No article or service shall be contracted for or purchased by
any department, board, agency or office of the City except in accordance
with the procedures set forth herein. The City of Salem will not be
bound by any purchase or contract made contrary to this policy, and
any employee or representative of the City of Salem who violates the
policy may face disciplinary action as well as personal liability
for any costs or obligations improperly incurred.
This procedure is to be used by all authorized City employees
(ACEs), those individuals listed on Schedule 1, when purchasing materials,
supplies or services. The forms and procedure instituted herein provide a consistent
system for purchasing. They will also provide improved financial controls
and information through the use of an encumbrance system.
The City CFO will be responsible for the operation of this system.
The approval of all purchases must be made through the City CFO.
ACEs will continue to locate vendors and obtain price quotations.
The ACE must contact a minimum of three suppliers to request their
prices for the required materials. No order is to be placed or commitment
made at this time. This initial contact is purely informational.
The following procedures will be used to make all purchases
except for emergency purchases and certain exempt items. Such purchases
will be controlled by separate procedures:
A. ACEs are responsible for preparing the requisition forms as well
as obtaining quotation information from vendors and placing all orders.
B. If all information is not accurately completed, you will create your
own delay in securing approval of a purchase order. All forms will
be distributed by the CFO's office.
C. Requisition forms are to be completed as follows:
Entry
|
Explanation
|
---|
1.
|
Date
|
The date of the requisition
|
2.
|
Vendor
|
The selected vendor, address and telephone number
|
3.
|
Deliver to
|
The delivery address for the order, department and location
(warehouse)
|
4.
|
Via
|
Proposed method of shipment
|
5.
|
Delivery requested
|
The requested delivery date (ASAP is not acceptable)
|
6.
|
Quantity
|
The quantity required
|
7.
|
Description
|
A complete description of the required item
|
8.
|
Price
|
The quoted price
|
9.
|
Unit
|
Unit size request
|
10.
|
Appropriation charge
|
The account number from which payment is to be made and amount
to be charged
|
11.
|
ACE's signature
|
The approving signature of an authorized official (See Schedule
1.)
|
12.
|
Resolution number State contract I.D. Number
|
Enter state contract I.D. number on face of purchase order,
if purchases are over the present statutory bid requirement.
|
D. Care should be taken to fully describe the needed item(s), using
brand or trade names only as examples, so that all vendors quote a
price on the same item. For this reason, written quotations are preferable
and should be used whenever possible. Recognizing that there are situations
when this is not always possible, telephone quotations will in these
instances be acceptable.
E. If the purchase price exceeds more than the current quote amount
as set by N.J.D.C.A. but is less than current statutory bid requirement
(see N.J.S.A. 40A:11-3), the ACE must obtain three quotes. A written
record of the vendors contacted and their terms is to be attached
to the requisition form and sent to the City CFO. These quotation
record forms are available from the CFO's office. If the vendor
selected was not the low proposal, the reason for rejecting each of
the lower proposals must be recorded in writing on the same sheet.
F. A purchase order and voucher has been combined on one form, which
forms are available from the office of the City CFO. This form must
be completed for every requisition. If a number of items are to be
furnished by a single vendor, these shall all be listed on the form
to reduce paper work. The purchase order/voucher shall be completed
in the same manner as previously required.
G. On receipt of a completed requisition form, the CFO's office
will check for proper account coding on the form and verify that the
items to be purchased are charged to the proper budget account. The
budget account balance will be checked to determine if there are sufficient
funds to pay for the items you wish to order.
H. If there are sufficient funds to cover the purchase, the CFO's
office will assign a purchase order number on the order voucher form
and encumber the amount against the department account. If funds are
not available, it will be so noted and this request form returned
to the department.
I. Upon receipt of the signed purchase order from the CFO's office,
the purchase may be made.
Goods and services will be delivered directly to a designated location unless otherwise specified on the purchase order. The individual accepting delivery will sign the delivery/packing slip. This delivery slip is to be attached to one of the ACEs outstanding purchase order copies. The vendor will return the certified voucher and delivery slip directly to the City CFO. The CFO's office will match purchase order, voucher, vendor invoice, and delivery receipts. If all agree as to items delivered and ordered, the amount quoted and charged, it will be processed for payment according to §
54-16. Upon approval of the bill list, the City CFO will process the payment of said bills. Unless special arrangements have been made, the City will pay for complete delivery. If partial payment is necessary, please contact the CFO's office for instruction.
Blanket purchase orders may be issued in an amount up to $200
for miscellaneous purchases made from a particular vendor. These blanket
purchase orders are valid for one month only, and the unexpended balance
will be canceled from the encumbrance line each month. A new blanket
purchase order may be received each month if necessary. All ACEs are
responsible for the supporting documentation and appropriate signatures
of purchaser when presenting the blanket purchase order for payment.
Materials or supplies exceeding the then current statutory bid
requirement in any budget year must be purchased on a contract basis
using sealed bids. ACEs anticipating such purchases mush have requested
funding for such items in their annual budget requests. It is the
responsibility of each ACE to prepare written specifications describing
the item/service requested. That information is forwarded to the City
Clerk, who will obtain authority from the governing body to advertise
for bids in accordance with the Local Public Contracts Law, and issue
a purchase order to the successful bidder for the contracted amount.
In the event that a purchase order is required to be canceled
by an ACE, a purchase order cancellation form shall be filed with
the City CFO. No goods or services listed on a canceled purchase order
will be eligible for payment. The cancellation form is available from
the office of the City CFO.
Whenever an expenditure exceeds the statutory quote amount but
is necessary to meet an emergency situation, the ACE will notify the
CFO of the need. A written requisition describing the nature of the
emergency, the time of its occurrence, the work required to be done
and the need for invoking the emergency purchasing provisions of the
Local Public Contracts Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-6) must be prepared by
the ACE and certified by the ACE. The City CFO will then award a contract
for the required work, services or supplies to meet the emergency.
The Council shall provide for the payment of such contract.
Mileage reimbursement in the amount permitted by the prevailing
IRS reimbursement rate shall be made to those individuals listed in
Schedule 1 upon submission of a duly authorized requisition/purchase
order.
All claims having first been properly processed through the
foregoing procedures, shall be processed for final payment as follows:
A. The City CFO shall prepare and certify a bill list containing all
claims approved pursuant to the foregoing procedures and present the
list to the Council at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting.
The Council shall be called upon to approve the bill list by voice
vote of its members. Any such approval shall be contingent upon availability
of sufficient funds.
B. Once approved by the Council, all claims included on the bill list
shall be promptly processed for payment by the City CFO by the issuance
of checks, signed by the City CFO and the Mayor to the individual
claimants on the approved bill list for the amounts approved for the
respective claims.