Statutory Authority, Executive Order, & NC Administrative Codes

Community Colleges are required by General Statute 115D-58.5 to purchase all supplies, equipment and materials by contracts made by or with the approval of the Division of Purchase and Contract of the Department of Administration.

Additional resources needed to ensure that Carteret Community College meets all requirements in conducting day to day purchasing activities are the NC State Board of Community College Code Title 1 Chapter 5 (Purchase and Contract Home Page), Title 9 Chapter 6 (DIT Home Page), Article 3 and 3C of Chapter 143 and Article 15 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes.

Accounting System

G.S. 115D-58.5

• “Each institution shall establish and maintain an accounting system consistent with procedures as prescribed by the Community Colleges System Office and the State Controller, which shows its assets, liabilities, equities, revenues, and expenditures.”
• “Each institution shall be governed in its purchasing of all supplies, equipment, and materials by contracts made by or with the approval of the Purchase and Contract Division of the Department of Administration except as provided in G.S. 115D-58.14. No contract shall be made by any board of trustees for purchases unless provision has been made in the budget of the institution to provide payment thereof. To protect the State purchase contracts, it is the duty of the board of trustees and administrative officers of each institution to pay for such purchases promptly in accordance with the contract of purchase. Equipment shall be titled to the State Board of Community Colleges if derived from State or federal funds.”
• “The operations of each institution shall be subject to oversight of the State Auditor pursuant to Article 5A of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes.”

Additionally, centralized purchasing allows for close monitoring of conflicts of interest, budget adherence, and legal compliance through internal controls.

The guidelines and procedures for identifying, categorizing, and purchasing each item are contained in the NC Procurement Manual published by the NC Division of Purchase and Contract and the NC Purchasing and Equipment Procedures Manual published by the Administrative and Facility Services Section of the NC Community Colleges System.

Both publications are periodically updated.

Purchasing Flexibility

G.S. 115D-58.14 - Purchasing Flexibility

1. Community colleges may purchase supplies, equipment, and materials from noncertified sources that are available under State term contracts, subject to the following conditions:
   • The purchase price, including the cost of delivery, is less than the cost under the State term contract; and
   • The cost of the purchase shall not exceed the bid value benchmark established under G.S. 143-53.1; for Carteret Community College this is $50,000 and
   • The items are the same or similar in quality, service, and performance as items available under State term contracts.
     • Similar is defined as having comparable, but not identical characteristics in terms of quality, service, and performance as items available under State term contracts.
     • If utilizing Purchasing Flexibility, state contract cost must be provided in the comment section of eProcurement requisition for reporting purposes.

Purchase of recycled paper and paper products

G.S. 143-58.3 - In alignment with North Carolina General Statute 143-58.3, which establishes the State’s commitment to purchasing paper and paper products with recycled content, Carteret Community College supports and adheres to this environmental sustainability goal.

Whenever feasible, the College will prioritize the procurement of recycled paper and paper products. As part of this commitment, Carteret Community College currently purchases all copy paper through the North Carolina State Term Contract, which supplies paper containing a minimum of 30% recycled content.

Historically Underutilized Business Program

G.S. 143-48 (a) - State policy; cooperation in promoting the use of small minority, physically handicapped and women contractors; purpose; required annual reports.

"(a) Policy – It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the use of small contractors, minority contractors, physically handicapped contractors, and women contractors in State purchasing of goods and services. All State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the Department of Administration and all other State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions in efforts to encourage the use of small contractors, minority contractors, physically handicapped contractors, and women contractors in achieving the purpose of this Article, which is to provide for the effective and economical acquisition, management and disposition of goods and services by and through the Department of Administration.”

Listings of these "Historically Underutilized Businesses" or "HUB" vendors and their products and services are available on the Internet at the Division of Purchase and Contract web site: NC Administration/Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB)

To search for “HUB” vendors, follow these steps:

• Scroll down and click on the “HUB Vendor Search” tile.
• You can search for “HUB” vendors by company name or commodity code:
  • By Company Name: Type the company’s name in the provided field and click “Search”.
  • By Commodity Code: Expand the “Advanced Search” section, go to the commodity code field, and click the down arrow. If you know the commodity code, type it in. If you need to find the commodity code, click “Add Commodity Codes”, scroll through the list, and select the appropriate code. Click “Add” at the bottom.
• After adding the commodity code, return to the original search screen and click the “Search” button. A list of vendors will be displayed.

Please refer to these lists when selecting vendors for purchases. CCC is required to file quarterly reports with the State showing the total purchases from “HUB” vendors. Our goal is to reach 10% HUB participation each quarter per G.S. 143-128.2.

Executive Order No. 50 (Price-Matching Preference):

Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute § 143-59 (G.S. § 143-59) issued by Governor Perdue on February 17, 2010, entitled “Enhanced Purchasing Opportunities for North Carolina Businesses,” a price-matching preference may be given to North Carolina resident bidders on contracts for the purchase of goods. This preference will allow a qualified North Carolina resident bidder to match the price of the lowest responsible nonresident bidder, if the North Carolina resident bidder’s price is within five percent (5%) or $10,000, whichever is less, of the nonresident bidder’s price. If the resident bidder requests and qualifies for the price-matching preference, the resident bidder will first be offered the contract award and will have three (3) business days to accept or decline the award based on the lowest responsible nonresident bidder’s price.

Executive Order #50 applies to procurements from the Governor’s Office, Cabinet Agencies (i.e., Administration, Commerce, Correction, Crime Control and Public Safety, Cultural Resources, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Human Services, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Revenue, and Transportation), Universities and Community Colleges and all procurements handled by the Division of Purchase and Contract. All other State Agencies are encouraged to implement the requirements of Executive Order #50 and vendors should contact these State Agencies to determine whether they have adopted and implemented Executive Order #50.

Executive Order 

No. 24 Gift Ban

North Carolina General statute§ 133-32

It is unlawful for any vendor or contractor ( i.e. architect, bidder, contractor, construction manager, design professional, engineer, landlord, offeror, seller, subcontractor, supplier, or vendor), to make gifts or to give favors to any State employee of the Office of the Governor and Governor’s Cabinet Agencies (i.e., Administration, Commerce, Correction, Crime Control and Public Safety, Cultural Resources, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Human Services, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Revenue, and Transportation). This prohibition covers those vendors and contractors who:

• have a contract with a governmental agency; or
• have performed under such a contract within the past year; or
• anticipate bidding on such a contract in the future.

Executive Order 24 also encouraged and invited other State Agencies to implement the requirements and prohibitions of the Executive Order to their agencies. CCC has enacted Executive order No. 24 Gift Ban as a show of ethics and integrity. Vendors and contractors should contact other State Agencies to determine if those agencies have adopted Executive Order 24.”

*Enacted in 2009 by then Governor Beverly Perdue

Expenditure of Funds from Different Sources

01 NCAC 05B .1505

(a) “All public funds irrespective of source, whether special, federal, local, gifts, bequests, receipts, fees or State appropriated, used for the purchase, rental, lease, installment purchase and lease/purchase of commodities, printing and services shall be handled under the provision of Article 3 of G.S. 143 and in accordance with rules adopted pursuant thereto by the Division of Purchase and Contract.”