NY Educ L § 6218 (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 7 - State and City Colleges and Institutions-Cornell University Article 125 - City University of New York 6218 - Contracts and Purchases.

§ 6218. Contracts  and  purchases. * a. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of  section  one  hundred  twelve  and  sections  one hundred  fifteen,  one  hundred sixty-one and one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law and sections three and six of the New  York  state printing  and public documents law or any other law to the contrary, the city university is authorized and empowered to:  (1)  (i)  purchase  materials;  proprietary   electronic   information resources,  including,  but  not  limited to, academic, professional and industry journals, reference handbooks and  manuals,  research  tracking tools,  indexes  and  abstracts;  and  equipment and supplies, including computer equipment  and  motor  vehicles,  (ii)  execute  contracts  for construction  and  construction-related  services  contracts,  and (iii) contract for printing, without prior approval by any other state officer or agency, but subject to rules and regulations of the state comptroller not otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of this  section  and  in accordance  with the guidelines promulgated by the city university board of trustees after consultation with the state comptroller.  (2) execute contracts for services to an amount not  exceeding  twenty thousand  dollars  without  prior approval by any other state officer or agency, but subject to rules and regulations of  the  state  comptroller not  otherwise  inconsistent  with the provisions of this section and in accordance with the guidelines promulgated by the city university  board of  trustees after consultation with the state comptroller. In addition, the trustees,  after  consultation  with  the  commissioner  of  general services,   are   authorized   to  annually  negotiate  with  the  state comptroller increases  in  the  aforementioned  dollar  limits  and  the exemption of any services or categories of services from these limits.   * NB Effective until June 30, 2026   * a.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions of paragraph two of section one hundred twelve and sections one hundred fifteen, one hundred  sixty-one, one  hundred  sixty-three  and  one  hundred  seventy-four  of the state finance law and sections three and six of the New  York  state  printing and  public  documents  law  or  any other law to the contrary, the city university trustees are authorized and empowered to:  (i) purchase materials; proprietary electronic information  resources, including,  but  not  limited  to,  academic,  professional and industry journals, reference handbooks  and  manuals,  research  tracking  tools, indexes  and  abstracts;  and equipment and supplies, including computer equipment and motor vehicles, where the amount  for  a  single  purchase does  not  exceed  twenty  thousand  dollars, (ii) execute contracts for services to an amount not exceeding twenty thousand dollars,  and  (iii) contract  for printing to an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars, without prior approval by any other state officer or agency, but subject to  rules  and  regulations  of  the  state  comptroller  not  otherwise inconsistent  with the provisions of this section and in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the city  university  board  of trustees after consultation with the state comptroller. In addition, the trustees are authorized to annually negotiate with the state comptroller increases  in  the aforementioned dollar limits and the exemption of any articles, categories of articles or commodities from these limits. Rules and regulations promulgated by the city  university  board  of  trustees shall,  to the extent practicable, require that competitive proposals be solicited for purchases, and shall include requirements  that  purchases and  contracts  authorized  under this section be at the lowest possible price.   * NB Effective June 30, 2026   * a-1. Guidelines promulgated by the city university board of trustees shall, to the extent practicable, require that competitive proposals  be  solicited  for  purchases, and shall include requirements that purchases and contracts authorized under this section be at the  lowest  available price.   * NB Repealed June 30, 2026   b.  Except  as  hereinafter provided, no contract for work or labor or the purchase of supplies, material, or equipment or for the construction or the alteration of any building or facility involving  an  expenditure or  liability of more than twenty thousand dollars shall be entered into by the board of trustees, unless said board of trustees shall have  duly advertised for bids for the same for a period of not less than five days under  regulations  to  be  approved  by  the  board of trustees and the contract in each case shall be awarded to the lowest responsible  bidder furnishing  the security as required by the board of trustees. If two or more bids are tied, and are the lowest  bids  submitted  by  responsible bidders  furnishing  the security as required by the board, the board of trustees may award the contract to any of said tied bidders.   c. If the several parts of the work or labor to  be  done  and/or  the supplies,  materials or equipment to be furnished shall together involve an expenditure of not more than twenty thousand dollars, the same may be procured on an order awarded to the lowest responsible bidder upon  bids submitted  without  public advertisement under such regulations as shall be made by the board of trustees. Purchases of five thousand dollars  or less may be made without competition.   d.  The board of trustees, if it shall deem it in the public interest, may reject all bids.   e. Upon the adoption of a resolution by a vote of at least  two-thirds of  the  members  of the board of trustees by vote at a meeting, stating that,  for  reasons  of  efficiency  or  economy,  there  is  need   for standardization,  purchase  contracts  for  a particular type or kind of equipment, materials, or supplies of more than twenty  thousand  dollars may  be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder furnishing the required security after advertisement for bids in the  manner  provided  in  this section. Such resolution shall contain a full explanation of the reasons for  its  adoption.  Purchase contracts for a particular type or kind of equipment, materials or  supplies  of  not  more  than  twenty  thousand dollars  may  be  awarded  to  the  lowest  responsible bidder upon bids submitted without public advertisement under such regulations  as  shall be made by the board of trustees.   f.  Surplus  or  second-hand  supplies,  materials or equipment may be purchased without competitive bidding from the federal  government,  the state of New York or from any political subdivision of the state.   g.  The  board  of  trustees  is  authorized to establish cash advance accounts for the purpose of purchasing materials, supplies, or services, for cash advances for travel expenses and per diem  allowances,  or  for advance payment of wages and salary. The account may be used to purchase such  materials,  supplies,  or  services  where  the amount of a single purchase does not exceed two hundred fifty dollars  in  accordance  with such  guidelines  as shall be prescribed by the city university trustees after consultation with the state comptroller.   h. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section, the board of trustees may make purchases, when available, through the  state  of  New York,  the  city  of  New  York,  the federal government or the board of education of the city of New York, provided that the board  of  trustees shall accept sole responsibility for any payment due the vendor.