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2016 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETINGTurchasnig Policy
RESOLUTION ADOPTING TOWN PURCHASING POLICY
RESOLUTION NO.: ,2016
INTRODUCED BY:
WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION
SECONDED BY:
WHEREAS, the Queensbury Town Board wishes to adopt the Town of Queensbury
Purchasing Policy,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED, that the Queensbury Town Board hereby adopts the Town of Queensbury
Purchasing Policy substantially in the form presented at this meeting, and
BE IT FURTHER,
RESOLVED, that the Town Board further authorizes and directs the Town Budget Officer to
distribute copies of such Policy to all Town Department Managers, and
BE IT FURTHER,
RESOLVED, that the Town Board further authorizes and directs the Town Supervisor and/or
Town Budget Officer to take any actions necessary to effectuate the terms of this Resolution.
Duly adopted this 1St day of January, 2016 by the following vote:
AYES
NOES
ABSENT :
TOWN OF QUEENSBURY
PURCHASING PROCEDURES
I. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE
In general, the Town's purchasing procedures are intended to assure the economical use of public
funds, facilitate the acquisition of goods and services of maximum quality at the lowest possible
price,and guard against favoritism,extravagance,fraud and corruption.
This manual is primarily concerned with obtaining the goods and services needed in the operations
of the Town at dollar amounts which are below the New York State bidding thresholds. See
Section III of this manual of the NYS Bidding thresholds.
For procurement which are over the NYS bidding thresholds, the Town Purchasing Agent will
handle the bidding procedure for the requesting department, after receiving Town Board approval
for the solicitation of bids.
The Purchasing Agent duly appointed by the Town Board is Joanne Watkins.
The Purchasing Agent will refer to the New York State Office of the State Comptroller
Financial Management Guide(OSC FMG)for details.
The keynote to any successful purchasing system is cooperation: cooperation between the
Department Heads and the Purchasing Agent; cooperation between the Purchasing Agent and the
Budget Officer; cooperation between the governing board and all officers and employees of the
Town. Cooperation coupled with a positive approach is essential. Ultimately, department heads
will be reasonable for making sure that all purchasing procedures are complied with as outlined by
the purchasing procedures.
II. DEFINITION
There are basically two kinds of procurement for the goods and services needed in the operations of
the Town:
1) Purchase Contracts,and
2) Contracting for Public Work.
In general, Purchase Contracts mostly involve the acquisition of commodities, materials, supplies
or equipment. Contracts for Public Work mostly involve services, labor or construction. Many
times, contracts involve both goods and services, and it is difficult to determine whether the
procurement is a Purchase Contract or a Contract for Public work.
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Each procurement must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and a determination made as to what
kind of contract is involved. In addition, the dollar amount of the procurement will determine the
necessary steps for Purchase Order approval and purchasing procedures
As a general rule, if a contract involves a substantial
amount of services such that the services are
the focal point, and the acquisition of goods is incidental, then it will be considered a Contract for
Public Work.
On the other hand, if the services or labor are only minimal or incidental to the acquisition of
goods,then the procurement is considered to the a Purchase Contract
IIL NEW YORK STATE BIDDING LIMITS
1) General Rules
New York State General Municipal Law 103 (GML 103) requires competitive bidding for the
procurement of certain kinds and amounts of goods and services.
Contracts for amounts over the amounts set forth in the current text of GML 103 for Purchase
Contracts and Public Works Contracts will only be made by the Town Purchasing Agent after
Town Board approval of bid specifications and review and approval of the lowest responsible
bidder. Town Board resolutions are required for a project to go out to bid and to award the bid to
the chosen bidder. The Purchasing Agent and the Department Head shall submit their
recommendations to the Town Board prior to awarding the bid.
If a single type of item is purchased by a Department Head, or the Town in total, through many
purchases during the budget year, and the cumulative total is reasonably expected to exceed the
amount set forth in the current text of GML 103 for Purchase Contracts,then the item shall also be
subject to competitive bidding,per NYS GML 103.
