Chapter 7.04
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
7.04.015 Sustainability and social equity considerations.
7.04.050 Expenditure of City funds.
7.04.060 Powers and duties of City Council and Manager.
7.04.010 Purpose.
The purposes of this division are:
A. To provide for fair and equitable treatment of all persons involved in public purchasing by the City;
B. To provide for an efficient, cost-effective, environmentally sustainable, and equitable system of public procurement and to ensure the maximum purchasing value of public funds in procurement; and
C. To provide safeguards for maintaining a procurement and disposition system of quality and integrity. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/prior code § 9A-1)
7.04.015 Sustainability and social equity considerations.
A. The City will incorporate the following factors when writing specifications for procuring materials, products or services:
1. Environmental factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, the life cycle assessment of:
a. Pollutant releases;
b. Toxicity, especially the use of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals;
c. Waste generation;
d. Greenhouse gas emissions;
e. Energy and water consumption;
f. Depletion of natural resources; and
g. Impacts on biodiversity.
2. Social equity factors to be considered include, but are not limited to:
a. Human health impacts;
b. Use of local businesses; and
c. Use of State of Maryland minority, women, and emerging small businesses.
B. While not all factors will be incorporated into every purchase, it is the intent of this policy that the City will make a good faith effort to incorporate and balance these factors to the maximum extent possible and as permitted by law.
C. To advance equity goals in City purchasing, City staff will put in place the following practices and report back to Council annually its advances in these areas:
1. Affirmatively market all procurements to M/WBE firms;
2. Attend outreach events for existing and potential M/WBE firms and pursue aggressive outreach strategies to sustain and improve M/WBE participation in City contracts;
3. Improve and expand technical assistance, business development, training and mentoring programs for M/WBE firms by greater coordination with organizations, businesses and individuals and public agencies as well as other City departments and offices;
4. Identify and implement a citywide method to track the number of City contracts with M/WBE; and
5. Report to the Council annually on the City’s efforts to advance equity in purchasing. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021)
7.04.020 Scope.
This division applies to every disposition for value or expenditure of public funds by the City for public purchasing irrespective of its source. When the procurement or disposition involves Federal, State or County assistance or contract funds or is subject to Federal, State or County laws or regulations, the procurement or disposition shall be conducted in accordance with any applicable mandatory Federal, State, or County laws and regulations which are not reflected in this division. Nothing in this division shall be construed as prohibiting or limiting the City’s right to employ its own personnel for the construction or reconstruction of public improvements or any other purpose without advertising for or receiving bids or proposals. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/prior code § 9A-2)
7.04.030 Administration.
The City Manager and the Manager’s designee shall have the authority to adopt and enforce rules and regulations in accordance with the procedures set forth in Title 2, to promote the efficiency of operations and compliance with the provisions of this division. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/prior code §9A-3)
7.04.040 Definitions.
The following terms shall have the following meanings when used in this division:
“Bid” means an offer, in writing, to furnish goods or services in conformity with the specifications, delivery terms and conditions or other requirements included in the invitation for bids or an offer to purchase property pursuant to Chapter 7.08, Article 6.
“Competitive sealed bid” means a method of procurement in which a good, service or construction item is defined in a list of specifications; the specifications are included in an invitation for bids; the bids are received by a specified time in sealed envelopes; and an award is made to the responsive and responsible bidder providing the lowest bid.
“Competitive sealed proposal” means a method of procurement in which a good, service or construction item is defined in a list of specifications; the specifications are included in a request for proposals; proposals are received by a specified time in sealed envelopes; and an award is made to the proposer most closely meeting specifications as determined by an evaluation that uses a set of evaluation criteria. Cost is one criterion, among others, all of which may be assigned specific weights.
“Contract” means all types of City agreements, including purchase orders, regardless of what they may be called, for the procurement or disposal of goods, services or construction.
“Contractor” means any person or business having a contract with the City.
“Cooperative purchasing” means procurement conducted by or on behalf of more than one governmental unit.
“Department head” means one of the following: the City Clerk, the Chief of Police, the Director of Public Works, the Library Director, the Director of Recreation, the Director of Housing and Community Development or such other employees as the City Manager may designate from time to time.
“Emergency” means any condition or unforeseen curtailment, diminution or termination of an essential service which poses an immediate danger or threat to the public health, safety or welfare.
“Environmentally preferable products” means products that have a lesser or reduced adverse effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the product.
“Formal contract” means a written contract for procurements exceeding $30,000.00 in value that must be signed by the City Manager.
“Goods” means supplies, materials, equipment and all tangible property, except real property.
“Indefinite quantities contract” means a contract whereby the City agrees to purchase and the contractor agrees to provide the goods or construction of a designated type or unit which the City may require, without specifying in the contract the exact quantity.
“Invitation for bids” means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting bids.
“Life cycle costs” means specific and quantifiable costs associated with an item over its useful life, including costs of disposal, in addition to the purchase price.
“Local business” is an independently owned and operated individual, business, or organization located within 150 miles of the City that provides locally supplied products and goods.
“Locally supplied” means products and goods made or supplied, or services provided, from an independently owned and operated individual, business, or organization located within 150 miles of the City.
