Goodyear finance staff propose procurement-code updates, including higher formal thresholds and larger job-order cap

Jared Askelson, the city finance director, and Deputy Finance Director Kevin Custer presented a proposed update to Goodyear's procurement code at the council work session, recommending higher dollar thresholds for formal procurement, a larger job-order contracting cap and procedural changes to speed capital projects.

Askelson told the council the procurement code has not been updated since 2008 and that the code governs stewardship of public funds, transparency and procurement oversight. The major recommendations are: increase the formal procurement threshold from $50,000 to $100,000; set the job-order contracting maximum at $5,000,000 (state statute currently references $1,000,000 as the common threshold); and adopt a process to grant expenditure authority for items at or above $500,000 during the annual budget adoption so such projects can proceed without separate council expenditure-authority items.

Deputy Finance Director Kevin Custer described formal procurement as a managed, advertised process that typically takes 30 to 60 days and involves an evaluation panel. "Typically, you're looking at anywhere from, you know, 30 days to 60 days for that process to happen," he said. Custer and Askelson said raising the formal-procurement threshold to $100,000 would align Goodyear with most comparable Valley cities and reduce administrative delay for lower-dollar solicitations.

The presentation also explained job-order contracting as an alternative construction delivery method — essentially an on-call master contract for less-complex construction work — and noted that other local cities set higher limits. Staff said the city currently used one contract last year that permitted work up to $5,000,000 through reliance on another city's job-order contract; Askelson said the city has four contracts that exceed $1,000,000 and that the average job order has been about $650,000. Staff estimated that increasing the formal threshold from $50,000 to $100,000 would affect roughly 250 purchase orders, about 15% of the city's purchase orders.

Askelson described other code cleanups: modernizing definitions and processes to allow electronic procurement, clarifying surplus-property disposition to align procurement code with police-department rules for firearms and K-9s, and updating approval steps for audit contracts now that the city will have an internal auditor.

Council reaction was generally supportive of raising the formal-procurement threshold to $100,000, with several members citing inflation and workload as reasons to streamline routine procurements. Some members expressed hesitation about increasing the job-order contracting cap from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 and asked for clear internal controls. Askelson and Custer said projects that would use job-order contracting would remain budgeted projects and would involve procurement and departmental review; the procurement manager retains authority to select delivery method but the process is not a unilateral decision.

Councilmembers also asked whether procurement procedures would be audited. Askelson said the city is expecting an internal auditor and that procurement will be a likely focus of audits; staff plan training on the updated code and procurement regulations. No ordinance or code change was adopted at the meeting; staff were directed to proceed with drafting code language, training materials and coordination with the incoming internal auditor for future review and adoption.