2) "Piggybacking"Alternative
Under General Municipal Law §103(16), the Town may purchase apparatus, materials, equipment
and supplies, and contract for services related to the installation, maintenance or repair of those
items, under a Contract let by the United States or any agency thereof, any State or any other
political subdivision or district without going through its own competitive bidding process if the
Contract has been let in a manner that is consistent with those procedures and meets certain other
requirements. The Memorandum of the New York State Comptroller entitled "New
"Piggybacking" Law - Exception to Competitive Bidding" should be consulted to determine if a
Contract meets the statutory prerequisites and other criteria for use under this alternative.
Contracts of this type may only be utilized after Town Board approval. Documentation of the
Town's decision-making process should include a copy of the Contract, the analysis discussed
ensure that it meets the statutory prerequisites and the cost savings analysis, including
consideration of other procurement methods.
IV. PURCHASING FOR AMOUNTS LESS THAN THE NYS BIDDING LIMITS
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1� General Rules of Purchasing
The rules of purchasing depend on the annual total dollar amount of the items or services being
purchased.
In general, for all purchases,the following is true:
A) All purchases shall be initialized by the Department Head. The Purchasing Agent
will be utilized by the Department Head for all purchases involving competitive
bidding or the formal RFP process.
B) All purchases over$1,000 require a Purchase Order approved by the Purchasing
Agent to be processed before each order is placed. Purchase Orders for
amounts under $1,000 may be issued if requested by the Vendor or
Department Head.
C) All single purchases of $20,000 and over require Town Board approval by
resolution whether made through State Contract or by Competitive bidding.
2) Price Quotes
All price quotes shall be in written form,such as a letter or a fax from the vendor to the Town.
A copy of all quotes shall be submitted to the Purchasing Agent prior to approval of any Purchase
Order.
The written price quotes shall be submitted as an attachment to the voucher for payment.
Items purchased under State or County contract must have the contract number listed on the
purchase order request.
Single purchases between $2,500 and $20,000 will require 2 written quotes, one of which may be
State Contract Pricing.
Single purchases over$20,000 require competitive bidding process,unless State Contract Pricing is
available. Department Heads must go through the Purchasing Agent for the bidding process.
3) Professional Services
A. Retention of professional services over $10,000 must be approved by the Town
Board of the Town of Queensbury, as evidenced by a Resolution adopted by
majority vote. Selection of professional service contracts over $10,000 and below
$20,000 is at the discretion of the Town Board, with consideration to Department
Head recommendations.
B. When the cost of the professional service is anticipated to exceed the amount of
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$20,000 in any given fiscal year, except as other wise provided herein, during the
ordinary course of government business, written requests for proposals for a
particular type of professional services shall be sent to at least three persons,firms
or companies(hereinafter referred to as"professionals").
Department Heads shall prepare RFPs with available assistance from the Purchasing
Agent,Budget Officer, Fiscal Manager,and legal staff A copy of the RFP and a list
of recipients shall be filed with the Purchasing Agent. A Town Board resolution is
not needed for sending out RFPs. The Purchasing Agent and the Department Head
shall submit their recommendations to the Town Board prior to awarding the
contract to the selected proposer.
Town Board approval by resolution is required to retain the service provider.
C. Notwithstanding the foregoing, inasmuch as solicitation of proposals can sometimes
result in duplication of effort, unnecessary costs, consumption of valuable time of
Town staff and of professionals whom the Town may wish to again solicit from in
the future, the following circumstances shall be grounds upon which the Town
Board, in its sole discretion,may determine that the solicitation of proposals will not
be in the best interest of the Town.
1. When, within the prior two years, the Town Board has engaged in the
solicitation of proposals for a project that is substantially similar to the
project currently under consideration by the Town Board for which
professional services are determined to be needed. The Town Board's
decision in this regard will be guided by whether the information from the
previous Request for Proposals is available, whether three or more
professionals were contacted, the types of responses received and the
similarity of the projects. It shall be the sole discretion of the Town Board
as to whether any previous Requests for Proposals are sufficient for the
Town Board to make a determination as to which professional should be
retained.
2. When the Town Board,upon considering
a)the professional's familiarity with the project,work,or Town records,
b) the Town's experience and working relationship with the professional,
c) the professional's specialized experience,
d)the professional's creativity in performance,
e)the Town and professional's personal trust and confidence,and/or
f) the reasonableness of the fee for professional services, desires to retain or
continue the services of a particular professional which it has previously
used in connection with the project being undertaken or continued, or a
substantially similar project.
