Purchasing


	Departments:


	MIDDLESEX COUNTY UNIFORM CLAIMS PROCEDURE 1. General Provisions a. All funds of the County of Middlesex shall be disbursed only upon Voucher/Purchase Orders or Miscellaneous Vouchers processed and approved as hereinafter set forth and all purchases of materials, supplies, labor or services rendered shall be in accordance with the methods and procedures hereinafter set forth. b. Resolutions of the Board of Chosen Freeholders authorizing commitment or disbursement of funds shall be certified as to availability of funds by the County Comptroller. The County Comptroller shall be the certifying and approving officer pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:5-17a. The County Comptroller shall have the duty and responsibility for determining if funds are available in the appropriation created for such purpose and, in the event funds are not available, to notify the Purchasing Agent, Department Head and Freeholder Chairperson of the committee of the department for which the purchase was to be made. c. Department Head shall include all officers, directors, supervisors, superintendents or coordinators and additional boards, bodies and commissions which may have been created by resolution of the Board of Chosen Freeholders or such officers as may be approved by the Board in writing from time to time. d. Warrants or checks in payment of all bills, claims and demands shall be issued over the signature of the County Treasurer and the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. The depositories of County funds are hereby authorized and directed to honor all warrants bearing the signature of the County Treasurer and the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. e. Advances for official travel and expenses incident thereto shall be paid to officers and employees toward their expenses when authorized by a Board of Chosen Freeholders resolution. Within ten days after completion of the travel for which an advance was made, the officer or employee shall verify actual expenses and advances and an adjustment made thereof or repayment of any excess advanced by means of a detailed bill of items and the certification or affidavit required by N.J.S.A. 40A: 5-16-1. f. All County officers and employees must obtain approval by formal resolution adopted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, prior to attending conferences, conventions and seminars which require either out-of-state travel, or are held within the State of New Jersey but necessitate an overnight stay in a hotel or motel. There may be instances involving Constitutional Officers and others which need not adhere to the Uniform Claims Procedure. In such cases; however, the Board would expect that those agencies not covered by the Uniform Claims Procedure shall comply with the mandate of this procedure. g. Change Orders and Open-End Contracts. Those contracts that exceed 20% of the contract price require a Board of Chosen Freeholders resolution and must meet the requirements of the New Jersey Local Public Contracts Law (N.J.A.C. 5:34, Subsection 4 & 5). This law stipulates that the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders shall report to the Division of Local Government, by the last day of February, all prior year Change Orders which exceeded the 20% limitation. 2. Miscellaneous Payments. a. A miscellaneous voucher shall be submitted, stipulating the details of the expenditure required along with a copy of the supporting detail (if available), to the County Comptroller for the following non-encumbered type payments: All Payroll Deductions Detective Agencies and Investigations (Pros. Office) Reimbursement of Employee Expenses Debt Service Payments Distributions and Payments to Local Governments – Municipalities and Counties Payments from the Open Space Trust Fund Payments to the State of New Jersey (except where commodities/services are purchased and permits and licenses) Petty Cash Replenishments Extradition Expenses Prescription Drugs (Excluding TPA Administration Fees) Return of Revenue Payments to County Detective Fund Payments to Audio Visual Aids Commission. Payments for Testing Services (Engineering) Payment of Bond Issue Expense b. The following miscellaneous payments require a Board of Chosen Freeholder resolution. Such payments are prepared on a miscellaneous voucher , and, after resolution approval, are submitted to the County Comptroller’s Office for processing: Payments to Third Party Administrators for Workers' Compensation claims and general liability self-insurance account payments over $10,000. Payments to MCIA for Debt Service on Lease-Purchase Agreements* MCJHIF Payments* Payments to Board of Social Services* Payments to the Mosquito Commission* CivicSQ II and CivicSQ III Lease-Purchase Payments* CivicSQ II and Civic III Monthly Maintenance, Utilities and Security Payments* Monthly Rental Payments for County Leased Property* Payments to Vocational Schools* Payments to County Colleges* Return of Escrow, Road Opening Deposits, Performance Guarantees and Other Deposits Lease Purchase Payments for Board of Social Services Building* Payments to Not-for-Profit Organizations not subject to bidding* Return of Cash Seized in Gambling and Narcotics Raids *Note: These expenses must be encumbered in full in the applicable appropriation account upon adoption of the temporary budget and the annual operating budget by the County Comptroller. c. The Department Head shall review, approve and certify that payment of the miscellaneous voucher is correct and within the scope of his/her authority prior to submission to the County Comptroller. d. All above mentioned miscellaneous vouchers shall be paid in accordance with the procedures contained in Paragraphs d, e, f, g, h, i and j of subsection 5. 