Board introduces ordinance to change purchasing rules and raise chief’s spending authority

The Moraga Fire District board on June 17 voted to waive the reading and introduce an ordinance amending the district’s purchasing and contracting procedures to adopt the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act procedures and to adjust purchasing thresholds.

Staff said adopting the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act would permit a vendor-list approach and increase the informal procurement threshold to $75,000 before requiring a formal bid process for certain public construction activities. The ordinance text presented also included authority to permit the fire chief to expend district funds above current limits during declared emergencies and to increase the chief’s routine procurement authority for budgeted items to $200,000.

Why it matters: staff said the change aims to streamline procurement, reduce delays in emergency response contracting, and reflect district budget growth; directors discussed the balance between operational agility and board oversight. One director noted that the district’s budget has grown from roughly $20 million to about $40 million over recent years and said a higher per-purchase threshold was reasonable; another director emphasized continued transparency and reporting when the chief uses expanded authority.

Details and safeguards: staff told the board the $75,000 threshold applies to the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act vendor-list procedure and that the increased $200,000 chief authority would apply only to budgeted items; the district’s audit committee reviewed the proposal. The board introduced the ordinance by roll-call vote with no public speakers.

Next steps: the ordinance was introduced for consideration; the board will return the ordinance for subsequent reading and potential adoption at a future meeting per the district’s ordinance process.