County updates procurement rules to speed projects, raise small‑purchase threshold and expand exemptions

Bernalillo County commissioners adopted amendments Aug. 4 to the county procurement ordinance designed to reduce administrative barriers, speed timelines and provide more flexibility to departments. Procurement Director Annie Baca told the commission the changes refine the request-for-qualifications (RFQ) definition, allow the chief procurement officer discretion to use a one- or two-step RFQ award process, expand five exemptions from the ordinance to give flexibility to departments such as behavioral health, legal, real estate, animal control and the Metropolitan Detention Center, and increase the small purchases construction threshold from $20,000 to $100,000. The county will also allow professional service contracts to run up to eight years (up from six) to better match long-term planning and vendor relationships. Baca said the proposed amendments were introduced June 10, published and received no public comments. She told commissioners procurement is working with the county manager’s office and legal to finalize administrative instructions for district directive funding (DDF) and will brief commissioners on DDF guidelines before implementation. The county is also coordinating with the behavioral health division on changes that affect contracted services. Commissioners praised the transparency of the outreach and the county’s home‑rule authority that allows Bernalillo County to maintain its own procurement code rather than follow state code. The commission voted 5–0 to adopt the amendments.