COMMENT: Need: There is a small narrative and many pieces of evidence. Provide a narrative and specifically which coinciding piece of evidence supports each of the 4 areas. If the document is multiple pages please bookmark it/highlight it or only show the appropriate section.

RESPONSE: Westchester County (WC) Bureau of Purchase and Supply (BPS) is authorized to execute the purchase, sale and/or rental of supplies, materials and equipment through the AMS Advantage 3.8 Purchasing System. The BPS Advantage Financial 3.8 User Guide is provided as EOC 5. An overview of BPS is provided as EOC 6 and the BPS Buyer Directory is included as EOC 3. BPS uses guidelines provided by both Section 836 of the County Charter attached as EOC 16 and the NYS Procurement Policy included as EOC 2.

Contracts for public works and other services are not handled by the BPS but are instead handled directly by the individual county department requiring such contracts or services. Such services fall under the Westchester County Procurement Policy – EOC 9.

In order to distribute purchase procedures to staff, details are provided in the PRC Administration Manual as EOC 1. Sections 610 and 611 of this bookmarked document list the different ways goods and services may be purchased by PRC.  The various components of purchasing are listed below along with details on their coinciding evidence.

1. Bidding procedures
WC BPS operates under New York Procurement Guidelines – EOC 2 and the Westchester County Procurement Policy – EOC 9. A summary of purchasing options are provided in the BPS Procurement Guide as EOC 4.  Request for contractual services are posted online and instructions to do so are provided as EOC 12 – WC Contract Portal.

2. Criteria for the selection of vendors and bidders;
Supplies/Materials/Equipment – Purchases for supplies, materials and/or equipment are made competitively through Requests for Bid (RFB), with awards going to the lowest responsible bidders who meet the required specifications. RFBs are opened during a public bid opening which is held at the BPS office on the date and time indicated on each bid document. Details have been added as EOC 14.

Contracts – The Westchester County Board of Acquisition and Contract is a government body established to provide a process for its members to approve and authorize resolutions concerning contracts, agreements, and other contractual services submitted by County departments for the purpose of awarding contracts. The board meets weekly and meetings are open to the public. This is established in the County Charter Section 161 now included as EOC 15. Before a contract request makes it to the Board for review, the request will go through the established process. First it will be decided if a contract resolution is needed per EOC 8 – the Essential Elements of a Resolution. The instructions on how to submit a resolution are included as EOC 7 – WC Workflow Manual for Resolution Submission. Once approved, contracts can be tracked through On-Base and the WC On-Base Contract Management Manual is included as EOC 13.

3. Procedures for disbursement of petty cash and issuance;
Petty Cash Procedures are included in highlighted sections 608 (page 60) and section 611 (page 68) of the PRC Administration Manual as EOC 17 and the PRC Petty Cash Reimbursement Form is included as EOC 11.

4. Use of procurement cards, if applicable.
Purchase Card Procedures are included in highlighted section 611 – option 5 (page 66) of the PRC Administration Manual as EOC 17. The WC Purchase Card Terms of Use, agreed to by each employee with a card, is included as EOC 10.