Every prospective purchase of goods or services shall first
be evaluated to determine the applicability of § 103 of
the General Municipal Law. Every Town officer, board, department head
or other personnel with the requisite purchasing authority (hereinafter
referred to as the "purchaser") shall estimate the cumulative amount
of the items of supply or equipment needed in any given fiscal year.
That estimate shall include the canvass of other Town departments
and past history to determine the likely yearly value of the commodity
to be acquired.
[Amended 9-8-2015 by L.L. No. 3-2015]
All purchases of supplies or equipment which will exceed $20,000
in the fiscal year or public works contracts over $35,000 shall be
formally bid in accordance with the provisions of § 103
of the General Municipal Law.
The lowest responsible proposal or quote shall be awarded the
purchase or public works contract unless the purchaser prepares a
written justification providing reasons why it is in the best interest
of the Town and its taxpayers to make an award to other than the low
bidder.
A good-faith effort shall be made to obtain the required number
of proposals or quotations. If the purchaser is unable to obtain the
required number of proposals or quotations, the purchaser shall document
the attempt made at obtaining the proposals. In no event shall the
inability to obtain the proposals or quotes be a bar to the procurement.
Except when directed by the Town Board, no solicitation of written
proposals or quotations shall be required under the following circumstances:
A. Acquisition of professional services.
D. Goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handicapped.
E. Goods purchased from correctional facilities.
F. Goods purchased from another governmental agency.
G. Goods purchased at auction.
This policy shall be reviewed annually by the Town Board at
its organizational meeting or as soon thereafter as is reasonably
practicable.
[Adopted 4-12-2016 by L.L. No. 1-2016]
The Town Board seeks to exercise the local option set forth
in § 103, Subdivision 1 of the New York General Municipal
Law, as amended by Chapter 608 of the Laws of 2011 and Chapter 2 of
the Laws of 2012. This amendment authorizes the Town to award purchase
contracts and contracts for services subject to competitive bidding
under General Municipal Law § 103 on the basis of either
lowest responsible bidder or "best value" as defined in § 163
of the New York State Finance Law. This best value option may be,
but is not required to be, used to award an applicable purchase contract
to optimize quality, cost and efficiency among responsive and responsible
offerors instead of the lowest responsible bidder.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this chapter,
the Town Board may award purchase contracts and service contracts
that have been procured pursuant to competitive bidding under General
Municipal Law § 103 by either lowest responsible bidder
or best value.
The provisions of this chapter apply to Town purchase contracts
involving an expenditure of more than $20,000 and Town contracts for
services involving an expenditure of more than $35,000 but exclude
purchase contracts necessary for the completion of a public works
contract pursuant to Article 8 of the State Labor Law and excluding
any other contract that may in the future be excluded under state
law from the best value option. If the dollar thresholds of General
Municipal Law § 103 are increased or decreased in the future
by the State Legislature, the dollar thresholds set forth herein shall
be deemed simultaneously amended to match the new General Municipal
Law thresholds.
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 quality of craftsmanship.
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.
Any inconsistent provision of the Town's procurement policy,
as adopted prior to the effective date of this article, or as amended
thereafter, shall be deemed superseded by the provisions of this article.