Okaloosa County BOCC — May 4, 2013 — Purchasing Manual-6 (post 3-19-13 meeting) — reading text

RECEIPTS/INVOICES, DELAYED SUBMISSION) 1st Offense Written Reminder 2nd Offense (within 12 months) 30 day Suspension 3rd Offense (within 12 months) 1 Year Suspension 2. EXCEEDING THE $999.99/$2,500.00 FOR SELECT EMPLOYEES SINGLE PURCHASE PRICE LIMIT OR (SPLITTING AN ORDER) 1ST Offense Written Reminder* 2nd Offense (within 12 months) 60 day Suspension 3rd Offense (within 12 months) 1 Year Suspension * If determined to be an intentional violation, Purchasing Director shall authorize a 30 day suspension. 3. UNINTENTIONAL USE OF A PURCHASING CARD TO PAY FOR A PERSONAL EXPENSE– CORRECTED WITHIN 2 WEEKS (CALENDAR WEEKS) AND BEFORE RECEIPTS ARE SUBMITTED TO FINANCE 1st Offense Written Reminder 2nd Offense (within 12 months) 30 day Suspension 3rd Offense (within 12 months) 1 Year Suspension Note: If the charge is not corrected within 2 weeks, the cardholder’s privileges will be suspended for 30 days. Repeat violations of this nature may result in action up to and including permanent suspension of Purchasing Card privileges. 4. INTENTIONAL USE OF A PURCHASING CARD TO PAY FOR A PERSONAL EXPENSE Permanent Revocation of Purchasing Card. Disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. 5. ALLOWING SALES TAX TO BE CHARGED (UNLESS VENDOR DOES NOT HONOR FLORIDA SALES TAX EXEMPTION) 1st Offense Written Reminder 33  2nd Offense (within 12 months) 30 day Suspension 3rd Offense (within 12 months) 60 day Suspension I. APPEAL PROCESS - An employee, or department representative on behalf of employee, may appeal any penalty by submitting a written appeal within 5 days of penalty imposition to the Purchasing Director with appropriate documentation. The Purchasing Director shall forward the appeal along with supporting documentation of the Purchasing Card infraction to the County Administrator who shall have the final authority to determine the appropriate action. J. ADDITIONAL TRAINING – The Purchasing Director may (at his/her discretion) require a County employee to attend a refresher Purchasing Card training session if the employee makes repeated errors/violations within a 12 month period. 34 OJ. PURCHASING CARD SYSTEM COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. May I use the card for personal purchases and then reimburse the County? NO. If you do, you will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. 2. What is my limit? The single per transaction dollar limit shall not exceed $999.99/$2,500.00 unless authorized otherwise. The monthly limit varies by cardholder. 3. Cash advances are strictly PROHIBITED. 4. What if I use the card and it is denied? Three things can cause this. a. You are above your limit. b. Your charges from the previous billing period have not been paid. c. The Vendor's Merchant Category Code is blocked from your card. 5. How will I receive my bill? The Department Coordinator will print the monthly statement using “WORKS” (credit card online program) and distribute to cardholders as necessary. 6. When are all invoices due in the Finance Department for payment? The 15th of every month, or the first business day following the 15th should it fall on a weekend or holiday. 7. What if I’m on vacation or out sick? Leave your Expenditure Report and your receipts with your Department Coordinator for processing during your absence. 8. Why do I have to keep a Monthly Expenditure Report? This report will document the items you have purchased in the event of any inquiry. It will also be helpful in the event of a lost receipt or disputed charge. 9. Can I use this card to make purchases over the phone? YES, provided the vendor has the item in stock and ready for delivery. You cannot use the card to order items that will be backordered. 10. Can someone else use my card? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Use by anyone other than the cardholder is PROHIBITED. 35 K. FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURES 1. The function of the Purchasing Department is to supply materials and/or supplies to fulfill requisitioning department requirements. This function is not complete until satisfactory delivery of such items has been confirmed. With assistance from the Purchasing Department, aggressive follow-up shall be made by the initiating department utilizing the following procedures: a. The Purchasing Department’s copy of the Purchase Order shall be placed in chronological order according to the purchase order number. All correspondence shall be documented on the Purchase Order. b. On specified date of delivery, the receiving department shall ascertain if complete delivery has been made. If not, the Supply Coordinator shall write or call the vendor and request specific reasons why delivery was not made as promised. Such communication shall be “logged” on the Department’s copy of the Purchase Order. A new, realistic delivery date shall then be determined if the vendor has a bona fide reason for delay of delivery. If not, the order is subject to cancellation. c. If the initiating Department cannot resolve the problem, the Supply Coordinator shall notify the Purchasing Department (Buyer). The Purchasing Department shall make every effort to assist the initiating Department to fulfill the order. d. Continued broken promises, partial deliveries and/or poor service