§ 6218 — Contracts and purchases

§ 6218. Contracts and purchases. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of\nsubdivision two of section one hundred twelve and sections one hundred\nfifteen, one hundred sixty-one and one hundred sixty-three of the state\nfinance law and section three of the New York state printing and public\ndocuments law or any other law to the contrary, the city university\ntrustees are authorized and empowered to:\n (i) purchase materials; proprietary electronic information resources,\nincluding, but not limited to, academic, professional and industry\njournals, reference handbooks and manuals, research tracking tools,\nindexes and abstracts; and equipment and supplies, including computer\nequipment and motor vehicles, where the amount for a single purchase\ndoes not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars, (ii) execute contracts\nfor services and construction contracts to an amount not exceeding\nseventy-five thousand dollars, and (iii) contract for printing to an\namount not exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars, without prior\napproval by any other state officer or agency, but subject to rules and\nregulations of the state comptroller not otherwise inconsistent with the\nprovisions of this section and in accordance with the guidelines\npromulgated by the city university board of trustees after consultation\nwith the state comptroller. In addition, the trustees are authorized to\nannually negotiate with the state comptroller increases in the\naforementioned dollar limits and the exemption of any articles,\ncategories of articles, services, or commodities from these limits.\nGuidelines promulgated by the city university board of trustees shall,\nto the extent practicable, require that competitive proposals be\nsolicited for purchases, and shall include requirements that purchases\nand contracts authorized under this section be at the lowest available\nprice.\n b. Except as hereinafter provided, no contract for work or labor or\nthe purchase of supplies, material, or equipment or for the construction\nor the alteration of any building or facility involving an expenditure\nor liability of more than twenty thousand dollars shall be entered into\nby the board of trustees, unless said board of trustees shall have duly\nadvertised for bids for the same for a period of not less than five days\nunder regulations to be approved by the board of trustees and the\ncontract in each case shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder\nfurnishing the security as required by the board of trustees. If two or\nmore bids are tied, and are the lowest bids submitted by responsible\nbidders furnishing the security as required by the board, the board of\ntrustees may award the contract to any of said tied bidders.\n c. If the several parts of the work or labor to be done and/or the\nsupplies, materials or equipment to be furnished shall together involve\nan expenditure of not more than twenty thousand dollars, the same may be\nprocured on an order awarded to the lowest responsible bidder upon bids\nsubmitted without public advertisement under such regulations as shall\nbe made by the board of trustees. Purchases of five thousand dollars or\nless may be made without competition.\n d. The board of trustees, if it shall deem it in the public interest,\nmay reject all bids.\n e. Upon the adoption of a resolution by a vote of at least two-thirds\nof the members of the board of trustees by vote at a meeting, stating\nthat, for reasons of efficiency or economy, there is need for\nstandardization, purchase contracts for a particular type or kind of\nequipment, materials, or supplies of more than twenty thousand dollars\nmay be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder furnishing the required\nsecurity after advertisement for bids in the manner provided in this\nsection. Such resolution shall contain a full explanation of the reasons\nfor its adoption. Purchase contracts for a particular type or kind of\nequipment, materials or supplies of not more than twenty thousand\ndollars may be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder upon bids\nsubmitted without public advertisement under such regulations as shall\nbe made by the board of trustees.\n f. Surplus or second-hand supplies, materials or equipment may be\npurchased without competitive bidding from the federal government, the\nstate of New York or from any political subdivision of the state.\n g. The board of trustees is authorized to establish cash advance\naccounts for the purpose of purchasing materials, supplies, or services,\nfor cash advances for travel expenses and per diem allowances, or for\nadvance payment of wages and salary. The account may be used to purchase\nsuch materials, supplies, or services where the amount of a single\npurchase does not exceed two hundred fifty dollars in accordance with\nsuch guidelines as shall be prescribed by the city university trustees\nafter consultation with the state comptroller.\n h. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section, the board of\ntrustees may make purchases, when available, through the state of New\nYork, the city of New York, the federal government or the board of\neducation of the city of New York, provided that the board of trustees\nshall accept sole responsibility for any payment due the vendor.\n