Procurement Guidelines

Purpose and Authority

The purpose of this procurement policy (the “Policy”) is to outline the procurement policy of the Cattaraugus County Economic Sustainability and Growth Corporations, Inc. (the “Corporation” or “CCESGC”) pursuant to Section 858-a(2) of Title One of Article 18-A of the General Municipal Law (the “Act”) applicable to procurements of goods and services paid for by the Corporation for its own use and benefit.

Securing Goods and Services

All goods and services will be secured by use of written requests for proposals, written quotations, verbal quotations, or any other method that assures that goods will be purchased at the lowest price and that favoritism will be avoided except for in the following circumstances:

• purchases costing less than $1,000.00;
• goods purchased from agencies for the blind or severely handicapped pursuant to Section 175-b of the State Finance Law;
• goods purchased from correctional institutions pursuant to Section 186 of the Correction Law;
• purchases under state contracts pursuant to Section 104 of the General Municipal Law;
• purchases under county contracts pursuant to Section 103(3) of the General Municipal Law; or
• purchases pursuant to the “Circumstances Where Solicitation of Alternative Proposals and Quotations Not in Best Interest” section of this policy.

Method of Purchase

The following method of purchase will be used when required by this Policy in order to achieve the highest savings:

A good faith effort shall be made to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations.  If the purchaser is unable to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations, the purchaser will document the attempt made at obtaining the proposals/quotations.  In no event shall the failure to obtain the required number of proposals or quotations be a bar to the procurement.

Documentation is required of each action taken in connection with each procurement.  Documentation and an explanation are required whenever a contract is awarded to other than the lowest responsible offeror.  This documentation will include an explanation of how the reward will achieve savings or how the offeror was not responsible.  A determination that the offeror is not responsible shall be made by the purchaser and may not be challenged under any circumstances.

Circumstances Where Solicitation of Alternative Proposals and Quotations Not in Best Interest

Pursuant to Section 104-b(2)(f) of the General Municipal Law, this Policy may contain circumstances when, or types of procurements for which, in the sole discretion of the members of the Corporation, the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will not be in the best interest of the Corporation.  In the following circumstances, it may not be in the best interests of the Corporation to solicit quotations or document the basis for not accepting the lowest bid:

1. Professional Services or services requiring special or technical skill, training or expertise.  The individual, company or firm must be chosen based on accountability, reliability, responsibility, skill, conflict of interests, reputation, education and training, judgment, integrity, continuity of service and moral worth.  Furthermore, certain professional services to be provided to the Corporation, e.g., legal and accounting services, impact liability issues of CCESGC and its members, including securities liability in circumstances where the Corporation is issuing bonds.  These qualifications and the concerns of the Corporation regarding its liability and the liability of its members are not necessarily found or addressed in the individual, company or firm that offers the lowest price and the nature of these services are such that they do not readily lend themselves to competitive procurement procedures. 

In determining whether a service fits into this category, CCESGC shall take into consideration the following guidelines:

1. whether the services are subject to state licensing or testing requirements;
2. whether substantial formal education or training is a necessary prerequisite to the performance of the services; and
3. whether the services require a personal relationship between the individual and the members of the Corporation

Professional or technical services shall include but not be limited to the following: services of an attorney (including bond counsel); services of a physician; technical services of an engineer to prepare plans, maps and estimates; securing insurance coverage and/or services of an insurance broker; services of a certified public accountant; investment management services; printing services involving extensive writing, editing or art work; management of Corporation-owned property; and computer software or programming services for customized programs, or services involved in substantial modification and customizing of pre-packaged software. 

1. Emergency purchases pursuant to Section 103(4) of the General Municipal Law.  Due to the nature of this exception, these goods or services must be purchased immediately and a delay in order to seek alternate proposals may threaten the life, health, safety or welfare of the public.  This section does not preclude alternate proposals if time permits. 
2. Purchases of surplus or second-hand goods from any source.  If alternate proposals are required, the Corporation is precluded from purchasing surplus and second-hand goods at auctions or through specific advertised sources where the best prices are usually obtained.  It is also difficult to try to compare prices of used goods and a lower price may indicate an older product. 
3. For goods or services under $1,000, the time and documentation required to purchase through this policy may be more costly than the item itself and would therefore not be in the best interests of the Corporation.  In addition, it is not likely that such de minimis contracts would be awarded based on favoritism.

Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed annually at the CCESGC meeting which includes the Boards annual review of the Corporation audit or the regularly scheduled meeting immediately thereafter. 

Adopted:  April 18, 2018