The purpose of this chapter is to define policy and establish
procedure for goods and services which are not required by law to
be procured pursuant to competitive bidding, but must be procured
in a manner so as to assure the prudent and economical use of public
monies, 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.
Every procurement to be made must be initially reviewed by each
department head to determine whether it is a "purchase" or "public
work" contract. "Purchase" contracts involve the acquisition of commodities,
materials, supplies or equipment, while contracts for "public work"
involves services, labor or construction.
All purchases of supplies or equipment which will exceed $20,000
in aggregate, in the fiscal year or public works contracts over $35,000
shall be formally bid pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103.
[Added 7-13-2020 by L.L.
No. 7-2020]
A. Title. This section shall be known as "The Town of Salina Best Value
Competitive Bidding Law."
B. Legislative intent. New York State General Municipal Law § 103(1)
allows the Town to authorize, by local law, the award of certain purchase
contracts, including contracts for service work subject to competitive
bidding under General Municipal Law § 103 on the basis of
"best value" as defined in § 163 of the New York State Finance
Law or any state law superseding or amending said provision. The best
value option may be used, for example, if it is more cost efficient
over time to award the good or service to other than the lowest responsible
bidder or offerer if factors such as lower cost of maintenance, durability,
higher quality and longer product life can be documented.
C. Best value. The Town Board may award purchase contracts after bidding,
or under its procurement policy, including contracts for services
work, on the basis of "best value," as that term is defined in New
York State Finance Law § 163. All awards based on best value
shall require Town Board approval.
D. Applicability. The provisions of this article apply to Town purchase
contracts, including contracts for services work involving an expenditure
of more than $20,000, but excluding purchase contracts necessary for
the completion of a public works contract pursuant to Article 8 of
the New York Labor Law and any other contract that may in the future
be excluded under state law from the best value option. If the dollar
thresholds of New York 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.
E. Standards for best value. Goods and services procured and awarded
on the basis of best value are those that the Town Board determines
optimize quality, cost and efficiency, among responsive and responsible
bidders or offerers. The determination shall be based on an objective
analysis of clearly described and documented criteria as they apply
to the rating of bids of offers. Where possible, such determination
shall also be based upon and include a quantifiable analysis of the
same. The criteria may include, but shall not be limited to, any or
all of the following: cost of maintenance, proximity to the end use,
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.
F. Basis for determination. 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.
G. Inconsistent provisions. This section is incorporated by reference
into the Town of Salina Procurement Policy. Any inconsistent provisions
of the Town's procurement policy, as adopted prior to the effective
date of this section by resolution of the Town Board, or as amended
thereafter, shall be deemed superseded by the provisions of this section.
This policy shall be reviewed annually by the Town of Salina
Town Board at its annual organizational meeting or as soon as possible
thereafter as is reasonably practicable.