Resident urges board to set RFP threshold after Comptroller audit

During public comment, resident Albert Feasley asked the board to clarify a statement in the corrective action plan the district sent to the New York State Comptroller and urged the board to adopt a specific dollar threshold for professional services procured through a request-for-proposals (RFP) process.

Feasley said the October 20 meeting vote to send a corrective action plan to the Comptroller raised questions about a board response that "the district does not intend to establish a specific dollar threshold for professional services as this is not a requirement under general municipal law." He pointed to Frontier Central School District's procurement code as an example, where contracts over $50,000 require an RFP process.

"By not establishing a specific dollar threshold, what is the board's intention?" Feasley asked, suggesting the board consider an annual threshold tied to prior-year professional-service use. The board did not respond with a policy change during the meeting; the comment was accepted for future consideration and the corrective action plan approval appeared later on the agenda.

The transcript records Feasley citing findings from a New York State Comptroller audit covering 10/14/2020 to 3/2024 that concluded officials did not use RFPs as required by the district's purchasing policy in some professional-service contracts. The resident asked the board to consider a clear threshold and public reporting.