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Board updates acquisition policy to align with FTA guidance and raise board-level procurement threshold
Summary
Capital Metro revised its acquisition policy to reflect FTA Circular 4220.1G and requested the board raise the procurement threshold for board consideration from $50,000 to $250,000; the board approved the change.
The Capital Metro Board approved a resolution March 24 authorizing amendments to the agency’s acquisition policy to incorporate the recently revised Federal Transit Administration guidance (FTA Circular 4220.1G) and to raise the threshold for items requiring board approval from $50,000 per year to $250,000 per year.
Mohammed Abdullah, vice president of procurement and chief contracting officer, told the board the agency updated multiple policy references to align with the new FTA circular and modernized procurement practices that shifted from hard-copy proposals to electronic submissions. Abdullah also said procurement is now “95% paper free.”
Abdullah presented benchmarking showing agencies such as Austin Transit Partnership, Chicago Transit, Houston and Kansas systems already use similar thresholds. He said the average number of procurements per year in the $50,000–$250,000 range over the last three years was about 10. The proposed policy also increased the emergency signature threshold from $50,000 to $100,000 and clarified zero-tolerance language for gratuities and updated protest and dispute language to match the FTA guidance.
The board moved to approve the amendment; a motion to approve was made by Board member Harris and seconded by another member; the board recorded unanimous approval among those present.
Why it matters: Raising the threshold will shift more procurements to staff authority and reduce the number of items the board must approve, while embedding current federal contracting guidance into local policy.
Implementation notes: Procurement staff said contract awards and modifications remain posted on the agency website for transparency; the policy change also tightens language on conflicts and protests as required by FTA guidance.
