[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Township
Council) of the Township of Eastampton 10-28-1980 by Ord. No. 1980-13 (Ch. 20 of the 1974 Township Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Township of Eastampton Purchasing
Procedure Ordinance."
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases
and words shall have the meanings herein given:
The office operated within the Township to purchase or contract
for all supplies, materials and services required by the Township.
The Township Clerk of the Township of Eastampton.
All services required by the Township other than noncompetitive
services or professional services.
The Township Council of the Township of Eastampton.
All telephone, gas, water, sewer, electric and similar services
and professional and other contractual services which are in their
nature unique and not subject to competition or competitive bidding.
Services defined as such by the Local Public Contracts Law
of the State of New Jersey.[1]
A prenumbered multicopy form prepared and signed by the Director
of Finance and/or his/her designee.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The duly appointed Purchasing Agent of the Township.
A multicopy form to be utilized by a using agency to request
the order of contractual or noncompetitive services or supplies for
use on behalf of the Township.
A corporation, partnership, company, association, or person
offering to provide contractual services, noncompetitive services
or supplies to the Township and actually providing same.
All supplies, materials, expendables, commodities and equipment.
The Township of Eastampton, its departments, agencies, committees,
officials, and governing body.
The duly appointed Director of Finance and/or his/her designee
of the Township.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The departments, agencies, committees or persons performing
or carrying out official duties, responsibilities, or functions on
behalf of the Township.
The person in charge of, or the head of, a using agency,
or individual person when the using agency is one individual person.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et seq.
A.
Establishment. There is hereby established a Central Purchasing Office,
and the person therein and in charge thereof shall be designated the
Township Purchasing Agent.
B.
Function. The Central Purchasing Office is hereby authorized to and
shall purchase or contract for all supplies, materials, and services
required by the Township or any using agency in accordance with the
purchasing procedures as set forth herein and with such other rules
and regulations as may be approved and adopted by the Township Council.
The functions of the Central Purchasing Office shall not include the
operation and maintenance of a central payroll system for payment
of salaries and wages to Township officers and employees, nor shall
they include or apply to professional services rendered to the Township
by those professionals, as defined in the Local Public Contracts Law
of the State of New Jersey.
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former § 88-4, Treasurer; appointment;
duties, was repealed 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16.
The Purchasing Agent shall be appointed as a regular employee
of the Township annually in January by the Township Council for a
one-year term. Any vacancy to such office shall be filled by the Township
Council for the unexpired portion of the term only.
During the absence or disability of the Purchasing Agent, the
Township Council may, by resolution, appoint an officer or regular
employee of the Township to perform the duties of the Purchasing Agent
during such absence or disability, except that an absence or disability
of three months' duration shall be deemed a vacancy of the office.
The Purchasing Agent shall not be removed from his position
during his term of appointment except for cause and upon written charges
being presented to him. In the event the Purchasing Agent wishes a
public hearing, the Township Council shall, within 15 days after a
request for such hearing, conduct a public hearing for the purpose
of considering such charges and proofs thereof and making a determination
thereon. At such hearing, the Purchasing Agent shall be entitled to
confront the charges and proofs and to present evidence on his behalf.
The Township Council shall thereupon vote to acquit him of the charges,
suspend him from office for a period of time to be determined by the
Council, or to dismiss him from office.
The Purchasing Agent shall:
A.
Establish a Central Purchasing Office and purchasing procedures therein
and perform functions in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
Procure for the Township the highest quality in supplies and services
commensurate with the requirements of the Township needs, jobs or
projects at the lowest possible prices.
C.
Obtain full and open competition on all procurements except noncompetitive
services. The Purchasing Agent, whenever there is evidence of collusive
bidding, shall report this fact with all data to the Township Council
for possible action against the collusive bidders.
D.
Maintain information on current developments in the field of purchasing,
prices, market conditions and new products and secure for the Township
the benefits of county and state purchasing programs, research done
in the field of purchasing by other government jurisdictions, national
technical societies, trade organizations having national recognition,
and private businesses and organizations.
E.
Maintain a vendors catalog file arranged according to materials and
containing descriptions of vendors' commodities.
F.
Prepare and secure, with the cooperation of the using agencies, standardized
requirements of qualities and of the specifications for supplies,
as defined herein, to be purchased or placed under contract or agreement
and establish and maintain adequate permanent records, including requisitions
and purchase orders for supplies, bids, reports and similar documents,
in an orderly fashion.
G.
Be responsible for procedures for obtaining all discounts available
through volume or bulk procurements and, where possible, through prompt
payment.
H.
Obtain for the Township all federal and state tax exemptions to which
it is entitled.
I.
Make known to the Township Council all vendors who repeatedly default
on price, material and/or delivery, with recommendations to the Council
for its action.
J.
Cause an inspection to be made of deliveries of supplies or contractual
services to determine their conformance with the specifications set
forth in the order or contract.
K.
Authorize a using agency, having the staff and facilities for adequate
inspections, or other Township employees or professionals to inspect
deliveries made to such using agency under rules and regulations approved
by the Township Council.
L.
