Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Purchasing Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ordinance panel recommends amended purchasing policy to council, declines automatic CPI adjustment
Summary
Committee voted to recommend an amended chapter 48 purchasing policy to the council, endorsing fixed thresholds now and periodic review instead of an automatic Consumer Price Index escalation clause.
The ordinance committee recommended that the council adopt an amended purchasing policy that adjusts procurement thresholds and avoids an automatic Consumer Price Index adjustment, favoring clear fixed amounts now and scheduled review.
During the discussion, staff explained that the amendments respond to audit recommendations and aim to put procurement thresholds and procedures into a single policy. Committee members debated whether to include an annual CPI clause to automatically raise bidding thresholds; staff recommended against the clause because of complexity determining the correct CPI and the extra administrative burden.
"Rather than having the finance office make those calculations on an annual basis, pretty much what you've done here is brought up the CPI from the last time that you had it," Tony said, and suggested a scheduled review in several years instead. Committee members agreed that a firm dollar threshold reduces annual administrative overhead.
S2 moved that the committee recommend the amended ordinance to the council; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The recommendation will be forwarded to the council for final adoption.
