§ 2-201. Payment of Invoices.

1.

Agencies under the purview of the Board of County Commissioners shall be in compliance with F.S. § 218.70, otherwise known as the "Local Government Prompt Payment Act." Pursuant to this, the requirements of this section shall apply to the following transactions:

a.

The purchase of commodities and services;

b.

The purchase or lease of personal property;

c.

The lease of real property.

2.

The County Manager shall establish and maintain procedures that authorize minor payment variances between the purchase order and invoice where warranted. The authority to pay such variances shall not exceed 5% of the purchase order amount or $500, whichever is less.

3.

The County Manager shall establish and maintain a process to address freight and delivery charges not in compliance with FOB destination terms contained in the County General Terms and Conditions.

4.

It shall be the responsibility of the County Manager, in consultation with the Clerk's Finance Director and operating Divisions, to establish, procedures for the timely payment of all transactions as defined herein. Such procedures shall include, but are not limited to the following:

a.

Formally defining the County's requirements for the content and submission of a proper invoice, codifying the County's payment requirements and notifying each vendor of their availability.

b.

Steps required for the receipt of all invoices and the prompt return of improper invoices.

c.

Steps required for the resolution of payment disputes between the County and a vendor.

5.

Vendor Payment Dispute Resolution Process. The purpose of this section is to establish a procedure whereby payment disputes with vendors who provide goods and services to the County are resolved in a timely manner and in keeping with the Local Government Prompt Payment Act.

a.

Definitions. The definitions set forth in the Local Government Prompt Payment Act (F.S. § 218.72, 2016) are hereby incorporated by reference.

b.

If an improper payment request or invoice is submitted by a vendor, the County shall, within 10 days after the improper payment request or invoice is received, notify the vendor, in writing, that the payment request or invoice is improper and indicate what corrective action on the part of the vendor is needed to make the payment request or invoice proper.

c.

If the parties are unable to reach resolution on the payment dispute, the County Manager shall appoint a Hearing Examiner, to whom the matter will be referred to. The Hearing Examiner shall have the sole and full authority to thereafter resolve the dispute. The proceedings before the Hearing Examiner to resolve the dispute shall commence within 45 days after the date the payment request or improper invoice was received by the County and shall be concluded with final written decision by the Hearing Examiner within 60 days after the date the payment request or improper invoice was received by the County. These proceedings are not subject to F.S. ch. 120, and do not constitute an administrative hearing. Rather, these proceedings are intended to be quasi-judicial, open to the public, with the written decision of the Hearing Examiner being final, subject only to certiorari review. If the dispute is resolved in favor of the County, interest charges shall begin to accrue 15 days after the Hearing Examiner's final decision. If the dispute is resolved in favor of the Vendor, interest begins to accrue as of the original date the payment became due.

d.

If the County does not timely commence this dispute resolution process within the time required, a contractor may give written notice to the County of the failure to timely commence this dispute resolution procedure. If the County fails to commence this dispute resolution procedure within four business days after such notice, any amounts resolved in the contractor's favor shall bear mandatory interest, as set forth in F.S. ch. 218, from the date the payment request or invoice containing the disputed amounts was submitted to the County. If the dispute resolution procedure is not commenced within 4 business days after the notice, the objection to the payment request or invoice shall be deemed waived. The waiver of an objection pursuant to this paragraph does not relieve a contractor of its contractual obligations.

e.

In an action to recover amounts due under this part, the court shall award court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, including fees incurred through appeal, to the prevailing party.

f.

The conduct of the Hearing Examiner proceedings, including notice, process, and criteria, shall be set forth in the Procurement Division's Policies and Procedures.

(Ord. No. 2017-08, § 16)