4) State Contract or Warren County Contract Pricing; "Piggybacking"
NYS or Warren County Contracting pricing should be used whenever it results in cost
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savings to the Town, given equal or better quality of the items purchased. For purchases
over $5,000, an alternate price quote to State Contract Pricing should be obtained if at all
possible to ensure the best price is obtained for goods purchased. The procedure described
above in Section III(2) may also be followed for purchases of apparatus, materials,
equipment and supplies, and contract for services related to the installation,maintenance or
repair of those items, under a Contract let by the United States or any agency thereof, any
State or any other political subdivision or district, for amounts less than the State bidding
limits.
5) Blanket Purchase Orders
If a Department Head, or the Purchasing Agent, expects to make multiple purchases which
will likely total over $1,000 for the year, from a particular vendor for a particular type of
item,then a Blanket Purchase Order should be issued for that vendor and that type of item
for the expected balance of purchases for the remainder of the year.
6) Leases,Rentals and Installment Purchase
In general, leases, rentals and installment purchases follow the same purchasing guidelines
as for other types of procurement covered by this manual
A Purchase Order can be written for the estimated total dollar amount of the lease or rental
for the balance of the calendar year. For leases or rentals which carry-over from one
calendar year to the next, see the Town Purchasing Agent before entering into such
agreements.
V. EXCEPTIONS
A. The following items are excepted from competitive bidding under NYS guidelines:
1) Emergencies.
There are three basic statutory criteria to be met in order to fall within this
exception:
A) the situation arises out of an accident or other unforeseen occurrence or
condition,and;
B) the circumstances affect public buildings,public property or the life, health,
safety or property of the Town's residents,and;
C) the situation requires immediate action which cannot await competitive
bidding.
2) Agencies for the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped
(See NYS OSC FMG, Subsection 8.3020).
3) Goods made in Correctional Institutions
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(See NYS OSC FMG, Subsection 8.3020).
4) State Contracts or Warren County Contracts
5) Professional Services
(See NYS OSC FMG, Subsection 8.3020).
6) True Leases
(See NYS OSC FMG, Subsection 8.3020).
7) Insurance
(See NYS OSC FMG, Subsection 8.3020).
8) Section-Hand Equipment form Other Governments
(See NYS OSC FMG,Subsection 8.3020).
B. Contracts with any State agency, including any department board,bureau,commission,division,
office, council, committee, or officer of the State, whether permanent or temporary, or a public
benefit corporation or public authority, an any unit of the State University of NY, pursuant to and
consistent with Sections 355 and 6301 of the Education Law, within or without the Town of
Queensbury, to provide water supply, sweeping or maintenance, sidewalk maintenance, drainage,
sewage disposal, solid waste disposal or other services of government not regularly provided to the
public as part of the general government services, may be entered into by direct negotiations and
shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 103 of the GML nor the Policy set forth herein.
VI. REQUIRED STEPS FOR FOLLOWING THE PURCHASING PROCEDURES!
1) Decide the category in which the dollar amount of the purchase belongs (see
categories on page 3).
2) Make sure that sufficient appropriations exist in the current budget for each
purchase before placing the order with the Vendor.
3) Obtain price quotes and obtain an approved Purchase Order, if applicable, before
placing the order with the Vendor.
4) If applicable,request a Purchase Order from Purchasing Agent.
5) Receive Purchase order(if applicable)
6) When steps 1 through 5 are completed, then place the order with the Vendor.
7) Upon Receipt of Goods: Mark any packing slips as received, initial packing
documents and set aside until invoice is received.
8) Upon Receipt of Invoice: Match the invoice with packing documents and Purchase
Orders and attach all documents to payment voucher. Forward voucher packets to
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Accounting Office once you entered batches into nta the system.Please note that all
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payment vouchers must be signed by the department head prior to being submitted to
the Accounting Office.
Please note that copies of all quotes obtained in the procurement process must be
attached to the voucher packet before forwarding them to the Accounting
Department for processing.
If you have any questions concerning the above policies, please contact the Town's Purchasing
Agent or Budget Officer.
Revised 1/14/2013
MISCELLANEOUS\Purchasing Procedures-Revised-January 14,2013
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