CRHA procurement staff presented updates to the authority’s procurement policy at the Nov. 24 meeting to align with recent federal and state changes.

Dolores Adams, CRHA’s procurement contracting officer, and a procurement consultant summarized revisions that bring the policy into compliance with 2 CFR 200 (HUD uniform guidance) and the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Staff said the policy had not been comprehensively updated since 2020 and that changes include clearer definitions for small, women‑ and minority‑owned businesses, language to support veteran‑owned and service‑disabled veteran‑owned businesses per SBA definitions, and an explicit Build America/Buy America compliance section.

Key threshold changes noted:
• Micro‑purchase threshold updated to $15,000 to match federal guidance.
• The small purchase threshold in the resolution text is set at $200,000 (staff discussed differences between state and federal thresholds and said the policy adopts the most stringent applicable threshold). Staff added automatic‑update language so thresholds can adjust when state or federal rules change.

Board members asked about frequency of updates and whether the authority should revise more often than in five‑year intervals. Staff said they update policy when regulations change and added language to allow automatic updates to thresholds tied to state/federal changes; major structural additions (such as adding Build America/Buy America language) would return to the board for explicit approval.

Staff said the threshold changes will allow operational flexibility for parallel‑track redevelopment procurement while still requiring formal solicitations above the small‑purchase limit.

Quotes from the meeting:
"We updated your procurement policy to bring it in line with the changes that occurred to the HUD regulations at 2 CFR 200," staff said. "The micro purchase threshold, we're going up to $15,000." — CRHA procurement presentation

Staff said they will return to the board with the finalized resolution language and a one‑pager summary that highlights the changes.