Jacksonville procurement chief outlines code changes, higher thresholds and new award committee

Dustin Freeman, the City of Jacksonville chief of procurement, told the Community Planning Advisory Committee on an unspecified date that changes to the city's procurement code and a new procurement manual have sped up awarding processes and moved solicitations entirely online.

Freeman said the procurement manual, which went into effect the previous July, incorporated feedback from agencies and is now posted on the city's website. "We increased the formal threshold for supplies, professional services, and contractual services from 65,000 to 150,000," Freeman said, and added that the one-quote informal threshold was raised to $10,000. He said the single-source advertisement period was extended from seven to 14 days and that procurement now reports quarterly to the mayor, council auditor, inspector general and council secretary on single-source and emergency procurements.

The changes matter because they alter the city's buying rules and the workload for procurement staff. Freeman said the revisions were intended to streamline procurement and increase transparency, including new ethics and public contracting language and a plan to publish active contracts on the mayor's web landing page. "The point of this revision was to streamline procurement," he said.

Key changes described

- Jacksonville Procurement Awards Committee (JPAAC): Freeman said JPAAC now approves formal awards that were previously handled by several standing panels. He said the committee improves transparency and public access to award agendas and minutes but that the chief of procurement retains authority to approve source-selection methods and that OGC and procurement staff no longer sit on the committee.

- Threshold increases and timelines: Formal solicitation thresholds for supplies and services were raised from $65,000 to $150,000. The one-quote informal threshold is now $10,000. Single-source advertisements were lengthened from seven to 14 days, which Freeman said can make short competitive solicitations faster alternatives to single-source procurement.

- Electronic sourcing and Oracle Fusion: All solicitations and bid submissions are now electronic using the city's Oracle Fusion instance, Freeman said. He described new dashboards, a plan-holders list, and a DocuSign-based procurement awards form that captures recommended actions and signatures prior to JAPAC review.

- Evaluation committees, conflicts and training: The code requires evaluation committees of at least three city employees, with conflict-of-interest statements required before scoring. Freeman said subject-matter experts may consult but evaluators must be city employees recommended by agency directors; training is offered "on an as-needed basis or as requested," and procurement analysts provide guidance during the sourcing process.

- Contract administration and risk: Freeman described a new contract administration provision in part 4, chapter 21 of the executive branch code and section 24.603 that requires a contract-administration program for high-risk contracts and a certification curriculum for contract administrators. He said procurement has hired a contract administration manager and is developing analyst job specs and an annual update cadence for the manual.

Questions and concerns raised

Committee members asked about evaluator prequalification, mandatory training and whether evaluators must possess subject-matter expertise. Freeman said evaluators must be city employees delegated by agency directors but said they are not required to have specific subject-matter credentials; procurement provides training and administrative review and will follow up where individual scoring looks inconsistent.

Committee members also raised supplier registration and accounts-payable steps that delay supplier activation. Freeman described a recent change allowing suppliers to register without banking information to submit bids; payment requires separate SPIN authorization through accounts payable. He said procurement fields many supplier calls and will start logging caller reasons and distribute a supplier survey to collect feedback.

What the city will track next

Freeman said procurement has built a supplier performance assessment in Oracle Fusion (similar to federal CPARS) but it requires manual triggers; the procurement office plans to use the tool to collect performance data and store it on supplier profiles. He said persistent poor performance may lead to debarment after curing procedures with the city's ombudsman.

Context and next steps

Freeman said most agencies have adapted to electronic sourcing and that the initial rollout produced pushback but that the last two to three months have been quieter as the process matured. He told the committee the procurement manual is a "living document" slated for annual updates and anticipated an update in July. Procurement will continue working with the Office of Inspector General and the CAO on the contract risk-assessment program.

Freeman recommended that committee members review the procurement website for the manual and active contracts and said procurement will share results of the supplier survey with stakeholders when available.