“Minority/woman-owned business enterprise” or “M/WBE” is a business that has received this designation by another local government, the State of Maryland, or the United States of America. Typically, an M/WBE is a business that is at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. An individual is presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged if that individual belongs to one of the following groups: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Subcontinent Asian Americans, Native Americans, and women. Persons who own and control their business, but are not members of one of the above groups, also may meet the M/WBE definition if they establish their social and economic disadvantage. Individuals with disabilities may also meet the M/WBE definition.
“Percentage price preference” means the percentage by which a bid from a responsible bidder or price available from a vendor whose product contains recycled materials (or a greater use of recycled material) may exceed the lowest responsive bid submitted by a responsible bidder whose product does not contain recycled material (or a lesser use of recycled material).
“Post-consumer waste” means an item that has served its intended use, such as old newspapers or magazines, and has been separated and diverted from the waste stream for the purposes of collection and recycling. It does not include waste generated during production of an end product, such as printer’s waste.
“Price preference” means a percentage of increase in price that the City may pay to obtain a designated recycled or environmentally preferable product or service.
“Procurement” means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing or otherwise acquiring any goods, services or construction. It also includes all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any good, service or construction, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of a contract and all phases of contract administration.
“Professional services” means personal services of members of a licensed or otherwise recognized profession, including but not limited to accountants, architects, attorneys, auditors, engineers, medical practitioners, surveyors, information technology support providers, and the like.
“Proposal” means an offer to supply goods or perform services or to purchase goods to be disposed of in response to a request for proposals by the City where competitive sealed proposals or negotiations will be used rather than the competitive sealed bid process.
“Recycled material” means material recovered from or otherwise diverted from the waste stream, including recycled paper. It includes post-consumer waste but does not include those materials and by-products generated from and commonly reused during production of an end product.
“Recycled paper” means paper or a paper product that contains recycled materials with a total gross content of post-consumer waste of at least 80%, or if such a paper product is unavailable or otherwise impracticable to procure that the paper or paper product has been de-inked or contains a level of post-consumer waste that exceeds the then-current minimum content standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency for paper and paper products containing recovered materials (40 C.F.R. Chapter 250), or if a paper or paper product meeting the requirements set out herein is unavailable or otherwise impracticable to procure, that the paper or paper product conforms to the then-current minimum content standards adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for paper and paper products containing recovered materials (40 C.F.R. Chapter 250).
“Request for proposals” means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.
“Responsible bidder or offeror” means a person or entity who has the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements and the experience, integrity, reliability, capacity, facilities, equipment and credit which will assure good faith performance. Any person who is in default on the payment of taxes, licenses or other moneys due the City shall not be deemed “responsible.”
“Responsive bidder” means a person or entity who has submitted a bid which conforms in all material aspects to the invitation for bids.
“Rider contract” means an agreement procuring goods or services in which a vendor provides the same goods or services to the City at the same price and under the same material terms and conditions of the underlying contract, excluding quantities, between the vendor or contractor and another governmental entity, and may include contracts awarded through City participation in programs established by cooperative purchasing organizations or purchasing associations.
“Software contract” means a contract entered into for the provision of data, programs, and/or operating systems used to operate computers and execute specific tasks.
“Specifications” means any description of the design or functional characteristics or of the nature of a good, service or construction item. It may include a description of any requirement for inspecting, testing or preparing a good, service or construction item. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/Ord. 2014-41 § 2 (part), 2014/prior code § 9A-4)
7.04.050 Expenditure of City funds.
No City funds shall be expended unless:
A. The expenditure is authorized in the budget ordinance for the current year, previously approved by ordinance or an ordinance revising it;
B. The expenditure is made pursuant to a contract or purchase order signed in accordance with this division;
C. The contract or purchase order pursuant to which the expenditure is made has been approved by the City Council or by the City Manager as required by this division. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/prior code § 9A-5)
7.04.060 Powers and duties of City Council and Manager.
A. The City Council shall, by ordinance duly enacted, approve all expenditures exceeding $50,000.00 or more; provided, however, that ordinances approving such expenditures may be enacted upon a single reading without being read at two meetings of the City Council prior to adoption, if each such expenditure is specifically authorized in the budget ordinance for the current year or an ordinance revising it and the cost of the procurement is equal to or less than the budgeted amount.
If the project, goods or services were authorized in the budget ordinance but exceed the budgeted amount, an ordinance approving such expenditure may be enacted upon a single reading without being read at two meetings of the City Council prior to adoption; provided, however, that the City Manager makes a determination, in writing, that funds are available to cover the cost of the procurement.
B. Nothing in subsection (A) of this section shall prohibit the City Council from approving the purchase of items not included in the City budget, upon receipt of a written justification and a written determination by the City Manager that funds are available for the purchase. City Council approval shall be accomplished by two readings of an ordinance.
C. The City Manager shall:
1. Approve all City expenditures for goods or services which are not required to be approved by the City Council, whether made pursuant to contract or purchase order;
2. Be responsible for the administration of a centralized system of purchasing and procurement of goods and services for the City and for effectuating the provisions of this division;
3. Establish such rules and regulations as he or she may deem necessary in order to carry out the provisions of this division.
D. The City Manager may delegate in writing their powers and duties under this division to a designated City employee. Any such designee may only approve expenditures that are equal to or less than $30,000.00.
E. The City Manager shall have the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the City for the purchase of goods and services once such purchases have been duly authorized in accordance with this division and cooperative purchasing agreements as authorized in this division. (Ord. 2024-18, 2024/Ord. 2021-36, 2021/prior code § 9A-6)