Purchasing presents a number of ethical and legal hazards for local officials, despite what can be a relatively small impact on overall agency spending. This is because missteps can undermine the public’s overall confidence in the agency’s financial practices.

Procurement policies and practices enable an agency to promote maximum value and economy for the agency’s constituents through fair and competitive processes.

The goal underlying such policies is to select vendors and service providers using processes in ways that minimize opportunities for favoritism and that provide for competitive pricing.

For more information, including questions to ask about purchasing and contracting practices, see information at right.