Town procurement thresholds were the focus of a workshop discussion on Oct. 29 after staff presented an ordinance to update Chapter 2 of the town code.

Donna Rockfield, the town's procurement consultant, told commissioners she had compared Pembroke Park's limits with other Broward County municipalities and found the town's manager-level approval threshold among the lowest in the area. She recommended increasing the manager's approval authority to $25,000 and adjusting other thresholds so that more routine purchases could be handled administratively while preserving written-quote or formal solicitation requirements. "In my chart, I did make an error," Rockfield said, then recommended a manager threshold consistent with local practice: "a minimum of $25,000."

Town attorney and staff explained the proposed ordinance would amend both the code and the purchasing manual to ensure consistent implementation without further commission action. At the workshop the manager asked that the drafted ordinance be amended to reflect Rockfield's recommendation; staff said they would present the updated ordinance for first reading at a regular meeting.

What that change would mean: Under the proposed thresholds, fewer purchases would require commission approval, which staff said would streamline day-to-day administration. Procurement staff emphasized that transparency would be preserved: the proposed manager-level approvals would still require documented competitive quotes and would remain subject to audit.

Next steps: Commissioners directed staff to bring the ordinance back with the specific language increasing the manager limit to $25,000 for first reading. The commission did not adopt the ordinance at the workshop; the change will come back for formal readings and votes.