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Council weighs changes to purchasing policy to streamline approvals for budgeted items
Summary
City staff presented a high-level proposal to update Middleton’s purchasing policy so that budgeted purchases could be approved at staff levels up to defined thresholds; council members sought clearer distinctions for non-budgeted items and safeguards against splitting projects to avoid bidding rules.
City staff on March 5 presented high-level proposed changes to Middleton’s purchasing policy aimed at clarifying approval authority and reducing repeated council action for items already approved in the annual budget.
Miss Hobbs told the council that the current city code provides limited written guidance: the city administrator can approve expenditures up to $5,000 and the mayor up to $6,000 for non-budgeted items. The staff proposal described at a high level would permit department heads to approve budgeted expenditures up to $10,000; the city administrator and treasurer would approve up to $50,000 in consultation; and the mayor (in consultation with treasurer, administrator and affected department heads) could approve budgeted line-item expenditures up to $200,000. Staff said non-budgeted items would still come to council under existing thresholds.
Council members generally supported streamlining routine purchases that are already included in approved budgets but asked for clearer draft language on the distinction between budgeted and non-budgeted items. Council President Kiser and others emphasized retaining tighter council oversight for non-budgeted expenditures and for items that cause a line-item to be exceeded. The council also asked staff to avoid creating a de facto increase in signing authority for non-budgeted expenses without explicit direction.
Public Works Director Jason Mangellar cautioned against “bid splitting,” the practice of dividing a single project to avoid procurement thresholds; he said project thresholds should apply to a project as a whole. Council members and staff discussed examples — like lift-station upgrades, chip-seal paving work and routine meter purchases — to clarify whether such work should be routed through the consent agenda when budgeted.
Miss Hobbs said staff will draft detailed policy language for council review based on the direction given and will return with a revised proposal that clarifies budgeted vs. non-budgeted authority, per-item versus per-project thresholds, and procedures for ratification when emergencies arise.
Quote: “If I divide projects up into smaller projects to get under a purchasing threshold, that’s generally called bid splitting and that’s generally frowned upon by accountants and lawyers,” said Jason Mangellar, Public Works Director.
The council gave staff direction to proceed with a draft that preserves council oversight for non-budgeted items, clarifies per-project thresholds and provides a clear ratification process for emergency expenditures.
