Boerne council adopts new procurement and purchase‑card policies to modernize purchasing

The City of Boerne on March 25 adopted two related policies to modernize the city’s purchasing practices: a standalone procurement policy and a purchase‑card (P‑card) policy and procedures manual.

City staff said the policies aim to streamline smaller, routine purchases while strengthening oversight and fraud prevention. “They are both aimed at modernizing our purchasing practices as well as strengthening fiscal oversight,” city staff member Sarah said during the council meeting.

Why it matters: staff described the changes as part of a larger procure‑to‑pay improvement initiative and said the revisions update guidance that had not seen meaningful revision since 2015. The procurement policy clarifies how the city manager’s authority to procure budgeted items under $50,000 is delegated and documented, aligns internal thresholds with state Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) search requirements, and standardizes approval levels by title.

Key provisions and context: staff recommended raising the city’s purchase order threshold from $2,000 to $3,000 to align with HUB search law and to remove confusion about when three written quotes are required. The policies keep purchases over $50,000 subject to the stricter state‑prescribed procurement rules; staff said the next phase will address procurements over $50,000.

The P‑card policy is designed to decentralize small‑dollar purchases (under $3,000, per the policy), reduce check requests and petty cash use, and institute an approval matrix, training and internal controls tied to a single city account with cardholders defined by position. When a council member asked whether the card functions like a debit card, staff clarified it is a credit card tied to a city account.

Staff noted the policies also include an optional local vendor preference for purchases under $50,000 that would allow selection of a business headquartered inside the city limits if its quote is within 3% of the lowest bidder.

Council reaction and next steps: Council members asked for clarification on how the HUB list is identified; staff said the Texas comptroller maintains a searchable HUB list and that only businesses that opt into the list qualify. Staff said they will return April 8 with a proposed update to the financial management policy so those provisions align with the new standalone procurement and P‑card policies; a second phase of procurement policy work (for purchases over $50,000) will follow.

The council approved the procurement policy and the P‑card policy in separate resolutions at the March 25 meeting.

Ending note: staff emphasized training and an authority matrix to reduce department confusion over approval levels and to support decentralized small purchases while maintaining oversight.