emergency purchases of goods and services in amounts established in Section
155.020:
3.
Assistant City Administrator.
4.
All City department heads.
B. Authority To Appoint Additional Non-Emergency Purchasers. The City Administrator shall have the authority to designate additional City employees as authorized non-emergency purchasers pursuant to Subsection
(A) above.
C. Authority To Restrict Purchasing Activity. The City Administrator
shall have the authority to prohibit individual employees from making
purchases on behalf of the City. He/she shall also have the authority
to implement purchasing policies or restrictions upon subordinate
City employees greater than those contained within this Subsection.
D. Board Of Aldermen Approval. This policy does not eliminate the requirement
to submit all purchases to the Board of Aldermen for review and approval
of payment of bills. The Board of Aldermen may directly authorize
any purchase with a majority vote of the Council. However, no member
of the Board of Aldermen may obligate the City's funds without
such a vote.
E. Purchasing Restrictions. The following restrictions and prohibitions
shall hereafter be in effect:
1.
No employee, officer, or agent of the City shall make a purchase
on behalf of the City for any goods/services for their personal use,
excluding meals and travel expenses for bona fide City business.
2.
No employee, officer, or agent of the City shall make a purchase
on behalf of the City for any alcoholic beverage, except as authorized
by the Board of Aldermen.
3.
No employee, officer, or agent of the City shall make a purchase
on behalf of the City for any goods/services from any vendor in which
a conflict of interest does exist - or could be reasonably perceived
to exist - between that employee, officer, or agent of the City and
said vendor.
[Ord. No. 2454, 10-24-2022]
A. Purchasing Procedures, Spending Limitations. The authority of the
positions to approve non-emergency purchases is limited to the amounts
and procedures listed in this Section.
1.
Minor purchases of less than one hundred dollars ($100.00):
a.
Any city employee, except as might be restricted in Section
155.010(C), may make minor purchases directly related to City work at vendors with open City accounts.
2.
Purchases of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00):
b.
Must be verbally approved by a Supervisor or above.
3.
Purchases of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) but less than
five thousand dollars ($5,000.00):
b.
Must be approved by a department head or above.
c.
Requires three (3) oral quotations.
4.
Purchases of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) but less than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00):
b.
Must be approved by a department head or above.
c.
Requires three (3) written or emailed quotations.
5.
Purchases of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) but less than
thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00):
b.
Must be approved by the City Administrator or the Mayor.
c.
Requires three (3) written or emailed quotations.
6.
Purchases of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) or greater:
b.
A bid packet must be prepared and submitted to the City Administrator
or Mayor for prior approval.
c.
Bid tabulations are required.
d.
Final purchase must be approved by the Board of Aldermen.
B. Procedure For Obtaining Bids, Quotations, And Pricing. The procedure
for obtaining bids, quotations, and pricing shall be as follows:
1.
City employees seeking bids and quotations shall attempt to
solicit bids and quotations in such a way that generates the greatest
number of qualified responses as well as responses which present the
best value to the City.
2.
City employees are prohibited from taking any action or inaction
when requesting bids or quotations which would artificially direct
business to a preferred vendor. Prohibited actions include, but are
not limited to:
a.
Submitting differing requirements/specifications to different
vendors.
b.
Writing bid or quote specifications designed to favor one (1)
vendor's goods/services or preclude some qualified vendors from
submitting a bid/quotation.
c.
Intentionally seeking bids from vendors who do not offer the
required good/service.
d.
Intentionally seeking bids or quotations from vendors in different
markets with higher costs.
e.
Requesting bids or quotations in a manner designed to inconvenience
some vendors.
f.
Divulging bid or quotation prices to other vendors.
3.
City employees responsible for soliciting bids or quotations
shall notify their supervisor if a bidder or anticipated bidder has
a real or perceived conflict of interest with said employee or with
any other officer or employee of the City.
4.
For written or oral quotations as required in Subsection
(A) (above), online pricing, catalog pricing, list pricing, or in-store pricing shall sufficiently satisfy the quotation requirement.
5.
For purchases below thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00), the
requirement for quotations may be waived in the instance of proprietary
parts and equipment with a sole-source vendor for which three (3)
quotations cannot be obtained and no suitable substitutes are readily
available.
6.
"No Bid Letters" shall be acceptable for quotations/bid so long
as it would be reasonable to believe that the non-bidding party could
have potentially submitted a competitive bid.
7.
Purchasers designated in Section
155.010 of this Section may solicit quotes for goods/services pursuant to Subsection
(A) of this Section and may make recurring purchases at regular intervals utilizing that quotation/bid without soliciting new quotations for each individual order for a period not to exceed twenty-four (24) months from the date of the original quote.
8.
During a formal bidding process, bid packets shall be publicly
posted in City Hall and on the City website.
9.
City staff are encouraged, but not required, to post bid notification
in a newspaper of record and in any trade publications and/or industry
websites as would be deemed reasonable.
10.
City staff shall make a reasonable effort to notify any potential
bidders of any bid opportunities posted by the City.
11.
A reasonable amount of time shall be given for bidders to submit
a bid response, based on the complexity of the bid and/or the anticipated
time necessary for a competent vendor to prepare a bid response.
12.
Unless specifically stated in the bid documentation or prohibited
by law or statute, winning bids shall be "best value bids" representing
the best overall value to the City of Plattsburg, which shall take
into consideration the monetary bid, as well as the quality of the
good/service being bid.
13.
Each and every bid response shall be kept secret and unopened
until such time as all bids are formally opened.
C. Credit Card Policy. City credit cards will be issued to the City
Administrator, Deputy City Administrator, Assistant City Administrator,
department heads, and any other employee as the City Administrator
shall, from time to time, deem necessary. All credit card receipts
must be submitted to the City Clerk or his/her designee.
D. Emergency Purchases. The Mayor, City Administrator, Deputy City Administrator,
Assistant City Administrator, department heads, and Director of Emergency
Management (if so designated) may approve emergency purchases of goods
and services without additional approval so long as such purchases
are immediately necessary to respond to a natural disaster or other
emergency that is so serious that any delay in purchasing needed goods
and services would constitute a serious and imminent threat to the
safety, security, and/or well-being of the community. Employees making
such emergency purchases must notify the Administrator as soon as
possible and return to standard purchasing procedures as soon as the
emergency need has been met.
[Ord. No. 2454, 10-24-2022]
A. Restriction On Incurring Expenses. No person, except as authorized by the Mayor or City Administrator, or those as listed in Section
155.010(A) or
(B), shall have the authority to, in accordance with the amounts and conditions stipulated in Section
155.020(A) of this City's Code for purchases, incur expenses on behalf of the City, authorize payment of City funds, indebt the City, expend personal funds with the expectation of reimbursement from the City.
B. Restriction On Incurring Consulting Fees. No person, except the City
Administrator or Mayor, or any employee as designated by the City
Administrator or Mayor, may incur any expenses on behalf of the City
through engagement or communications with any consultant or professional
services firm, which would bill the City for such engagement or communications.
C. Individual Members Of The Board Of Aldermen. No individual member
of the Board of Aldermen shall incur expenses on behalf of the City,
authorize payment of City funds, indebt the City, or expend personal
funds with the expectation of reimbursement from the City. Furthermore,
no individual member of the Board of Aldermen for the City shall incur
any expenses on behalf of the City through engagement or communications
with any consultant or professional services firm, which would bill
the City for such engagement or communications.