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County CFO says Charter 68 binds purchases; changing rules for fire district would need charter amendment
Summary
County CFO Lindsey Porusso told commissioners that Charter 68 applies to all county purchases and swapping procurement responsibility for the fire district would require a charter resolution passed by supermajority and 60 days of publication; commissioners said they want the steering council to review fire-district expenditures.
During discussion of a vehicle purchase for Fire District No. 1, Lindsey Porusso, Sedgwick County chief financial officer, told the governing body that Charter 68 applies to county purchases and that altering how the fire district procures goods would require a change to the county charter.
"Charter 68 does apply to all purchases for the county and it requires bid board," Porusso said, adding that swapping that requirement out for the fire district would “take a charter resolution update in order to swap that out for the fire district” and would require a supermajority vote and a 60-day publication period before taking effect.
Commissioner Howe said he wanted the steering council to weigh in on fire-district purchases before items came back to the board for approval, expressing concerns about competing budget priorities. Fire Chief Doug Williams said the department had presented its full fleet plan to the steering council in September and that the council had reviewed planned replacements.
The exchange clarifies that while the county’s bid board recommended acceptance of the truck bid, any structural change to procurement for the fire district would involve a charter amendment process and compliance with state law for taxing entities making purchases.