3. UTILITIES AND BULK PURCHASES a. Utilities All utilities shall be appropriated in separate line items (by utility) in the County operating budget, except for those chargeable to motor vehicle fines, highway lighting and grants. Encumbrances for the entire year will be recorded by the County Comptroller’s office. Upon receipt of invoices and vouchers from the utility supplier, the department head shall certify the accuracy of the charge (meter reading), approve same for payment and forward the documents to the Director of Public Property. The Director of Public Property shall review the voucher/billing as to reasonableness and, if proper, submit the voucher to the Comptroller’s office. (Exception: if the utility was encumbered based upon a bid solicited by the purchasing agent, the voucher shall be forwarded to the purchasing agent for review of price and, if in order, forward to the Comptroller’s office for processing). The voucher shall be paid in accordance with the procedures in Paragraph g, h, i and j of subsection 5. b. Bulk Purchases Bulk purchase consists of heating fuel oil, gasoline and diesel fuel, central inventory maintained by the Purchasing Agent and central inventory maintained by the Central Vehicle Maintenance. The purchase of these commodities are all accomplished through the Purchasing Agent. A separate line item of appropriations will exist in the operating budget for heating fuel oil and a separate line item will exist for all other bulk purchases. All heating fuel oil vouchers are to be certified by the Department Head and then forwarded to the Director of Public Property for review. The Director of Public Property shall forward voucher to the Purchasing Agent who will then forward it to the Comptroller’s office for processing. The voucher shall be paid in accordance with Paragraph g, h, I and j of Subsection 5. All other bulk purchases shall be certified by the Department Head and shall be forwarded to the Purchasing Agent who will then forward them to the Comptroller’s Office for processing. The voucher shall be paid in accordance with Paragraph g, h, 1, j of Subsection 5. 4. Purchases using MCIA Capital Equipment Lease Funds. Specific departments within the County are allocated funds from the Middlesex County Improvement Authority's annual capital lease programs for the purchase of goods. Requisitions for MCIA funded purchases must be made to the County Purchasing Agent using the prescribed requisition form. The completed requisition should be prepared by the Department Head or his/her designee who has been previously approved by the County Administrator and sent to the County Purchasing Agent who will either execute a purchase order or will request a Board of Chosen Freeholders resolution, as appropriate. The requesting department will receive a copy of either the purchase order or resolution that is issued by the Purchasing Department or Clerk of the Board. Copies of executed purchase orders will also be sent to the County Comptroller and the MCIA. When the items authorized for purchase are received by the department, all corresponding vouchers, purchase orders and invoices shall be properly executed by the receiving department and forwarded to the Purchasing Department for payment processing. In no circumstances should requisitions for MCIA funded purchases be processed as outlined in Sections 5 and 6 below. 5. Purchases not required to be bid. All purchases for materials, supplies, labor or services rendered, in the total County aggregate which is under the statutory threshold for bidding or not subject to bidding shall be pursuant to the following: The Department Head requiring materials or supplies or labor or services shall prepare and execute a Purchase Requisition on the H.T.E. system. The requisition shall contain a clear description of the requirement and include the quantity and suggested vendor if known. The Purchase Requisition must be approved in the system by the department head or his/her designee who has previously been approved by the County Administrator. In the case where a Board of Chosen Freeholders Resolution is being requested by the department, the HTE Requisition Number must be stated therein. b. Upon proper approval as stated in a. above, the Purchase Requisition is reviewed by the County Comptroller’s Office to insure availability of funds and verify the purchase as an encumbrance to the respective appropriation. Other levels of approval may be required. c. After all levels of approval are met, the Purchasing Department shall convert the Purchase Requisition into a Voucher/Purchase Order . The combination Voucher/Purchase Order form shall contain the name of the vendor, a clear description of the materials, supplies, labor or services to be rendered and quantity, if applicable. In addition, the cost of each unit shall be indicated. All purchases for material, supplies, labor