The Purchasing Agent shall have the authority to require chemical
and physical tests which are necessary to determine the quality and
conformance with specifications of samples submitted with bids and
samples of deliveries. In the performance of such tests, the Purchasing
Agent shall have the authority to make use of laboratory facilities
of any agency, laboratory, or facility available.
M.
Require the using agency supervisor to retain, for attachment to
the payment voucher, delivery tickets, receipts or other reports indicating
the quantity and or quality of the supplies or services received,
as appropriate, to confirm actual delivery and receipt thereof.
N.
Maintain a petty cash fund not in excess of $50 and a record of expenditures
therefrom on a monthly basis.
O.
Provide the Police Chief with a source of petty cash in the amount of $50 for a Police Department petty cash fund and to provide the Chief with a source of special petty cash in the amount of $100 for a Police Department special petty cash fund to be used for the purpose of financing the purchase of narcotics contraband during crime prevention activities. Such funds shall be maintained by the Chief of Police, who shall maintain a record of expenditures therefrom in accordance with Subsection N of this section.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1981-4]
P.
The funds for the petty cash funds in Subsections N and O of this section shall be obtained upon submission to the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee of a requisition for cash signed solely by the Purchasing Agent or the Chief of Police for the respective petty cash funds maintained by each whose signature shall also constitute an approval of such requisition.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
Q.
The Purchasing Agent shall not be authorized to make award of contracts
for professional services or those services for which bids are required
in the name of the Township. The Township Council hereby reserves
such authority itself.
The Township Council shall annually, at the time of reorganization,
and from time to time thereafter as may be necessary, designate by
resolution the person or persons who may prepare and sign requisitions
for purchase orders, specify the using agency on whose behalf such
person or persons may make such requisition requests, which member
of the Township Council shall have approving authority and responsibility
for each such designated person and specified using agency, and furnish
the Central Purchasing Office with a certified copy of such resolution.
The requisition and purchase order system shall be operated
as follows:
A.
The requisition request shall be one form in duplicate.
B.
The purchase order shall be one form of multiple precarboned copies
and shall:
(1)
Be prenumbered.
(2)
Be prepared in quintuplicate; each copy shall be a carbon copy of
a different color.
(3)
Be maintained, strictly physically safeguarded and numerically accounted
for by the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
(4)
Provide for the genuine signature of the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee as the only method of validating same.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
(5)
Be promptly forwarded to the Purchasing Agent upon the Director of
Finance and/or his/her designee validating same.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
C.
The requisition shall be given to the appropriate person named, pursuant to § 88-10 herein, for approval and, if approved by the person so evidenced by an approving signature and date thereon, the approved requisition shall be promptly forwarded to the Purchasing Agent for a purchase authorization. If not approved, the person authorized to approve shall write "disapproved" thereon, date and initial such notation, and promptly give it to the Purchasing Agent for filing. Such disapproved requisition shall not be further processed or honored.
D.
The Director of Finance and/or his/her designee shall compare the
properly approved purchase order to the budget appropriation and,
if the balance is sufficient, authorize the purchase by countersigning
the same and promptly forward the same to the Purchasing Agent. If
the budget balance is insufficient, the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee shall write "insufficient budget balance" on the
purchase order, date and sign such notation, and return all copies
to the Purchasing Agent. The Purchasing Agent shall forward the using
agency's copy to the using agency.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
E.
The properly countersigned purchase order shall be distributed as
follows:
(1)
The original shall be the voucher.
(2)
The first copy shall be the purchase order and shall be delivered
to the vendor along with the original.
(3)
The second and third copies shall be given to the using agency that
is to receive the purchase. When the purchase is received, the second
copy shall be returned to the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee,
together with the delivery ticket attached. If no delivery ticket
is available, the person receiving the goods or services shall so
signify such fact in writing by notation upon such second copy, sign
and date such notation.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
(4)
The third copy shall be permanently filed by the using agency.
(5)
The fourth copy shall be retained by the Purchasing Agent.
(6)
The fifth copy shall be retained by the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee and filed in an unpaid purchase order file awaiting
presentation of the voucher by the vendor. After payment, such copy
shall be filed with the paid voucher file.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
F.
Where any erroneous preparation, mistake or damage to the purchase
order has occurred before issue, such purchase order shall be invalidated
by printing the word "void" across the face of the form so as to clearly
appear thereon and all prescribed copies thereof and by crossing out
the signature of the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee if
such signature has been affixed thereto by the Director of Finance
and/or his/her designee. The Director of Finance and/or his/her designee
shall then be notified of such action.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The requisition and purchase order system shall restrict and
prohibit requisitions and purchase orders as follows:
A.
No purchase requisition from using agencies for supplies, as defined herein, shall be processed or honored by the Purchasing Agent unless such requisition has been approved by the member of the Township Council designated pursuant to § 88-10.
B.
The Purchasing Agent shall cause an examination to be made of each
requisition received from using agencies to determine their validity.
C.
No purchase order emanating from one using agency requisition shall
be charged to another using agency unless and until such purchase
order is approved by the using agency to be so charged.
D.
