Purchasing

Purchasing in the City is the responsibility of the individuals departments heads. The City has adopted a procurement policy in order to provide City employees with uniform guidance in the purchase of supplies, equipment, services and property. The policy pertains to all agencies, departments or offices of the City and, when applicable unless otherwise provided by statute, those committees, boards or commissions which manage or operate other City properties, installations or activities.

The goals established in the policy are:

• To encourage open and free competition to the greatest extent possible.
• To make the most efficient use of federal, state and local tax dollars by paying the optimum price for the item(s) being purchased. Optimum price may or may not mean the lowest price.
• To ensure that all purchases are made in compliance with federal, state and local laws.
• To prevent potential waste, fraud, abuse and conflicts of interest in the procurement process.
• To provide a standardized system of purchasing for use by all agencies, departments or offices of the City.

Purchase orders

Departments are required to obtain purchase orders when annual purchases of a service, single commodity or similar commodities are anticipated to be greater than $200. Purchase Orders must be approved by Department Heads with final approval by signature of the Administrator, Mayor, or Finance Officer in advance of placing an order.

Purchasing and Contracting

Purchases of, and contracts for, supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services shall be based on competitive bids or quotations subject to the following guidelines. A matrix of the requirements and approval process is provided here (PDF).