and services rendered in excess of the threshold stated in the Local Public Contacts Law, where practical, should have three quotations solicited as to the cost. If it is impractical to solicit proposals, a statement must be made as to why this is the case. The threshold refers to individual purchases and is not a cumulative amount. This procedure shall also apply to all purchases in excess of the dollar threshold for bidding where they are exempt by law from formal competitive bidding and shall be committed by resolution of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. The Purchasing Department will execute and issue the Voucher/Purchase Order form and distribute it to the vendor with a pink colored copy to the Department. If multiple invoicing is expected, Purchasing will also furnish the vendor with multiple copies of the County's Miscellaneous Voucher. d. Any person, partnership or corporation claiming payment from the County shall present to the County Department a detailed bill on demand (invoice) and the original voucher/purchase order form which has been duly certified by the claimant. If multiple invoicing will occur, after the initial billing the vendor should sign the miscellaneous voucher and reference the P.O. number and submit same with invoices. Certification signature must be original. An original invoice and the signed Voucher/Purchase Order or Miscellaneous Voucher should be forwarded by the vendor to the County Department that requisitioned the goods or services. e. The Department Head shall certify that the goods or services were received or rendered; that each of the items contained thereon was necessary for the purpose of the department; that the quantity was as ordered; that the work specified was done; and that the expenditure is within the scope of the authority of his office. The Department Head or his designee shall, after such certification, complete the receipt without invoice function on the HTE system. f. The County Department shall match and assemble the purchase order, invoice and department receiving report and forward to the County Purchasing Department. If the vendor signs a miscellaneous voucher because of multiple invoicing, the County department should always place a copy of the P.O. on top of the completed package, followed by the miscellaneous voucher, invoice and receiver. The amount being authorized for payment should be noted on the P.O. prior to department head signature. The County Purchasing Department shall review the pricing and will process a change order if necessary. The County Purchasing Department will forward the completed set of documents to the County Comptroller's Office for payment. g. The County Comptroller’s Office - Accounts Payable Division shall examine and audit the assembled documents. All properly audited and reviewed documents are processed for payment in the HTE system. The County Comptroller shall thereafter process and list all vouchers received by the prescribed cut off day prior to the next Board of Chosen Freeholder meeting. This listing shall be organized alphabetically by the name of the vendor. The listing shall contain a place for the signature of the Freeholder Director. The County Comptroller shall then forward the listing to the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. h. The Clerk of the Board shall present the listing referred to in Paragraph g above to the Freeholder Director. Upon approval by the Board, the Clerk of the Board shall present this list of vouchers to the Board of Chosen Freeholders for formal approval at the next regular meeting of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. i. Upon approval of the voucher list by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Comptroller shall forward the vouchers to the County Treasurer who shall prepare checks for the vouchers. j. The County Treasurer verifies the vouchers to each check for accuracy of vendor name and amount and forwards the checks to vendors or as per instructions and files vouchers by Board of Chosen Freeholders Meeting date. 6. Procedure for Bidding. All purchases of materials, supplies, labor or services rendered in excess of the threshold for bidding, as stated in the Local Public Contracts Law except projects for which plans and specifications are drawn by a professional architect or engineer, shall be pursuant to the following procedures: a. The Purchasing Agent shall annually (semi-annually for certain products) forward departmental requirement forms to all County departments and agencies for the purpose of obtaining anticipated requirements for materials, supplies, labor or services for the coming year on a cumulative basis for bidding purposes. b. Upon receipt of all written departmental requirements for materials, supplies, labor or services, the Purchasing Agent shall prepare Specifications for Advertisement of Bids. The Purchasing Agent will adjust quantities anticipated based upon a physical inventory in the Central Warehouse, when appropriate. c. After completion of specifications, one copy shall be forwarded to County Counsel for review and legal approval. County Counsel shall review the specifications and all related documentation as to form and legality and shall report the same to the Purchasing Agent. In the event the report indicates that corrections shall be made in