[Ord. No. 598,
passed 8-9-1999; amended 1-23-2023 by Ord. No. 857]
(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, any purchase of personal property
exceeding $15,000 shall require the securing of competitive bids.
All orders for the purchase of goods and services by the City shall
be issued through the Office of the City Manager except as specified
in this chapter.
(b) All orders for the purchase of goods and services by the Coldwater
Board of Public Utilities shall be issued through the office of the
Utility Director except as provided above.
(c) Approval for the purchase of goods and services shall be as follows:
(1) For purchases of $5,000 or less, department heads are authorized
to issue an order to purchase directly to a vendor.
(2) For purchases of more than $5,000 and up to $15,000, the City Manager
and/or the Finance Director as to City purchases and the Utility Director
and/or the Finance Director as to utility purchases are hereby authorized
to approve a purchase requested by a department head.
(3) For purchases of personal property of more than $15,000 and up to
$25,000, the City Manager or the Utility Director shall review three
written bids prior to approval and are authorized to award the contract
to the lowest responsible bidder.
(4) For purchases of personal property for more than $25,000, the City Manager or the Utility Director shall present bids required in accordance with Section
13.3(c) of the Charter of the City to the City Council or the Board of Public Utilities for approval, except that the Utility Director shall have authority to approve purchases from the Utility Enterprise Funds of up to $50,000.
(5) Except as otherwise provided herein, no purchase of personal property
of $25,000 or more shall be made without the prior approval of Council.
(6) If an unencumbered appropriation is available therefor, the City
Manager shall have the authority to issue a purchase order to any
other political subdivision of the State of Michigan, in an amount
of not to exceed $75,000, for the purchase of materials and such labor
as may be related thereto; provided that the reasonableness of the
costs for the same are verified by the Office of the City Manager
prior to issuing such purchase order. In the cases provided for in
this subsection, such purchase order may be issued to a governmental
unit without competitive bids.
(d) The City and the utility shall not be bound to accept the lowest
dollar bid, but shall be free to accept the bid that is deemed to
be in the best interest of the City.
(e) No purchase of personal property shall be made unless a sufficient
unencumbered appropriation is available to pay that part of the cost
thereof which will be due for payment during the fiscal year in which
the purchase is made.
(f) The City Manager shall have the authority to sell personal property
up to a dollar value of $15,000 through the use of sealed bids, auction
or open market sales. The sale of personal property exceeding $15,000
shall require the approval of Council, and such sale shall also be
achieved through sealed bids, auction or open market sales.
(g) Council
may adopt written policies to carry out the requirements and intent
of this chapter, including provision of exceptions for emergencies,
certain standing expenses, and expenditures from the Utility Enterprise
Funds due to the volume and nature of those materials.