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Committee advances bill to raise no-bid purchase limit for municipalities and counties to $2,000
Summary
The House City, County & Local Affairs Committee voted to pass HB 1145, sponsored by Rep. Jim Wooten, to raise the dollar threshold for certain no-bid aftermarket equipment purchases by municipalities and counties to $2,000; proponents cited rising costs for law-enforcement equipment.
Rep. Jim Wooten, R‑District 59, told the House City, County & Local Affairs Committee that HB 1145 would raise the dollar threshold that allows municipalities and counties to buy certain aftermarket equipment without soliciting competitive bids to $2,000.
Wooten said the bill was requested by the mayor of Ward and aimed to address higher costs for items such as light bars and other equipment used by law enforcement. “The light bars on police cars and other equipment on the law enforcement collar, cost has increased and we all know what inflation has done,” Wooten said.
John Wilkerson, general counsel for the Arkansas Municipal League, had no formal executive-committee position at the time but told the committee the league had discussed the proposal and saw value in reducing administrative burdens on smaller jurisdictions. Wooten told the committee he had not heard from the county association but expected they would have raised concerns if they opposed the change.
There were no registered public opponents and no committee questions recorded. A member moved that the bill “do pass,” the committee voted by voice and the chair declared the motion carried. The transcript records committee members answering “Aye” with no recorded opposition.
The bill text in the hearing describes the change as “an act to amend the law concerning purchases that do not require solicitation of bids for a county or municipality” to increase the authorized amount for aftermarket equipment to $2,000. The transcript’s statement of the previous dollar threshold was unclear.
Representative Wooten thanked the committee after the vote.
