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The City Council also provides part of the control system, as they approve the annual budget and have an opportunity to review all of the individual purchases through the payment of claims report. In addition, by City Ordinance all purchases in excess of $5,000 must go before the Council for approval prior to the purchase being made. The City's internal purchasing policies also prescribe the manner in which purchases are made. All purchases must be within the formally adopted budget. In addition, purchases in excess of $2,000 require the issuance of a purchase order; a process whereby the City's Finance Director verifies the availability of budgeted funds. Finally, the City's Audit Process also provides a measure of purchasing control as the City's independent auditors perform a comprehensive audit on the purchases being made to ensure compliance with state laws and local ordinances. Types of Purchases and Selection of Vendors The types of purchases being made, is as wide-ranging as the City's programs and services. While too numerous to list here, all purchases are directly linked to the provision of some City program or service in accordance with state statutes and local ordinances, and within the Council-approved Budget. In the regular course of business, the City makes purchases fram over 200 different vendors. The selection of these vendors is made based upon; pricing, availability, quality, and durability of the product or service. Pricing generally plays the largest role in selecting a vendor. With this in mind, the City typically makes purchases off of pre-approved bid lists from the State or other cooperative purchasing ventures. In addition, larger valued or recurring items are oftentimes acquired through a City-issued request for proposal or formal bid process, which ensures that the product or service is acquired at the lowest cost. When all of these factors of the acquisition process are equal, preferences is generally given to businesses located within the City of Roseville. However, given the competitive nature of retail operations, it is oftentimes more convenient (and hence more cost-effective) to use vendors from nearby cities. Consider, for example, the products the City might purchase from a Target store. It is known that prices at Target are the same for the Roseville location as they are at the Shoreview location. Therefore, price considerations play a secondary role in the decision to frequent one store over another. Absent these price considerations, Staff might select the Shoreview location because of greater supply, and greater convenience. �