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Town of Binghamton, NY
Broome County
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[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Binghamton 6-21-1994 (Ch. 24A of the 1969 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Code of Ethics — See Ch. 15.
This chapter sets forth the policies and procedures of the Town of Binghamton to meet the requirements of General Municipal Law § 104-b.
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 interests 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, improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption. To further these objectives, the governing board is adopting internal policies and procedures governing all procurements of goods and services which are not required to be made pursuant to the competitive bidding requirements of General Municipal Law § 103 or of any other general, special or local law.
The procedures 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:
A. 
Procedure. The department head and the fiscal officer will review all purchases over the amount of $9,999 to determine if the item being purchased is subject to competitive bidding.
B. 
Documentation. Bids are to be filed with the Town Clerk.
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
Except for procurements made pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103, Subdivision 3 (through county contracts), or § 104 (through state contracts), Correction Law § 186 (articles manufactured in correctional institutions) or the items excepted herein (see below), alternative proposals or quotations for goods and services shall be secured by use of written requests for proposals, written quotations, verbal quotations or any other method of procurement which furthers the purposes of General Municipal Law § 104-b.
A. 
There shall be three telephone or written quotes, where possible.
B. 
The methods of procurement to be used are as follows:
[Amended 4-15-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
(1) 
Other than public works.
Estimated Amount of Contract
Method
Items under $5
Petty cash
Items $5 to $50
No purchase order
Items over $50 to $500
Subject to purchase order, telephone quotes at discretion of department head
Items over $500 to $1,000
3 telephone quotes, approved by fiscal officer
Items over $1,000 to $9,999
3 written or fax quotes, approved by fiscal officer
(2) 
Public works.
Estimated Amount of Public Works Contract
Method
Items under $5.00
Petty cash
Items $5 to $50
No purchase order
Items over $50 to $500
Subject to purchase order, telephone quotes at discretion of department head
Items over $500 to $9,999
3 written or fax quotes, approved by fiscal officer
Documentation of actions taken in connection with each such method of procurement is required as follows:
A. 
Purchase order: copy to be attached to voucher.
B. 
Telephone quotes: quote form to be attached to voucher.
C. 
Written quotes: all three quotes to be filed with voucher.
Whenever any contract is awarded to other than the lowest responsible dollar offerer, the reasons such an award furthers the purpose of General Municipal Law § 104-b as set forth hereinabove shall be documented as follows: written explanation from department head.
The Board sets forth the following circumstances when, or types of procurements for which, in the sole discretion of the governing body, the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will be in the best interest of the Town of Binghamton:
A. 
State and county contracts.
B. 
Emergencies and disasters.
C. 
Utilities and postage.
D. 
Service contracts.
E. 
Professional services, where a contract for services exists.
Comments concerning the policies and procedures shall be solicited from officers of the political subdivision or district therein involved in the procurement process prior to the enactment of the policies and procedures and will be solicited from time to time hereafter.
The governing board shall annually review these policies and procedures. The chief fiscal officer shall be responsible for conducting an annual review of the procurement policy and for an evaluation of the internal control structure established to ensure compliance with the procurement policy.
The unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions of 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 Binghamton or any officer or employee thereof.