Ogden staff propose raising procurement thresholds to match state CPI, citing efficiency and local market shifts

Ruby Portoiano, Ogden City’s purchasing coordinator, presented proposed changes to the city’s procurement code at the Jan. 7 work session that would raise purchasing thresholds, align certain rules to state guidance, and reduce administrative burden on low-dollar purchases.

Portoiano told the council the municipal purchasing code had not been comprehensively updated for years — in places dating to 1994 — and that the proposed changes would benchmark Ogden’s thresholds against state code and nearby municipalities. Under the proposals presented, professional-services direct negotiation and formal-solicitation thresholds would be raised from the current sub-$5,000 and $10,000 levels to $100,000 (with due-diligence and approval requirements). For goods, general services and smaller construction, no-quote purchases would rise from under $1,000 to under $10,000; informal-quote requirements would move from $1,000–$25,000 to $10,000–$50,000; and formal solicitation would increase from $25,000 to $50,000.

Portoiano said the committee working on the revisions examined the Utah state procurement code, which adjusts thresholds by CPI, and surveyed peer cities (Draper, Layton, Murray, Orem, Salt Lake City, Sandy, South Salt Lake, West Jordan and West Valley). Gary, a committee member who joined the discussion, said the draft language largely follows state practice and that for professional services price is often secondary to qualifications; the proposed $100,000 threshold is intended to let staff use a streamlined qualifications review for higher-value professional work while still requiring documentation of at least three firms’ qualifications and dual-executive approval.

Council members asked practical questions: whether the $100,000 number could be lowered (Portoiano and committee members said they considered lower alternatives but noted the state benchmark and peer practice), whether thresholds would auto-update with CPI (yes, the proposal uses CPI-based thresholds for public building improvements and public works), and whether the city could round CPI-derived figures to easier numbers in practice (staff said they could apply rounding in practice though they did not recommend codifying it). Portoiano said the city carried out about 65 formal solicitations last year and that raising thresholds would free staff time for higher-value procurement oversight and help attract bidders (contractors sometimes do not bid on small projects that require costly bid bonds).

Other proposed changes include raising the public-bidding threshold for building improvements to the CPI-derived figure cited in state guidance ($64,313 as of 07/01/2024) and for public-works projects to $200,979; increasing bond requirements for construction contracts to $50,000 from $25,000; and requiring written quotes on company letterhead for purchases of $10,000 and above.

Portoiano closed by saying the ad hoc committee believes the changes will improve speed and competitiveness while preserving accountability; the council placed the item on the Jan. 21 agenda for formal consideration.