FPUA adopts single annual approval for routine warehouse inventory, authorizes up to $10 million for FY purchases

FPUA staff asked the board to approve a new "one‑time annual approval" policy (1XAA) to streamline recurring purchases for warehouse inventory. Daniel Rutherford, chief operating officer, and Andrew Gautier, supply chain supervisor, described the proposal as a way to eliminate hundreds of separate approvals and dozens of spreadsheets used to track rolling 12‑month thresholds for roughly 2,800 SKUs.

Rutherford said warehouse purchases average about $9.55 million annually and that the proposed policy would consolidate routine inventory authorization into a single yearly board approval including item lists, quantities and a not‑to‑exceed aggregate amount. The board would continue to require separate procurement processes and competitive bidding for applicable items and would receive quarterly reconciliations and audits. Staff requested authorization to spend up to $10 million on warehouse inventory through the end of the current fiscal year; they emphasized this is not new budget authority but a different approval process for items already included in the approved budget.

Board members asked detailed questions about remaining controls: whether per‑SKU thresholds remain, how the policy would interact with the director’s $50,000 signature authority, and how unusual purchases or disaster recovery purchases would be handled. Staff clarified the 1XAA covers only routine stocked SKUs (no single SKU purchase exceeding $50,000 will be authorized without separate board action) and that large or project‑specific purchases would continue to come to the board. The board voted to adopt the policy and the $10 million not‑to‑exceed inventory authorization; staff said it will return with quarterly reports and a year‑end review.