Howard County                                   2801

any part of any fee, commission or other compensation paid or payable by
the County. The acceptance of any such gratuity by an official or employee
of the County shall be deemed to be a violation of this Act and shall be
cause for removal or other disciplinary action. The offer of any gratuity
to any official or employee of the County by any vendor or contractor or
prospective vendor or contractor shall be cause for declaring such indi-
vidual, corporation, or firm to be an irresponsible bidder and for debarring
him from bidding.

(2) Each bid shall include a clause, signed by the bidder and made
a part of his bid, that he has not violated the provisions of this subtitle,
Section 4.114.

4.115—Debarment of Irresponsible Bidders

The purchasing agent may determine and declare a bidder to be
irresponsible for the reasons cited in this subtitle; may remove his name
from the bidder's list; and may debar him from bidding for a reasonable
period, or not less than one year. Such debarred bidder shall be furnished
with a statement of the reasons therefor.

4.116—Inspection

The receiving agency shall inspect deliveries of supplies, materials and
equipment or the furnishing of contractual services to insure their conform-
ance with the specification set forth in the purchase order or contract.
Any agency which has the necessary facilities and staff for adequate inspec-
tion may be authorized and directed by the County Executive, on the
recommendation of the purchasing agent, to inspect deliveries made to
other agencies. The purchasing agent shall have authority to require
chemical and physical tests of samples submitted with bids and samples
of deliveries to the extent necessary to determine their quality in con-
formance with the specification. For such tests, the purchasing agent
shall have authority to make use of laboratory facilities of any agency or
to engage the services of any outside laboratory.

4.117—Warehouses and Storerooms

The purchasing agent shall assume supervision and control over all
County warehouses and storerooms, including responsibility for directing
the activities of personnel assigned and controlling and accounting for
the supplies stocked therein, excluding such storerooms as may be set up
to meet the needs of individual agencies. The rules and regulations
adopted pursuant to this subtitle shall prescribe the procedure to be ob-
served by using agencies and by store or warehouse personnel in accounting
for the receipt and disbursement of supplies. In addition, such rules and
regulations governing warehousing and stores shall make specific provision
for at least the following:

(1)    The classification of inventory items and their positive identi-
fication by means of standard nomenclature or code or part numbers.

(2)    Adequate storage facilities and supervision.

(3)    An accurate, perpetual inventory record, showing receipts, allot-
ments, disbursements, and available balances in stores, supported by
periodic physical inventory count or stock-taking.

(4)    An established cost system, an accounting procedure to interpret
the physical or unit quantity records into financial terms and, including
periodic reconciliation of the stores controlling accounts with the ledger
controls maintained by the Director of Finance.