Borough of Chester, NJ Chapter 59 Purchasing

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Chester 4-3-1980 as Sec. 2-9 of the 1980 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 59-1 Purchasing Official and Purchasing Agent designated.

[Amended 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-04]

The Borough Administrator shall be the Purchasing Official for the Borough and shall enforce written procedures for all purchases. The Mayor and Council by resolution may also appoint a licensed qualified purchasing agent (“QPA”) to oversee the purchasing function. If the QPA is not the Borough Administrator, the QPA shall be supervised by the Borough Administrator.

§ 59-2 Written purchasing procedure.

[Amended by Ord. No. 84-15; Ord. No. 90-10; Ord. No. 96-05; 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03]

A. Purpose. Section 59-1 of this chapter requires that the Borough Administrator as the Purchasing Official for the Borough shall enforce written procedures for all purchases within the Borough, and the governing body wishes to adopt by ordinance such written procedures in the form of a purchasing manual for use by Borough employees and officials.

B. Purchasing procedures/purchasing manual. The written procedures for all purchases to be made by the Borough, unless pursuant to bond ordinance or other enabling ordinance, are set forth in the Purchasing Manual, a true copy of which is annexed hereto.[1] All purchasing transactions, other than those otherwise authorized by bond ordinance or other ordinances duly adopted by the Mayor and Council, shall be conducted in accordance with the Purchasing Manual.

[1] Editor's Note: Said manual is on file in Borough offices.

C. Amendments. The Borough Administrator as the Purchasing Official for the Borough shall keep the Purchasing Manual current and recommend from time-to-time amendments to the Mayor and Council who may adopt changes to the Purchasing Manual by resolution. Resolutions so adopted shall amend the Purchasing Manual for the calendar year, and the amended Purchasing Manual may then be adopted by ordinance by the Mayor and Council.

§ 59-3 Approval of claims for payment.

[Amended by Ord. No. 84-15]

A. Any person claiming payment from the Borough shall present a detailed bill or invoice of demand to the Borough Clerk, duly certified by voucher, the form of which shall be specified by the governing body from time to time.

B. It shall be the duty of the purchase order officer to certify on each claim voucher that the materials have been received by or the services rendered to the Borough and shall provide the same to the Chief Financial Officer who shall thereupon prepare for and certify to the Mayor and Council a list of all vouchers submitted to the Borough for payment. Such list shall contain sufficient information so as to allow the Mayor and Council to act thereon.

C. The Mayor and Council shall consider claims by review of said certified list at a meeting of the Mayor and Council which shall consider all claims as a whole. In the event that any individual claims shall be rejected, the reason therefore, shall be set forth in the minutes of the meeting at which same shall be considered. Disapproved claims shall be referred back to the purchase order officer with instructions. The minutes of meetings where claims are considered shall include by attachment the certified list of vouchers from which shall be stricken disapproved claims.

D. The purchase order officer shall be authorized to indicate on claim vouchers approval thereof pursuant to the minutes of the Mayor and Council with the date of approval noted thereon and to make payment of all claims so approved.

E. It shall be the duty of the purchase order officer to indicate on the claim vouchers that the claims have been approved for payment, with the date of approval noted thereon.

§ 59-4 Records and payment of claims.

A. It shall be the duty of the Borough Clerk to record all claims in the official minutes indicating that the Borough Council has by formal action approved the same with appropriate record as to any claims disapproved or rejected.

B. After the purchase order officer has certified that the claims have been approved, the claims shall be turned over to the Treasurer, who shall forthwith prepare the necessary checks for the payment thereof, which checks shall be signed by the Mayor and the Borough Clerk and thereafter countersigned by the Treasurer, or in the absence of the Treasurer countersigned by the Borough Tax Collector. After preparing checks for the payment of claims, such checks shall be recorded in proper books of account and thereafter mailed or otherwise distributed to the payees.

[Amended 4-6-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-05]

§ 59-5 Payroll account establishment and procedures.

A. There is hereby established a payroll account in the Borough. At the first meeting of the Borough Council in January of each year there shall be approved an account to be designated the Borough of Chester payroll account, and from time to time the Treasurer, upon receipt of a warrant for the amount due such payroll account, shall deposit the same to the credit of the payroll account charging the appropriate budgetary accounts therewith.

B. The appropriate department heads or such officer or employee as may be designated by resolution of the Borough Council, shall certify to the Treasurer that the services as shown on the payroll have been rendered and the amount specified is in fact due owing to the employee or employees.

C. [1]The Treasurer shall thereafter draw checks entitled to payment therefrom.

[1] Editor's Note: Former Subsection C, regarding payrolls, was repealed 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03. This ordinance also renumbered Subsections D and E as Subsections C and D, respectively.

D. In case of error or adjustment in the payroll, the Treasurer shall, and it shall be his duty, to see that such error or adjustment is properly corrected and appropriate record made thereof.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: Former Subsection F, regarding reimbursement, which immediately followed, was repealed 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-03.