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2 | P a g e <br />City of Victoria Purchasing Policy <br />Adopted by the City Council 2015-04-13 <br /> All purchases must be approved as part of the annual budget or within the CIP. The level of <br />budgetary control is established at the department level. Expenditures for departments that <br />exceed appropriations are not authorized unless additional revenue sources, unspent <br />appropriations, or fund balances are identified and available. The City Manager is authorized to <br />transfer up to $10,000 between departments if an additional revenue source, unspent <br />appropriations, or fund balances are identified. Council approval is required for amounts over <br />$10,000. <br /> The City Council has pre-approved payment for utility accounts and payroll transfers that occur in <br />the normal course of business even though they may exceed $10,000. These are contractual <br />accounts for services that are approved as part of the budget process. The vendors that fall <br />under this situation include: Centerpoint Energy, Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative, Xcel <br />Energy, Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, United States Treasury, State of <br />Minnesota, PERA, and the City’s insurance and healthcare providers. Any payments to these <br />vendors that are outside the normal course of business will be presented to the City Council for <br />individual approval. <br /> Debt Service Payments are also pre-approved as listed in the Debt Service Schedule in bond <br />documents. <br /> Contractual services are subject to the limits in the Quick Reference Guide above. Independent <br />contractors are required to provide proof of insurance before providing services. <br /> RFPs are required for contracting services in excess of $25,000 except for contractors included in <br />the consultant pool. <br /> <br />III. Ethics/Relations with Vendors <br /> <br />The City of Victoria holds its employees to the highest ethical standards. Purchases shall be conducted <br />so they foster public confidence in the integrity of the City’s procurement system, and open and free <br />competition among prospective suppliers. In keeping with this value, employees should avoid the <br />following practices when making purchases on behalf of the City: <br /> <br /> Circumventing competitive bidding requirements – Examples include: <br />o Splitting purchases so that they can be made through several small purchases <br />o Using the emergency procedure process when no true emergency exists <br />o Using a “sole source” exemption when competition is available <br /> Denying one or more vendors the opportunity to bid on a contract – Examples include: <br />o Using unnecessarily restrictive specifications <br />o Pre-qualifying bidders on a discriminatory basis <br />o Removing companies from a bidders list without just cause <br />o Requiring unnecessarily high bonding <br /> Giving favored vendors an unfair advantage – Examples include: <br />o Providing vendors with information regarding their competition’s offers in advance of a bid <br />opening <br />o Making information available to favored vendors and not to others <br />o Giving un-favored vendors inaccurate or misleading information <br /> Accepting gifts from vendors <br />o Minnesota Statutes §471.895 prohibits government employees from receiving gifts except <br />where they are included as part of the cost of a product, good, or service provided (such <br />as a meal as part of a conference). <br />