N.Y. General Municipal Law § 104-b: Procurement policies and procedures

§ 104-b. Procurement policies and procedures. 1. Goods and services

which are not required by law to be procured by political subdivisions

or any districts therein pursuant to competitive bidding must be

procured in a manner so as to assure the prudent and economical use of

public moneys in the best interests of the taxpayers of the political

subdivision or district, to facilitate the acquisition of goods and

services of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost under the

circumstances, and to guard against favoritism, improvidence,

extravagance, fraud and corruption. To further these objectives, the

governing board of every political subdivision and any district therein,

by resolution, shall adopt internal policies and procedures governing

all procurements of goods and services which are not required to be made

pursuant to the competitive bidding requirements of section one hundred

three of this article or of any other general, special or local law. In

cities with a population of one million or more, the procurement policy

board shall develop and promulgate such policies and procedures by rule.

2. Such policies and procedures shall contain provisions which, among

other things:

a. prescribe a procedure for determining whether a procurement of

goods and services is subject to competitive bidding and documenting the

basis for any determination that competitive bidding is not required by

law;

b. provide that, except for procurements made pursuant to subdivision

three of section one hundred three or section one hundred four of this

article, section one hundred seventy-five-b of the state finance law,

section one hundred eighty-six of the correction law, or the policies

and procedures adopted pursuant to paragraph f of this subdivision,

alternative proposals or quotations for goods and services shall be

secured by use of written requests for proposals, written quotations,

verbal quotations or any other method of procurement which furthers the

purposes of this section;

c. set forth when each such method of procurement will be utilized,

taking into account which method will best further the purposes of this

section and the cost-effectiveness of the method;

d. require adequate documentation of actions taken in connection with

each such method of procurement;

e. require justification and documentation of any contract awarded to

other than the lowest responsible dollar offeror, setting forth the

reasons such an award furthers the purpose of this section; and

f. identify the individual or individuals responsible for purchasing

and their respective titles. Such information shall be updated

biennially.

g. set forth any circumstances when, or types of procurements for

which, in the sole discretion of the governing body (or in the case of

cities with a population of one million or more, the procurement policy

board), the solicitation of alternative proposals or quotations will not

be in the best interest of the political subdivision or district

therein.

3. Comments concerning the policies and procedures shall be solicited

from officers of the political subdivision or district therein involved

in the procurement process prior to the enactment of the policies and

procedures, and from time to time thereafter.

4. The governing board shall annually review its policies and

procedures. In the case of a city with a population of one million or

more, the annual review shall be the duty and responsibility of the

procurement policy board.

5. The unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions of

this section shall not be grounds to void action taken or give rise to a

cause of action against the political subdivision or district or any

officer or employee thereof.

6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section or any

provision of law, boards of education shall have the authority to

include in the internal policies and procedures governing procurement of

apparel or sports equipment, where such procurement is not required to

be made pursuant to the competitive bidding requirements of section one

hundred three of this article, a prohibition against the purchase of

apparel or sports equipment from any vendor based upon either or both of

the following considerations: (a) the labor standards applicable to the

manufacture of the apparel or sports equipment, including but not

limited to employee compensation, working conditions, employee rights to

form unions, and the use of child labor; or (b) the bidder's failure to

provide information sufficient for boards of education to determine the

labor standards applicable to the manufacture of the apparel or sports

equipment.