the form and legality, the Purchasing Agent shall comply therewith. d. One copy of the specifications shall also be forwarded to the ordering departments for their perusal and approval of the completed specifications. e. The Purchasing Agent shall prepare a bidders notice for public bidding which shall be published in one designated legal newspaper not less than ten (10) days prior to bid opening date. f. Upon receipt of bids, a legal review and recommendation to award or reject shall be made by the County Counsel along with a recommendation by the ordering Department Head. g. The Purchasing Agent shall make a thorough evaluation of the bids submitted as to conformity to the detailed specifications and legal and departmental requirements, after which the Purchasing Agent shall make a recommendation to award or reject said bid or bids. When a Central Warehouse inventory item is purchased the Purchasing Agent will enter a requisition and subsequently process the Purchase Order after Financial Review as indicated in Section j. All other purchases must be pre-encumbered thru requisition by Department Head. If chargeable to the operating budget, the requisition must be prepared for estimated quantities for the balance of the current year only. h. The recommendation to award or reject shall be made by letter from the Purchasing Agent to the County Administrator with a copy to County Counsel, the County Comptroller and affected Department Heads requesting a resolution to accept the recommendation at the Board of Chosen Freeholders next regular meeting. i. County Counsel, upon reviewing documentation and the Purchasing Agent’s recommendation and being satisfied that all legal requirements have been met, shall prepare a resolution. j. The County Comptroller shall certify the availability of funds directly on the resolution (when funds are available). k. The Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders shall forward a copy of the resolution to the County Comptroller, Purchasing Agent, County Treasurer, Department Head and the engineer or architect who shall supervise the work. After the resolution is adopted, the Purchasing Agent will immediately convert the requisitions to a purchase order. l. The officer or person designated in the resolution shall purchase or secure the materials, supplies, labor or services pursuant to the bids, specifications, advertisement and bidding statutes of the State of New Jersey, in accordance with the resolution. m. Any person claiming payment pursuant to the resolution shall be paid in accordance with Paragraphs d, e, f, g, h, i and j of subsection 5. n. All construction projects shall be administered by the County Engineer. The County Engineer shall perform the functions of the Purchasing Agent in the bidding process, except that the Purchasing Agent will create a Purchase Order/Voucher for the contract award subsequent to approval by the Board of Chosen Freeholders. All other procedures will be followed as mentioned above. 7. Professional Services Contracts. a. Those professional services agreements which are exempt from the public bidding requirements of State law shall be based on "Qualification Based, Competitive Negotiations." b. The services subject to competitive negotiations shall be professional services as defined in N.J.S.A. 40A:11-2(6), as well as financial services and insurance services. However, the following services are specifically excluded from competitive negotiations: 1. All medical doctors; 2. Professional artistic services; 3. Litigation support services required by the County Prosecutor in carrying out his law enforcement duties; 4. Litigation support services required by County Counsel; 5. Services provided by members of the clergy; and 6. All statutory appointments c. By October 1st of each calendar year, each Department Head shall submit to a Procurement Specialist designated/appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders and who shall report to the County Purchasing Director, a list of professional services which will be required during the upcoming calendar year. The list shall include a description of the services needed. d. The Procurement Specialist shall advertise these services needs for five (5) consecutive days in an official newspaper designated for the publication of public notices and advertisements for Middlesex County, as well as publishing a notice in one (1) or more professional publications, as deemed necessary by the Procurement Specialist or Purchasing Director after consultation with the Department Head. e. The advertisements shall include: 1. A description of the professional services needed with respect to the project. 