Each using agency shall, at all times, in the form and for the periods prescribed by the director of the Division of Purchase and Property, present to him detailed applications and schedules for all articles to be purchased. The director shall then arrange such schedules or parts thereof for purchase and contract, in the manner best calculated to attract competition and advantageous prices. He shall award contracts or orders for purchase to the lowest responsible bidder meeting all specifications and conditions. He shall have authority to reject any or all bids or to award in whole or in part if deemed to the best interest of the State to do so. In case of tie bids, he shall have authority to award orders or contracts to the vendor or vendors best meeting all specifications and conditions. Public bids shall not be waived except with the written approval of the State Treasurer and except after notice in writing to the State Auditor. The director shall prescribe the terms and conditions for delivery, inspection, payment and all other detail whatsoever.

Upon the award of contracts or orders for purchase, the director of the Division of Purchase and Property shall thereupon make an encumbrance request to the director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury for the amount necessary to defray the cost thereof, indicating the appropriations or authorizations to spend funds against which the contract or purchase order will be charged.

The bills for such purchases shall be apportioned by the director of the Division of Purchase and Property among the using agencies in proportion to the purchases made therefor, and certified as apportioned to the director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, to be charged against the respective appropriations or authorizations to spend as indicated by the certificate of the director of the Division of Purchase and Property. The bills therefor shall be paid by warrant check of the director of the Division of Budget and Accounting and State Treasurer.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to repeal or otherwise affect any law of this State relating to the purchase or use of the products of the labor of the inmates of a charitable, reformatory or penal institution of this State.

L.1948, c. 92, p. 517, s. 19.