New Carrollton                                  2281

[SECTION 22. INDEBTEDNESS LIMIT/BORROWING POWER.]
SECTION 16. GENERAL BORROWING AUTHORITY.

a.   Authority and Limits. The [Mayor and] Council may from time
to time authorize the Mayor to borrow upon the faith and credit of [said
Town] the City for general administration purposes and payment of its
obligations, and for financing municipal improvements or purchases of
property, structures, or equipment, and improvements authorized as bene-
fit, assessment projects, such sum or sums of money as may be necessary,
[not to] provided that the total outstanding long-term indebtedness does
not exceed at any one time a total of five (5%) per centum of the assessed
valuation of the taxable real property in [said Town for tax purposes.]
the City.

b.    Approval of Borrowing. The [Mayor and Council are] Council is
prohibited from borrowing money for any purpose, except [as provided
in Section 15 of the City Charter,] for improvements for which a benefit
assessment has been or will be levied to recover the entire cost of said
improvements, unless first approved by a majority vote at a regular or
special [Municipal] municipal election. If the money to be borrowed is
to be used for more than one specific purpose, each such purpose and the
amount of money proposed for each shall be listed [separately] as a sepa-
rate question on the ballot.

SECTION [19. BIDS] 18. PURCHASING AND CONTRACTS.

All purchases for the City government shall be made by the Mayor
or by his delegate. The Council may provide by ordinance or policy for
rules and regulations governing the use of competitive bidding for all City
purchases. In all cases where any municipal work is to be done within the
[corporate limits of New Carrollton] City, the estimated cost of which
shall exceed the sum of One Thousand ($1,000) Dollars, the Mayor [and
Council] shall publicly invite proposals or bids for said work, to be re-
ceived at a time and place to be made public at least five days before the
date set, and the Council shall in all cases award the contract for such
work to the lowest or best bidder therefor, quality of goods and work,
time of delivery or completion, and responsibility of bidders being con-
sidered, [reserving] The Council shall reserve at all times the right to
reject any and all bids received, and whenever a bid is accepted, the
[Mayor and] Council may require the successful bidder to furnish a bond
at the expense of the successful bidder in a good and sufficient amount
conditioned as may be required by the [said Mayor and] Council to insure
the satisfactory completion of the work for which said bid is accepted,
or a contract is awarded. Whenever the Mayor [and Council] may be
able to purchase material and/or employ labor by direct purchase, or
employment at an amount less than the amount of the lowest bid for
labor and/or material, after public invitation for bids as required by the
provisions of this section, then in that event the Mayor [and Council]
with the approval of the Council may undertake directly to purchase said
materials and/or employ such labor as may be necessary to perform the
municipal work as required. [, provided however, that the Mayor and
Council] The Mayor with the approval of the Council may use such regular
[Town] City employees and [Town] City equipment as it may have
under its control for the performance of any work of whatever character
necessary for street improvement or maintenance without regard to the
expense thereof, and without advertising or inviting public bids as re-
quired by the provisions of this section, for such part of the work which