[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of East Bloomfield 2-24-1992; amended in its entirety 6-12-2017 by L.L. No. 2-2017. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
Goods and services that are not required by law to be procured pursuant to competitive bidding must be procured in a manner 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, improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption. To further these objectives, the governing board is adopting an internal policy 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 or 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.
(1) 
Every purchase to be made must be initially reviewed to determine whether it is a purchase contract or a public works contract. Once that determination is made, a good faith effort will be made to determine whether it is known or can reasonably be expected that the aggregate amount to be spent on the item of supply or service is not subject to competitive bidding, taking into account past purchases and to aggregate amount to be spent in a year. The following items are not subject to competitive bidding pursuant to § 103 of the General Municipal Law: purchase contracts under $20,000 and public works contracts under $35,000; emergency purchases; certain municipal hospital purchases; goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handicapped; goods purchased from correctional institutions; purchases under state and county contracts; and surplus and secondhand purchases from another governmental entity.
(2) 
The decision that a purchase is not subject to competitive bidding will be documented, in writing, by the individual making the purchase. This documentation may include written or verbal quotes from vendors, a memo from the purchaser indicating how the decision was arrived at, a copy of the contract indicating the source which makes the item or service exempt, a memo from the purchaser detailing the circumstances which led to an emergency purchase or any other written documentation that is appropriate.
B. 
Documentation.
(1) 
Documentation is required of each action taken in connection with each procurement.
(2) 
Documentation and an explanation is required whenever a contract is awarded to other than the lowest responsible offeror. This documentation will include an explanation of how the award will achieve savings or how the offeror is not responsible shall be made by the purchaser and may be challenged under any circumstances.
Except for procurements made pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103, Subdivision 3 (through certain county contracts), § 104 (through certain state and federal contracts), State Finance Law § 162, Correction Law §§ 184 and 186 (from "preferred sources," including 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 either written requests for proposals, written quotations, verbal quotations or any other method of procurement that furthers the purposes of the General Municipal Law § 104-b.
The following method of purchase will be used when required by this chapter in order to achieve the highest savings:
Estimated Amount of Purchase Contract
Method
$0 to $999
No quotations
$1,000 to $4,999
2 verbal quotations
$5,000 to $19,999
2 written/fax quotations or written request for proposals
Estimated Amount of Public Works Contract
Method
$0 to $999
No quotations
$1,000 to $4,999
2 verbal quotations
$5,000 to $9,999
2 written/fax quotations
$10,000 to $34,999
3 written/fax quotations or written request for proposals
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 will document the attempt made at obtaining the proposals. In no event shall the failure to obtain the proposals be a bar to the procurement.
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 not be in the best interest of the Town of East Bloomfield.
A. 
Professional services or services requiring special or technical skill, training or expertise.
(1) 
The individual or company must be chosen based on accountability, reliability, responsibility, skill, education and training, judgment, integrity and moral worth. These qualifications are not necessarily found in the individual or company that offers the lowest price, and the nature of these services are such that they do not readily lend themselves to competitive procurement policies.
(2) 
In determining whether a service fits into this category, the Town Board shall take into consideration the following guidelines:
(a) 
Whether the services are subject to state licensing or testing requirements;
(b) 
Whether substantial formal education or training is a necessary prerequisite to the performance of the services; and
(c) 
Whether the services require a personal relationship between the individual and municipal officials.
(3) 
Professional or technical services shall include but not be limited to the following: services of an attorney; services of a physician; technical services of an engineer engaged to prepare plans, maps or estimates; securing insurance coverage and/or services of an insurance broker; services of a verified public accountant; investment management services; printing services involving extensive writing, editing or art work; management of municipally owned property; and computer software or programming services for customized programs, or services involved in substantial modification and customizing of prepackaged software.
B. 
Emergency purchases pursuant to § 103, Subdivision 4, of the General Municipal Law. Due to the nature of this exception, these goods or services must be purchased immediately, and a delay in order to seek alternate proposals may threaten the life, health, safety or welfare of the residents. This section does not preclude alternate proposals if time permits.
C. 
Purchases of surplus and secondhand goods from any source. If alternate proposals are required, the Town of East Bloomfield is precluded from purchasing surplus and secondhand goods at auctions or through specific advertised sources where the best prices are usually obtained. It is also difficult to try to compare prices of used goods, and a lower price may indicate an older product.
D. 
Goods or services under $1,000. The time and documentation required to purchase through this chapter may be more costly than the item itself and would therefore not be in the best interests of the taxpayer. In addition, it is not likely that such de minimis contracts would be awarded based on favoritism.
A. 
Buildings and Grounds Manager;
B. 
Highway Superintendent and Personnel; and
C. 
Bookkeeper.
The unintentional failure to comply fully 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 East Bloomfield or any officer or employee thereof.
This chapter shall go into effect on June 12, 2017; such chapter shall be reviewed annually, and, when needed, updates shall be made to such chapter.