[HISTORY: Adopted by The Mayor and Council of New Castle 11-13-1990
by Res. No. 90-15. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Administrator — See Ch. 5.
The attached procedures entitled "Policy on Purchases and Payment" are
to be followed by all departments within the city for committing city funds
for purchases and for subsequent payment thereof.
All authority to purchase (commit city funds) shall be by requisition.
Completed and authorized requisitions will be forwarded to the Finance
Chairman, who will examine the requisition for completeness, authority, budgetary
limits and account(s) to be charged, and approve it.
A.
Approved requisitions will be returned with a blank purchase
order form attached to the originating department.
B.
The originating department will complete the purchase
order and send it to the vendor. The original requisition and a designated
copy of the completed purchase order will be sent to the Finance Department
(Accounts Payable) within five days of completing the purchase order. One
copy of the purchase order will be retained pending receipt of material, and
for the department records.
Upon receipt of material from the vendor, the originating department
will indicate the quantity received on the original copy of the packing slip,
put the purchase order number on the packing slip and forward it to Accounts
Payable. If the material received constitutes a partial shipment against the
purchase order, this will be noted on the packing slip.
Upon receipt of the vendor's invoice, Accounts Payable will verify
the invoice with the purchase order and the receipt of material received from
the originating department.
When the payment has been made to the vendor, the purchase order will
be marked with the check number and the amount paid. If the purchase order
is complete (no back orders or trouble memoranda outstanding), the order may
be closed and filed in the completed purchase order file. The completed purchase
order file will contain the following, and will be maintained in purchase
order number sequence:
A.
If a verbal order is necessary, the originating department
will secure from Accounts Payable a purchase order number.
(1)
The purchase order number will be recorded by Accounts
Payable, who will note the vendor and the amount of the order.
(2)
The originating department will record the purchase order
number on their requisition, which will be forwarded to Accounts Payable in
the normal manner.
(3)
The originating department must put on the purchase order
a warning to the vendor that this is a confirming order and not to duplicate
the purchase.
B.
There are some cases where neither a requisition nor
a purchase order can be processed before authorization. Such cases would include
response to an accident or other personal injury, or emergency repairs to
city property (vehicles, e.g.). In such cases a requisition must be ultimately
prepared to show proper authorization; the decision on whether to prepare
a purchase order will rest with the Finance Chairman.
C.
Some expenditures are not appropriate to be covered by
a purchase order. In these cases a requisition, properly authorized, will
allow Accounts Payable to issue the check. For clarification, some examples
of this are:
(1)
Appropriations (per budget) to committees and commissions.
(2)
Payments to professionals employed by the city such as
the City Solicitor, Accountant, Engineer, etc.
(3)
Utility bills.
(4)
Reimbursements for personal expenditures.
(5)
Replacement of petty cash.
(6)
Landfill expenses.
(7)
Victim's compensation checks (from the Mayor's
Office).
A.
No vendor invoices will be processed without a purchase
order number. Invoices lacking a purchase order number will be returned by
Accounts Payable to the vendor stating the requirement for the purchase order
number.
