[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Greenwich 6-11-1996; amended 9-9-1997. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter sets forth the policies and procedures
of the Town of Greenwich to meet the requirements of General Municipal
Law § 104-b.
[Amended 2-14-2012 by L.L. No. 2-2012; 5-14-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
Goods and services which are not required by
law to be procured pursuant to competitive bidding must be procured
in a manner so as to assure the prudent and economical use of public
moneys, in the best interest of the taxpayers, to facilitate the acquisition
of goods and services of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost
under the circumstances, and to guard against favoritism, extravagance,
fraud and corruption while at the same time giving the Town Board
the opportunity to use the best value option as defined in §
163 of the New York State Finance Law. The best value option may be
used if it is more cost efficient over time to award the good or service
to other than the lowest bidder if factors such as lower cost of maintenance,
durability, higher quality and longer product life are considered
as well. To further these objectives, the governing board is adopting
internal policies and procedures that meet or exceed the procurement
requirements of both the competitive bidding requirements of General
Municipal Law § 103 as well as the noncompetitive bidding policies
of § 104-b or any other general, special or local law.
The policy for determining whether a procurement
of goods and services is subject to competitive bidding and documenting
the basis for any determination that competitive bidding is not required
by law is as follows:
[Amended 1-8-2008; 7-8-2008 by L.L. No. 4-2008]
A.
All proposals or quotations for goods and services
not subject to competitive bidding shall be secured by use of written
requests for proposals, written quotations or verbal quotations, in
conformance with the following table:
[Amended 11-16-2019]
Value of Contract
|
Number of Verbal Quotes Required
|
Number of Written Quotes Required
|
Subject To Prior Town Board Approval?
| |
---|---|---|---|---|
Under $1,000
|
0
|
0
| ||
$1,001 to $2,000
|
3
| |||
$2,001 to $10,000
|
3
|
Yes
| ||
$10,001 to $20,000 (public works only) (Adopted
Jan. 2008)
|
3
|
Yes
|
B.
Additional considerations:
(1)
Best value option.
[Amended 5-14-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
(a)
The best value option may be utilized by the Town in connection with procurements either pursuant to § 60-3 or 60-4. Goods and services procured and awarded on the basis of best value are those that the Town Board determines will be of the highest quality while being the most cost efficient. The determination of quality and cost efficiency shall be based on objectively quantified and clearly described and documented criteria, which may include, but shall not be limited to, any or all of the following: cost of maintenance; proximity to the end user if distance or response time is a significant term; durability; availability of replacement parts or maintenance contractors; longer product life; product performance criteria; and/or quality of craftsmanship.
(b)
Whenever
any contract is awarded on the basis of best value, instead of lowest
responsible bidder, the basis for determining best value shall be
thoroughly and accurately documented in writing either in the minutes
of the Board Meeting or on the requisition form submitted for approval
to the Budget Officer or to the Supervisor/Deputy Budget Officer.
(2)
A requisition form must be completed and approved
prior to actual purchase. Authorized signatures on purchase requisition
forms may be either the Budget Officer or the Supervisor/Deputy Budget
Officer. Said requisition form must then be attached to the voucher
for payment.
(3)
Purchases of commodities, services or technology shall not be artificially
divided for the purpose of satisfying discretionary buying thresholds
established by this procurement policy.
[Added 2-14-2012 by L.L. No. 2-2012]
Various exceptions to the competitive bidding requirements exist. The Town also deems them to be exceptions to the written or verbal quotation requirements of § 60-4. The most common are:
A.
Purchases through the State of New York (OGS), Washington
County or the federal government are allowed after receiving two additional
verbal quotes or bids to insure the prudent and economical use of
public monies.
[Amended 2-14-2012 by L.L. No. 2-2012]
B.
Emergency situations. There are three basic statutory
criteria to be met in order to fall within this exception. [See GML
§ 103.] These are that (1) the situation arises out of an
accident or unforeseen occurrence or condition; (2) public buildings,
public property or the life, health, safety or property of the political
subdivision's residents are affected; and (3) the situation requires
immediate action which cannot await competitive bidding. Even when
a governing board passes a resolution that a public emergency exists,
the public interest dictates that purchases are made at the lowest
possible costs, seeking competition by informal solicitation of quotes
or otherwise, to the extent practicable under the circumstances. Documentation
should include verbal quotes, and other relevant data.
[Amended 9-8-2015]
C.
Leases. The courts have held that "true lease" agreements
are neither purchases nor contracts for public work and are therefore
not subject to competitive bidding under General Municipal Law § 103.
In the event, however, that the Town considers leasing, prior to leasing
the Town shall submit requests for proposals to at least three different
vendors, when more than one vendor offers the product to be leased,
in order to attempt to obtain multiple proposals for comparison to
ensure that the Town obtains the best value at the lowest possible
cost, and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of leasing versus purchasing.
[Amended 9-8-2015; 6-14-2022 by Res. No. 65-22]
D.
Surplus materials. There is a statutory exception
[GML § 103] to competitive bidding requirements which permits
the purchase of surplus and secondhand supplies, materials or equipment
without competitive bidding from the federal or state government or
from any other political subdivision or public benefit corporation
within the state. However, purchases of used items from any other
source (e.g., private sources like auctions or going-out-of-business
sales) are not exempt from bidding requirements. Documents should
include market price comparisons (verbal or written quotes), and name
of government.
[Amended 9-8-2015]
E.
Professional services such as engineers, surveyors
and attorneys.
F.
Nonemergency repairs. Repairs to equipment for which
no vendor will give a firm quote until after the equipment is delivered
for repair and examined. Depending upon the anticipated cost of the
repair the following authorizations will be required before the equipment
is repaired:
[Amended 1-8-2008; 9-10-2019; 11-16-2019; 5-11-2021 by Res. No. 47-21]
Anticipated Cost of Repair
|
Approvals Required
|
---|---|
Less than $2,000
|
None
|
Over $2,000
|
Budget Officer, Supervisor and one other Board
member
|
A.
The governing board shall annually review these policies
and procedures. The Supervisor shall initiate the annual review of
the procurement policy and perform an evaluation of the internal control
structure established to ensure compliance with the procurement policy.
B.
The unintentional failure to fully comply with the
provisions of this chapter or General Municipal Law § 104-b
shall not be grounds to void action taken or give rise to a cause
of action against the Town of Greenwich or any officer or employee
thereof.
C.
The Town Board shall have the right to amend and modify
this Procurement Policy by resolution of the majority of the Board.
No public hearing shall be required.
D.
Any questions that may arise as to whether or not
an approval is required, which type of approval is required, or whether
or not a contemplated procurement fits within one of the exceptions
provided for in this policy should be reviewed by the Town Board at
a regular or special meeting before any action is taken on the procurement.