Redmond staff propose procurement overhaul, council asks for more data before approving higher signing limits

City of Redmond finance staff on Tuesday presented a plan to overhaul purchasing operations and proposed changes to when contract amendments and multi‑year contracts must return to the City Council for approval.

The presentation, led by Kelly Cochran, finance director, and purchasing staff Haritha Nara and Adam O'Sullivan, laid out recent workload metrics for the purchasing division and a package of policy changes intended to increase efficiency, improve compliance and reduce project delays. Cochran described the meeting's purpose as “to touch base really on the scope of work that we are creating in order to inform, the process improvement work.”

Why it matters: The proposals would shift how the city counts contract value for council review, change signing authority limits for the mayor, and standardize treatment of contract amendments — all of which determine how much council oversight the public sees for spending decisions.

Key details from staff

Haritha Nara, a city purchasing staff member, said the purchasing team is small — a supervisor and three senior purchasing agents — and handles a large workload. She reported the division issued about 2,080 purchase orders in 2024 (about 173 per month) and cited roughly $27.6 million in PO spend for that year; she also said POs recorded in the city's D365 financial system totaled about $27.7 million and that the team…