Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3358:11 - Michael J. Owens Community College › Chapter 3358:11-4 - College Policies In General › Section 3358:11-4-12 - Purchasing policy

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) Purpose
.
The board of
			 trustees of Owens community college desires to obtain the maximum value of each
			 dollar of expenditure, and to obtain quality goods and services from the lowest
			 responsive and responsible vendor or bidder. This rule does not apply to
			 purchases related to works of improvement/construction, which are addressed in
			 rule 3358:11-4-24 of the
			 Administrative Code (construction purchasing). This rule does not apply to
			 purchases related to grant funding, which are addressed in rule
			 3358:11-4-28 of the
			 Administrative Code (procurement for federal awards).
(B)
								Policy. The
			 college shall conduct procurement activities in an efficient and cost-effective
			 manner that supports the mission of the college while maintaining compliance
			 with applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
(1) Determination of lowest, responsive and
			 responsible bid. A bidder shall be considered responsive if their proposal
			 meets or exceeds specifications. The bidder shall be considered responsible for
			 proper execution of contract or purchase order by demonstrating acceptable
			 proof of proper experience, financial condition, insurance, conduct and
			 performance on previous contracts, which shall include compliance with
			 regulatory agencies, history of accidents and illness rates, safety training,
			 references, licensing, and facilities and personnel. Wherever possible,
			 consideration will be given to bidders utilizing a local workforce. All bidders
			 are encouraged to participate in quality of life programs for their employees
			 to enhance the greater wellbeing of the local community.
Owens community college, however, reserves the right to reject
				any and all bids or parts thereof or items therein and to waive any informality
				in bids received whenever such rejection or waiver is in the interest of the
				college. Owens community college also reserves the right not to award a
				contract to the low bidder if the college determines that the low bid is not in
				the best interest of the college.
Owens community college shall follow the statutory requirements
				of the Revised Code for the purchase or the award of a contract for goods and
				services, including but not limited to section
				9.24 of the Revised Code for
				findings for recovery; section
				3517.13 of the Revised Code for
				campaign financing.
(2)
									Authority. The
			 authority to obligate the college for any expenditure of funds shall be limited
			 to the approval of either the board, the president/chief executive officer, the
			 treasurer/chief financial officer, or to an employee who has been delegated
			 that responsibility of budget authority by the president or treasurer/chief
			 financial officer. Employees making an unauthorized purchase may be held
			 personally liable for that purchase.
(3) Competitive bidding.
			 For the purpose of this rule, competitive bidding
			 refers to requirements for the solicitation of a request for proposals, a
			 request for quotes, or a request for information from multiple suppliers of a
			 good or service being considered. Competitive bidding will be required for the
			 following circumstances:
(a)
										The purchase or lease of any equipment, material or
			 supplies when the cost per unit price is twenty-five thousand dollars or
			 greater.
(b)
										The procurement of a service when the cost per unit
			 price is fifty thousand dollars or greater.
(c)
										Construction and
			 works of improvement contract when the estimated cost per unit price is two
			 hundred thousand dollars or greater.
(d)
										Competitive
			 quotations may be solicited for a purchase below the established competitive
			 bidding limit whenever it would be in the best interest of the
			 college.
(e)
										Any circumstance subject to competitive bidding shall
			 be advertised in a way that is determined to be in the college's best
			 interest.
(4)
									Waiver of competitive bidding. The controller has the
			 authority to waive competitive bidding when any of the following requirements
			 are met:
(a)
										A
			 sole source vendor, as determined by the controller, and approved by the
			 treasurer/chief financial officer; or in the absence of the treasurer/chief
			 financial officer, by the college president.
(b)
										An emergency
			 situation requiring such action, as determined by the president,
			 treasurer/chief financial officer or a designee.
(c)
										A need to utilize
			 an existing vendor or to maintain consistency of a good/product where changing
			 a vendor or utilizing a different brand would result in an additional cost or
			 result in incurring an unnecessary or excess cost to facilitate a change, as
			 approved by the controller based on satisfactory supporting
			 documentation.
(d)
										An existing contract, or other
			 educational/institutional cooperative or membership extending pricing to the
			 college are utilized as a source for the established price. (For an example,
			 Owens community college, or the state of Ohio department of administrative
			 services, interuniversity council, general services administration, educational
			 and institutional cooperative, national joint powers alliance (source well),
			 national intergovernmental purchasing alliance, United States communities,
			 provista, sourcing office, or Ohio association of community
			 colleges).
