Daytona Beach Shores updates procurement code, sets city manager purchase limit by resolution

The Daytona Beach Shores City Commission on July 28 adopted an ordinance updating the municipal procurement code and approved a separate resolution that sets the City Manager's purchasing authority at $100,000.

City officials said the ordinance removes fixed dollar thresholds from the municipal code so future changes to approval limits can be set by resolution rather than by ordinance. Finance staff recommended the $100,000 limit; the ordinance passed 5-0 and the resolution setting the limit passed 4-1.

The revision updates Chapter 2-9 (procurement) and amends earlier language in Ordinance 2022-13, according to the attorney's reading. Finance staff told commissioners that routine purchases previously covered by approved budgets sometimes now exceed historical dollar thresholds because market prices for vehicles, paving and other goods have increased. The commission discussed examples: staff said a recent parking-lot paving bid ran about $69,000 and that vehicle prices that once fell below $50,000 now often exceed that amount.

Mayor Miller questioned the size of the increase, saying, "To me doubling seems very, very high." Finance staff and other commissioners said they supported a higher threshold to avoid repeatedly returning to the commission to approve budgeted purchases when market-driven costs rise. Vice Mayor Plytas expressed confidence in delegating increased authority, saying staff typically recommends actions the commission later approves.

Under the approved approach, the ordinance changes procurement procedures and removes the fixed approval limits from the municipal code; a companion resolution establishes the City Manager's approval limit at $100,000. The commission discussed a lower alternative of $75,000 but voted to adopt the staff recommendation.

The commission's action was described as administrative: the ordinance updates procurement language, and the resolution changes how approval limits are set and applied. Commissioners and staff emphasized that purchases exceeding the City Manager's limit or outside the adopted budget would continue to come before the commission.

The commission recorded the ordinance vote as 5-0 and the resolution vote as 4-1. Staff said the practical effect is to reduce the number of agenda items brought back to commissioners for budgeted purchases that now exceed older thresholds.