In
purchasing supplies, equipment and services, it is the policy of the Whitman
County Rural Library District to make every attempt to obtain maximum quality
at minimum cost in a timely manner.The
District's Director, as its purchasing agent, shall use the following guidelines:
A.Direct
Purchasing:
Any
item or group of identical items valued at less than $1,000 may be purchased
directly from a supplier, taking into account buyer experience and knowledge
of the market to achieve maximum quality at minimum cost.
B.Quotations:
For
any item or group of identical items valued from $1,000 to less than $10,000,
price quotations must be secured from enough vendors to assure establishment
of a competitive price.
C.Competitive
Bidding:
1.For
any item or group of identical items whose value is $10,000 or more, a
formal sealed bid procedure shall be used as standard procedure.Competitive
bidding shall be solicited by public notice.Bids
may be solicited from any source thought to be of advantage to the district
and shall be in writing.
2.Contracts
shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, taking into consideration
the quality of the articles proposed to be supplied, their conformity with
specifications, the purposes for which required, and time of delivery.
Whenever there is reason to believe the lowest acceptable bid is not the
best price obtainable, all bids may be rejected and the Director may call
for new bids or enter into direct negotiation to achieve the best possible
price. Each bid with name of the bidder shall be recorded, with the successful
bid indicated and shall, after letting of the contract, be open to public
inspection.
3.In
determining "lowest responsible bidder," in addition to price, the following
elements shall be given consideration:
a. The
ability, capacity and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide
the service required.
b.The
character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience and efficiency of
the bidder.
c.Whether
the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified.
d.The
quality of performance of previous contracts or service.
e.The
previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws relating to the
contract or services.
f.Such
other information as may be secured having a bearing on the decision to
award thecontract.
4.The
District may reject the bid of any bidder who has failed to perform satisfactorily
on a previous contract.
5.If
there is no response from vendors to a request for bids, or if the response
is limited to the extent that the District does not have an appropriate
choice of options, the District may either re-advertise for bids or negotiate
directly with a vendor.
6.In
the bidding process, the District may require a bidder to obtain a bond
or bonds or a District-approved substitute payable to the District in such
amount with such surety or sureties as determined by the District conditioned
that the bidder will fully, faithfully, and accurately execute the terms
of the bid and/or subsequent contract.The
bond or bonds shall be filed in the District's business office.
D.Exceptions
to quotations or competitive bidding:
1.Quotations
or formal sealed bidding shall not be necessary for:
a.Emergency
purchases, if such sealed bidding procedure would prevent or hinder the
emergency from being appropriately met.
b.Purchases
which are clearly and legitimately limited to a single source of supply
and purchases involving special facilities services, or market conditions,
in which instances the purchase price may be best established by direct
negotiation.
c.Purchase
of library materials, including but not limited to books, periodicals,
pamphlets, cassette tapes, films, and microfilms.
d.Purchases
of insurance and bonds.
e.Purchase
of repair and maintenance services by a manufacturer's representative.
f.Purchase
of bibliographic services from the Western Library Network, Dynix, Inc.,
and Bibliofile (The Library Corporation).
g.Annual
contracts for commercial services (such as parcel delivery and building
maintenance) except that new bids for services must be solicited at least
every four years.
h.Items
purchased through a purchasing contract with the State of Washington, a
political subdivision of the State of Washington under the Interlocal cooperation
Act (RCW 39.34.010), or from Central Stores, Purchasing Division, Department
of General Administration, State of Washington.
E.Procurement
of Architectural & Engineering Services:
1.The
District shall publicly announce requirements for architectural and engineering
services and negotiate contracts for such services on the basis of demonstrated
competence and qualification for the type of professional services required
and at fair and reasonable prices (RCW 39.80).This
policy shall apply only to such services whose value is estimated to be
$5,000 or more, following the District's procedures for competitive bidding.
F.Use
and control of credit cards by library employees:
1.Distribution.Credit
cards may be distributed to those Library employees who, in the opinion
of the Director, have job responsibilities which would cause their job
performance to benefit by use of a credit card.
2.Authorization
and Control.Authorized employees
may use the credit card for purchasing items in the budgeted category in
which they are responsibility or other areas approved by the Director.To
be used only if open other payment options are not available.