(e)
										When the Revised Code allows for the exemption of
			 professional service providers (i.e., auditors, attorneys, architects,
			 consultants, etc.) from competitive bidding requirements.
(f)
										When distribution
			 is authorized by the college for whom the college is the fiscal agent or
			 custodian of funds.
(5)
									Encumbering of
			 funds. The college requires a purchase order when procuring a good or a service
			 for the college.
(a)
										There are exceptions to the purchase order requirement,
			 when the college can make a direct payment of a vendor/supplier invoice, under
			 the following circumstances: referee, college night (hosted at various schools)
			 for less than two hundred dollars, scholarship and other financial aid money
			 returned to donor/source, club account, athlete medical bill, plant operation
			 emergency, state and federal aid funds returned to respective governmental
			 agency and reimbursement of an employee.
(b)
										A purchase card
			 cannot be used for meals when traveling or for liquor. An exception for the use
			 of a purchase card for food is limited to an athletic team, campus event, or a
			 club account, or for the president or a vice president for a college-related
			 meeting, event or special circumstance.
(c)
			 The threshold for approvals for purchases or leases of equipment, furniture,
			 vehicle or other goods with an aggregate value of:
(i)
			 Ten thousand dollars or more, requires prior authorization by the
			 treasurer/chief financial officer;
(ii)
			 Fifty thousand dollars or more, for a non-routine or non-recurring purchase or
			 lease, also requires prior authorization by the president;
(iii)
			 One hundred thousand dollars or more, for a nonroutine or non-recurring
			 purchase or lease, also requires prior authorization by the board of trustees.
(6)
									Board
			 notification. The board of trustees will be notified of all real property
			 purchases.
(7)Conflict
			 of interest.
(a) No public employee, officer or agent can
			 participate in the selection, award or administration of a public contract, if
			 the individual has a real or apparent conflict of interest.
			 Such a conflict of interest would arise when the
			 employee, officer or agent, any member of his or her immediate family, his or
			 her partner, or organization, which employs or is about to employ any of the
			 parties indicated herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible
			 personal benefit from a firm considered for a contract. The employees, officers
			 or agents of the college cannot solicit or cannot accept gratuities, favors, or
			 anything of monetary value from contractors or parties to
			 subcontracts.
(b) A conflict of interest would arise when
										the public
			 employee, officer, or agent, any member of the
										immediate family, partner, or
			 organization, which employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated
			 herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible personal benefit
			 from such contract. An officer, employee, or agent of
			 the college cannot solicit or accept a gratuity, favor, or anything of
			 monetary value from a contractor or a party to a
			 subcontract.
(c) A
			 potential or a conflict of interest shall be reported to the treasurer/chief
			 financial officer or to the general counsel/vice president, administration and
			 human resources.
(d) Depending on the circumstance, non-compliance
			 may be subject to the Owens community college rule
			 3358:11-5-52 of the
			 Administrative Code (standards of conduct and disciplinary process policy and
			 corresponding procedures) or to rule
			 3358:11-4-11 of the
			 Administrative Code (model ethics policy).
(8)
									Vendors and
			 related ethical/legal issues. The college recognizes the importance of having
			 strong, mutually rewarding relationships with the vendors with whom it does
			 business. The college seeks to maintain and improve these relationships by
			 treating vendors in a fair and equitable manner. Individuals authorized to
			 place purchase orders with vendors on behalf of the college shall do so in
			 accordance with the rule
			 3358:11-4-11 of the
			 Administrative Code (model ethics policy) and shall not allow relationships
			 with these vendors and/or their employees to influence the
			 award.
(9)
									Buy Ohio and buy America. The college shall give
			 preference in its purchasing activities to products that are produced, mined or
			 manufactured in the United States, as well as to bidders that qualify as having
			 a significant Ohio economic presence in accordance with section
			 125.04 of the Revised Code;
			 section 125.11 of the Revised Code; and,
			 section 3345.10 of the Revised Code.
			 This requirement may be waived when compliance would result in the college
			 paying an excessive price for the product or acquiring a disproportionately
			 inferior product.
(10)
									Prohibition of personal purchases. No personal
			 purchases are permitted to be made, via the purchase order system, a payment
			 request, a purchasing card or other institutional purchasing methodology. No
			 employee may use the college's name or present themselves as an agent of the
			 college when making personal purchases.