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Council advances amendment to municipal purchasing procedures; raises small-purchase thresholds
Summary
Finance director presented an amendment to update Cortland’s purchasing ordinance, raising small-purchase quote thresholds to ease routine procurement and tying thresholds to an index to adjust annually.
The Cortland City Council on May 19 introduced and took first reading of an ordinance amending Ordinance O-66-23 to update municipal purchasing procedures. Finance Director Patty Gibson said the amendment raises the smaller-purchase quotation threshold to $7,500 from prior lower amounts and maintains a formal bidding threshold previously raised to $75,000; the ordinance ties thresholds to an inflation or index adjustment that increases the threshold 3% annually.
Gibson said the change is intended to reduce administrative burden for routine operating purchases such as printer cartridges and other recurring supplies, where requiring three quotes proved impractical under the old thresholds. The amendment also clarifies departmental vehicle purchasing rules and retains the requirement that departments obtain competitive bids for larger procurements.
Council members asked for a technical correction in the draft ordinance (a misplaced reference expected to be in Section 7 rather than the fourth whereas clause); staff agreed to review the language and return the item for further reading. The ordinance will return for subsequent readings before final adoption.