Any purchase order or contract within the scope of this chapter in
which any officer or employee of the Township is financially interested,
directly or indirectly, shall be void, except that, before the execution
of a purchase order or contract, the Township Council shall have the
authority to waive compliance with this section by resolution when
it finds such action to be in the best interests of the Township.
E.
No official or employee of the Township shall incur any liability
on the part of the Township unless it has been properly authorized
by a valid purchase order.
F.
In instances where numerous miscellaneous purchases are made from
a particular vendor, a purchase order may be issued in an amount not
to exceed $200 for a specific calendar month. When purchases total
$200, a single additional purchase order may be issued in an amount
not to exceed an additional $100 for a specific month from the vendor.
A new purchase order shall be issued for each month.
In the instances of an actual emergency making impractical or
impossible the adherence to the provisions of this chapter requiring
a valid purchase order for contractual and noncompetitive services,
or for supplies, a using agency supervisor may purchase directly such
services or supplies under the following conditions:
A.
Procurement is essential to prevent delays in the using agency's
work in progress which may vitally affect the life, health or safety
of Township residents.
B.
Such purchase is subject to the prior verbal approval of the Township
Council member in charge of the using agency or, in his absence, another
Council member.
C.
The using agency supervisor shall send to the Purchasing Agent, within
24 hours of an emergency purchase, a purchase requisition confirming
ordering and/or delivery of such supplies or services, together with
a full written report attached thereto of the circumstances necessitating
the emergency purchase and describing in detail the nature of the
emergency.
E.
The Purchasing Agent shall not process and honor any requisition
confirming the ordering and/or delivery of such services or supplies
included in an emergency purchase except in strict accordance with
the foregoing.
Recurring noncompetitive services of a public utility type or
in the nature of metered or similar charges, billed monthly, quarterly,
semiannually, yearly or upon a similar cycle, may be paid without
the necessity of use of a requisition or a purchase order.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The payment of all valid purchase orders for which supplies
or services have been actually obtained by the Township shall be upon
the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee preparing a list of
same and presenting such list to the Township Council at such times
or intervals as the Council may direct, and the Council, by rollcall
vote, shall approve or disapprove payment of same.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The payment of all other claims against the Township for services
which are not required to be obtained by the requisition and purchase
order system set forth in this chapter shall be upon the claimant
submitting a detailed or itemized statement or bill in voucher form
upon a voucher form prescribed by the Township Council, duly executed
and dated by the claimant, submitted to the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee who shall review same to eliminate any claims which
do not qualify for payment. Such vouchers shall be signed as "approved"
or "disapproved" by the Clerk as the Council may direct.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
The Director of Finance and/or his/her designee shall present
to the Township Council claims for payment of valid purchase orders
and/or vouchers which have been received by the Director of Finance
and/or his/her designee for payment seven business days prior to a
regular meeting of the Council. Those received after such time shall
be presented at the next regularly occurring meeting of the Council.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
Upon approval by the Township Council of any purchase order
and/or claim submitted by voucher, the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee shall prepare Township checks to be signed by the
Township Mayor, or other chief executive officer, and the Clerk and
countersigned by the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee or
other authorized person. He shall promptly turn such checks over to
the Clerk, whose duty it shall be to promptly distribute them to the
named payees thereon.
[Amended 10-9-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
A payroll account is hereby established for the Township which
shall be administered by the Director of Finance and/or his/her designee
in accordance with the following:
A.
The Director of Finance and/or his/her designee, upon receipt of
a check for the amount due to the payroll account, shall deposit the
same to the credit of the payroll account, charging the appropriate
budgetary accounts with that amount.
B.
The Director of Finance and/or his/her designee shall thereafter
draw checks on the payroll account to the Township Council members,
officers, employees or appointees entitled to payment from those accounts.
All payroll checks shall be signed by the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee, or other designated person.
C.
At each regular meeting of the Council, the Director of Finance and/or
his/her designee shall submit for approval or ratification, as the
case may be, the necessary payrolls for the amount due to Township
officers, employees and appointees for compensation.
D.
The payroll shall be considered by the Council in due course and
approved if found to be correct.
E.
In case of error or adjustment in the payroll, the Director of Finance
and/or his/her designee shall promptly correct any error or make the
adjustment and make an appropriate record of the correction or adjustment.
All purchase orders, vouchers, bills, paid checks and similar
documents shall be filed and maintained in a safe place within the
Township Municipal Building and made available for public inspection;
however, such public inspection shall be only in the presence of an
officer or authorized employee of the Township.
Failure, willfully or negligently, by any Township Council member,
Township official, appointee, or employee to comply with the provisions
of this chapter shall result, in the discretion of the Council, in
one or more of the following:
A.
Termination or suspension from Township employment.
B.
Discharge from appointment to a Township position or office.
C.
Refusal of the Township to pay for certain services or supplies ordered,
obtained, received or used by any Council member, Township official,
appointee or employee.
D.
Civil suit by the Township against any Council member, Township officer,
appointee, or employee to recover the cost of the Township of any
payment made by the Township or other monetary or other loss or damage
occurring to the Township by reason of such person having violated
the provisions, terms or conditions of this chapter, together with
reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs.
E.
Such other disciplinary action as the Council may determine in its
discretion.