3.Credit
Limits.Individual credit card purchases
shall not exceed $1,000 without prior approval of the Director.
4.Personal
Charges Not A[VG2C1]uthorized.Personal
charges may not be made with library credit cards.Any
charges which cannot be properly identified or which are not properly allowed
shall be paid promptly by the card user by check and, together with interest
and all other charges made by the credit card company, shall constitute
a prior lien against all amounts owed by the city to the card user until
paid in full.
5.Reporting.Credit
card charges for approved purchases need to be signed and forwarded to
the Business Manager within seven working days of the purchase.
A.Since
there is the occasional need to dispose of books and other items of furniture
and equipment which are no longer needed or appropriate for public use,
and since Attorney General Legal Opinion (AGLO) 1974, No. 101, dated December
2, 1974 affirmed that the Board of Trustees of a Rural Library District
does have the lawful authority to dispose of such surplus material equipment;
B.Be
it resolved by the Whitman County Rural Library District Board that the
Board has adopted the following policy regarding surplus property disposal.
1.Disposition
of property valued at less than $500:
Any
property with an estimated value of less than $500 shall be disposed of
by the method determined by majority action of the Board at the time the
property is declared surplus. Methods of disposal may include sale at a
fixed price established by the Board, sale at public auction, or sale by
sealed bid.
2.Disposition
of property valued at $500 or more:Any
property with an estimated value of $500 or more shall be disposed of by
the method determined by majority action of the Board at the time the property
is declared surplus. Methods of disposal may include sale at public auction,
or sale by sealed bid.In either
case, such surplus property shall be advertised in the official Whitman
County newspaper of public record for one day or more prior to making the
property available for public inspection.
3.Exceptions:
a.In
the event that the Board of Trustees authorizes surplus property to be
sold to another governmental agency, the following procedure will be followed:
Property
may be sold at a fixed price as established by the Board, on a negotiated
basis between the WCL Director and the authorized representative of the
other agency, or via the sealed bid method as the Board shall determine
at the time the item is declared surplus.
b.In
the event the surplus property is to be traded in on a similar new item
which has a value of $1,000 or more, the following procedure will be followed:
A
minimum of three bids will be solicited for the new item.Included
as part of the vendor proposal will be a separate price offer for the item
to be traded in. All other things being equal, the vendor with the lowest
net cost for the new item will be awarded the bid.After
reviewing all bids, if it appears that it would not be economically advantageous
to accept any trade-in offer, the surplus item may be disposed of under
provisions of paragraph 1 or 2 of this policy, as appropriate.
4.General
Considerations:
a.Estimated
value for any item to be disposed of will be determined by the Board, based
upon a recommendation by the Director and/or knowledge of Board members.
Factors which are to be considered in determining value are original purchase
price, age, condition of item and the going market value as derived from
classified ads, retail outlets, swap meets, etc.
b.All
monies received from the sale of surplus items shall be returned to the
General Fund of the Whitman County Rural Library District.
c.Surplus
items shall be disposed of strictly in accordance with pre-sale publicity
and notices regarding place, date and time of sale.
No
pre-sales or pre-inspections of any surplus items are to be authorized
for any parties, either those from the public or those associated in any
way with Whitman County Library.No
individuals involved in recommending or deciding what items of furniture
and equipment are surplus shall have the opportunity to purchase those
items prior to the sale.
d.Any
surplus items which are to be sold as a group only will be clearly marked
and advertised in that manner.
e.Any
item of surplus equipment is to be sold "as is," with no warrantees made
or implied as to the fitness of the item for any intended use or as to
its condition. Any known defects which may constitute a safety hazard will
be stated on an itemized list to accompany the surplus item.
f.In
the event the surplus item has not been sold after all reasonable sales
efforts have been made, the item may be disposed of in a manner deemed
appropriate by the Director.Examples
of possible methods of disposition would be sale for salvage value or disposal
at a refuse site.Unsold surplus
property may not be donated to any individual or public or private organization
except as specified under Article VIII, Section 7, of the Washington State
Constitution.
Adopted
by the Whitman County Rural Library District Board of Trustees...
2/18/86
Revised
Oct. 19,1992
Revised
Sept. 19, 1994