PURCHASING & FACILITY SERVICES

The goals of the Purchasing Department include the following:

• Purchase of quality goods and services.
• Obtain the best possible price for goods and services.
• Delivery of goods and services when and where needed.

• Responsible bidders are given a fair opportunity to compete for the City's business. This is done through statutory requirements for competitive bids and proposals as well as the City's monetary and purchasing guidelines.
• Public funds are safeguarded. Although the Purchasing Department does not usually designate the types of purchases to be made, we should see that the best value is received for the public dollar.
• We are interested in obtaining good response to our bids and inquiries. We welcome your input regarding bid response times, changes in specifications, and any other suggestions that might improve competition on our bids and proposals.

• Assist in the selection of responsible vendors.
• Assist in obtaining pricing information.
• Determine purchase price is reasonable and requirements for competition and performance have been met.
• Assist individual departments to develop quality specifications for goods and services to be purchased along with required delivery schedules.
• Encourage competition between vendors through the competitive bidding process.
• Utilize annual supply agreements whenever possible in order to maximize buying advantages and economies of scale.
• Continuously monitor requisitions by all departments to facilitate consolidations of purchases where possible.
• Explore the use of cooperative purchasing programs through the State of Texas and other local government agencies.

Statement of Purchasing Policy

Public employment is a public trust.  Public employees must discharge their duties impartially so as to assure fair, competitive access to governmental procurement by responsible contractors. Moreover, they should conduct themselves in such a manner as to foster public confidence in the integrity of the City's purchasing function.

To achieve the purpose of this section, it is essential that vendors conducting business with the City also observe the ethical standards prescribed herein.

General Ethical Standards (Chapter 2, Code of Ethics, Article II of the City Code)

It shall be a breach of ethics to attempt to realize personal gain through public employment with the City of Temple by any conduct inconsistent with proper discharge of the employee's duties.

It shall be a breach of ethics to attempt to influence any public employee of the City to breach the standards of ethical conduct set forth in this code.

It shall be a breach of ethics for any employee of the City to participate directly or indirectly in a procurement when the employee knows that:

• The employee or any member of the employee's immediate family has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement;
• A business or organization in which   the employee, or any member of the. employee's immediate family, has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement; or
• Any other person, business, or organization with whom the employee or any member of the employee's immediate family is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment is involved in the procurement.

It shall be a breach of ethics to offer, give or agree to give any employee of the City or for any employee of the City to solicit, demand, accept or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or an offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a program requirement or purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or procurement standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding or application, request for ruling, determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter pertaining to any program requirement or a contract or subcontract, or to any solicitation or proposal, therefore, pending before the City.

It shall be a breach of ethics for any payment, gratuity, or offer of employment to be made by or on behalf of a subcontractor under a contract to the prime contractor or higher tier subcontractor for any contract for the City of Temple, or any person associated therewith, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order. The prohibition against gratuities and kickbacks prescribed above shall be conspicuously set forth in every contract and solicitation therefore.

It shall be a breach of ethics for any employee or former employee of the City of Temple knowingly to use confidential information for actual or anticipated personal gain, or for the actual or anticipated gain of any person.

No City employee shall purchase supplies, materials or equipment of any kind through the City of Temple or the Purchasing Department for personal use. City employees are strictly prohibited from taking advantage of pricing available to the City from any vendor doing business with the City (including accepting sales tax exemptions on personal goods or services when not intended for City use). This does not apply in cases where vendors have made special pricing available and notice is given to all City employees.

Employees are prohibited from soliciting gifts of merchandise, personal services or gratuities from any supplier, contractor, or others with whom the City does business. Receipt of any gift or entertainment should be such that full public disclosure would not embarrass the employee or the City. Further, such gift or entertainment should be consistent with ethical business practices and of a very limited monetary value so as to not in any way be interpreted as an attempt to buy the recipient's favor in any City business past, present, or future.

Employees may accept unsolicited non-monetary gifts only if they are items of nominal value. This includes advertising and promotional materials such as pens, scratch pads or calendars, but is not necessarily limited to just these examples. If a gift is so personalized or perishable as to make its return impractical, or if its return could constitute an affront to the giver or cause the City embarrassment, the City Manager shall determine the proper disposition.

It shall be a breach of ethics for a City employee to knowingly avoid the competitive bid process by making component, separate or sequential purchases (as those terms are described in Chapter 252 of the Local Government Code) that ordinarily would have been made as a single purchase.