Oconee County Council introduces ordinance to expand local vendor preference

Summary

The Oconee County Council held a first reading of Ordinance 2025-27 to revise and expand local contractor/vendor preference language in the county procurement code, with council members saying the change will align local provisions with state rules; the transcript does not record a roll-call vote for the first reading.

Oconee County Council opened a special meeting Dec. 19 and introduced Ordinance 2025-27, a proposed revision to the county procurement code that would expand local contractor and vendor preference provisions.

The chair announced the ordinance in title only and the council recorded a motion and a second to introduce it for first reading. David Root explained the change is intended to align the county's local preference language with state provisions and noted the county will not use a graduated 7% local rate for sub-tier contractors. "So it'll be along those lines. Very similar to the state provisions," Root said.

The chair asked for the vote; the minutes record a voice response but do not include a roll-call tally or explicit final disposition of the first reading in the transcript text. No statutory citations or ordinance text beyond the title were provided in the recorded remarks.

Next steps: the ordinance was introduced for first reading; further consideration, including any vote to advance it beyond that reading, was not recorded in the transcript provided.