may result in the Purchasing Director evaluating such performance to determine if action to remove the vendor from the bid and quotation list is warranted. e. All follow-up action shall be documented in detail. L. PURCHASING SPECIFICATIONS 36 1. Specifications: An accurate description of materials or services to be purchased. a. As quality and service are as important as price, the Purchasing Department must be furnished with specifications that will fulfill, but not exceed, the requirements for which the materials and/or services are intended. b. In considering and developing specifications, be mindful that expenditures derived from public source and administered by public bodies cannot be expected to provide for “deluxe” or luxurious levels of quality. It is, therefore, necessary to follow a general policy toward the purchasing of good, standard grades of merchandise that represents an optimum relationship between quality and price, at all times consistent with providing a satisfactory level of service. c. Bids and quotations must be based upon adequate specifications. A lengthy specification composed or designed solely for the purpose of eliminating competition other than those able to supply a particular brand name commodity shall be prohibited. Actual brand name or common description should be used only when no other of its kind would be equally satisfactory. Specifications should be detailed so as to afford a basis for full and fair competitive bidding upon a common standard, and shall be free from restrictions that would stifle competition. d. Detailed lengthy specifications should be faxed or e-mailed directly to the Buyer handling the order. e. If contract is funded by a grant, the bid documents and contract may be subject to prior approval by the granting agency. 2. Responsibilities: The responsibility for purchase rests with the Purchasing Department and, therefore, a joint responsibility is shared with the requesting department for the specifications. Should modification or alteration to a specification to provide for competitive bidding be required, the Purchasing Director shall communicate such intent to the requesting department. Such communication shall include particularity as to why a change in specifications is desired and the extent and nature of such changes. 37 M. BID INVITATION 1. Formal bid invitations are used when the County is capable of specifically defining the scope of work which a contractual service is required or when the County is capable of establishing precise specifications defining the actual commodity or group of commodities required. a. Except in the case of an emergency, as defined in section 1.m. below, orders in excess of $50,000.00 shall be procured through bid invitations. b. The Purchasing Department shall maintain a list of approved vendors. Such list shall include a description of the vendor’s commodities, general price information, vendor contact information, MBE, DBE and WBE business status. c. Approved vendors shall be furnished a bid invitation that will indicate all pertinent information necessary to submit an accurate formal bid. It shall indicate the deadline for submitting sealed bids and the time and place for the pre-bid conference and the bid opening. d. The Purchasing Department may hold pre-bid conferences prior to bid openings. The Purchasing Director, representatives from the requesting department and the vendors interested in submitting a bid shall attend these conferences. The purpose of these conferences is to gain a common understanding of the bid specifications and to gain feedback from the private sector (vendors) concerning the specifications. e. At least 14 days prior to the date for opening the sealed bids, a notice shall be published in a local newspaper(s) announcing the bid invitation to provide all interested vendors, not on file in the Purchasing Department, the opportunity to submit a bid. f. On the time and date specified, the sealed bids shall be opened and recorded. The specifications shall be checked for accuracy and, where applicable, samples may be requested for testing. Tabulations shall be made available for review. 38 g. The Tabulating Committee, consisting of the Purchasing Director and the Department Director involved, shall review the bids and recommend to the Board the recommended vendor(s) on a basis of the lowest and best bid meeting specifications. h. Awards and Rejections: (1) The Board, in its absolute discretion, may reject any bid from a bidder that fails to complete or perform an Okaloosa County contracted project in a timely fashion. The Purchasing Director shall emphasize this condition to potential bidders. (2) There is no obligation on the part of the County to award the bid to the lowest bidder, and the County reserves the right to award the proposal to proposer submitting a responsive proposal with a resulting negotiated agreement which is most advantageous and in the best interest of Okaloosa County, and to reject any and all proposals or to waive any irregularity or technicality in proposals received. Okaloosa County shall be the sole judge of the proposal and the resulting negotiated agreement that is in its best interest and its decision shall be final. (3) The County specifically reserves the right to reject any conditional bid and will reject those that make it impossible to