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Council adopts updated procurement policy, raising competitive threshold and strengthening controls
Summary
The council unanimously adopted a revised procurement policy March 3 that modernizes formatting, tightens fleet and IT procurement rules, strengthens purchasing-card controls, replaces the historically underutilized business program with the 'Vet Hub,' references Code of Federal Regulations for grant eligibility, and reflects SB173's increase of the competitive procurement threshold to $100,000.
The Nacogdoches City Council on March 3 unanimously adopted an updated city procurement policy that city staff said aligns purchasing procedures with recent legal changes and improves internal controls.
"There have actually been no updates to this policy since January of 2023," said Drew Flores, purchasing contract specialist, as he described the effort to revise the policy. Flores said the team updated formatting, removed redundancies, reorganized sections for better flow, and added statutory and regulatory references to ensure continued compliance.
Flores outlined substantive changes: an overhaul of the fleet section to impose uniform protocols and fiscal controls; an IT review conducted with IT director Dennis to guard against hardware/software incompatibilities and cybersecurity threats; improvements to vendor registration and purchasing-card procedures; and a notation that the city's historically underutilized business program was phased out and replaced by the "Vet Hub" (Veteran Heroes United in Business) program. Flores also said the policy now reflects state legislation, SB173, which increased the competitive procurement threshold from $50,000 to $100,000, and includes references to the Code of Federal Regulations for grant eligibility.
When asked about timing, Flores said the procurement revision work began around September, ramped up late in the year, and was released for executive-staff review in late December or January. Multiple council members and the presiding official praised staff and the city attorney, Rick, for their work in modernizing finance and procurement practices; council members noted the city's prior staffing challenges in finance and said the updates are necessary to support future purchases and projects.
A council member moved to approve and adopt the updated procurement policy as presented; the motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote at the meeting.
What happens next: the policy takes effect as adopted and staff will implement the updated procurement thresholds, vendor-registration processes and purchasing-card controls outlined in the document.