2. Deadline and place for all submissions, whether generated by advertisement or solicitation. f. Any interested professionals shall, at a minimum, submit the following to the Procurement Specialist: 1. Names of all individuals who may provide services to Middlesex County; 2. The qualifications, experience and educational background of these individuals; and 3. References and record of success. g. The Procurement Specialist may also forward a request to any other professional, who, in the opinion of the Procurement Specialist, Department Head or any Freeholder possesses the necessary expertise. Upon receipt of the requested information, the Department Head and Procurement Specialist shall prequalify those professionals, who in the opinion of the Department Head and Procurement Specialist, meet and satisfy the needs of the County. h. When the need for a particular service arises, the Procurement Specialist shall obtain a Request for Proposal from any of the prequalified professionals. i. A professional to whom a Request for Proposal is sent shall submit the following in response thereto: 1. Description of ability to provide the services in a timely fashion (including staffing, familiarity and location of key staff); 2. Professional artistic services; 3. Litigation support services required by the County Prosecutor in carrying out his law enforcement duties; 4. Litigation support services required by County Counsel; 5. Services provided by members of the clergy; and 6. All statutory appointments c. By October 1st of each calendar year, each Department Head shall submit to a Procurement Specialist designated/appointed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders and who shall report to the County Purchasing Director, a list of professional services which will be required during the upcoming calendar year. The list shall include a description of the services needed. d. The Procurement Specialist shall advertise these services needs for five (5) consecutive days in an official newspaper designated for the publication of public notices and advertisements for Middlesex County, as well as publishing a notice in one (1) or more professional publications, as deemed necessary by the Procurement Specialist or Purchasing Director after consultation with the Department Head. e. The advertisements shall include: 1. A description of the professional services needed with respect to the project. 2. Deadline and place for all submissions, whether generated by advertisement or solicitation. f. Any interested professionals shall, at a minimum, submit the following to the Procurement Specialist: 1. Names of all individuals who may provide services to Middlesex County; 2. The qualifications, experience and educational background of these individuals; and 3. References and record of success. g. The Procurement Specialist may also forward a request to any other professional, who, in the opinion of the Procurement Specialist, Department Head or any Freeholder possesses the necessary expertise. Upon receipt of the requested information, the Department Head and Procurement Specialist shall prequalify those professionals, who in the opinion of the Department Head and Procurement Specialist, meet and satisfy the needs of the County. h. When the need for a particular service arises, the Procurement Specialist shall obtain a Request for Proposal from any of the prequalified professionals. i. A professional to whom a Request for Proposal is sent shall submit the following in response thereto: 1. Description of ability to provide the services in a timely fashion (including staffing, familiarity and location of key staff); allocating the funds, and also to the rules and regulations of any statutory body receiving the funds. A voucher must be prepared, except claimant signature is not required. b. County appropriations for autonomous Boards of Trustees for the County College, Vocational School, Mosquito Extermination Commission, Board of Social Services and all other autonomous bodies that receive funds from the County of Middlesex, and for which funds are appropriated in the annual Operating Budget, shall be paid by the County Treasurer on a pre-determined scheduled basis. c. Except as otherwise provided for in these procedures, all funds of the County of Middlesex to be disbursed for line items appearing in the annual Operating Budget of the County; escrow monies being held pursuant to agreements between the County and others and the retention of professional services shall be authorized by resolution of the Board of Chosen Freeholders in such manner as may be approved by the Board. 9. Offline Checks and Statutory Payments Made By Wire Transfer. a. Offline Checks Offline checks are processed between Board of Chosen Freeholder meetings. They should be kept to a minimum and must be emergent in nature. Offline checks are prepared from properly audited Purchase Order/Vouchers or Miscellaneous Voucher which are ready for payment. Such checks require the verbal approval of both the Freeholder Chairperson of the requesting department and the Freeholder Director. Offline checks will be issued the day of request when possible, otherwise within 24 hours. However, during the month-end and year-end close of the general ledger, offline checks cannot be processed. All offline checks will appear on a supplemental bill list which is presented to the Board of Chosen Freeholders at their next regularly scheduled meeting. b. Statutory Payments Made by Wire Transfer Certain statutory payments can be made by bank wire transfer by the County Treasurers Office or the County Comptroller's Office. Upon completion of the wire transfer, a P.O./Voucher or miscellaneous voucher must be presented to the Comptroller's Office — Accounts Payable Division in order to record such disbursement in the general ledger system. All payments made by wire transfer will appear on a supplemental bill list which is presented to the Board of Chosen Freeholders at their next regularly scheduled meeting.