ORDINANCE NO. 2024-146
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GONZALES AMENDING CHAPTER 3.16- PURCHASING PROCEDURES OF TITLE 3- REVENUE
AND FINANCE OF THE GONZALES CITY CODE TO INCREASE THE BIDDING
REQUIREMENT THRESHOLD FOR THE PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES AND
EQUIPMENT FROM $5,000 TO $50,000
WHEREAS, municipalities are required by law to adopt policies and procedures governing the purchase of supplies and equipment, including bidding regulations, in order to provide transparency and assure the public that public funds are being properly spent; and WHEREAS, notwithstanding the aforesaid requirement, municipalities are allowed to tailor purchasing policies and procedures to meet local needs; and WHEREAS, the City of Gonzales’ purchase provisions are found in Chapter 3.16 of Title 3- Revenue and Finance of the Gonzales City Code (“GCC”); and WHEREAS, under current GCC Section 3.16.050, one of the exceptions to purchase bidding requirements exists when the amount of the proposed purchase is less than five thousand ($5,000) dollars; and
WHEREAS, the cost of supplies and equipment has increased dramatically in recent years, due to supply chain constraints, general inflation and strong demand, with the Producer Price Index (the metric reflecting the price that manufacturers charge dealers and distributors for their products) indicating that prices for machinery and equipment increased by 19% between January of 2020 and March of 2023; and
WHEREAS, the City’s current purchase bidding requirement threshold appears to have been established more than fifty years ago in 1972; and WHEREAS, the City Manager and Staff have both requested an increase to the bidding requirement threshold in order to allow the City to make purchases to address City needs in an efficient and timely manner without requiring bidding and related procedures; and WHEREAS, all City purchases will continue to require Council approval unless otherwise exempted or within the City Manager’s spending authority and will appear on the warrant list at each Council meeting.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY ORDAINED by the Gonzales City Council as follows:
SECTION 1. All of the recitals set forth above are true and correct to the best of its knowledge and by this reference are incorporated herein.
SECTION 2. Subsection A.1 of Section 3.16.050 Bidding Required- Exceptions of Gonzales City Code Chapter 3.16 Purchasing Procedures, is hereby amended as follows:
Section 3.16.050 Bidding Required- Exceptions
A. Purchases of supplies and equipment shall be by bid procedures as prescribed by this chapter; provided, that bidding shall be dispensed with:
(1) When the amount involved is less than five fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00); or …
SECTION 3. The opening sentence of Section 3.16.080- Bidding Procedure of Gonzales City Code Chapter 3.16 Purchasing Procedures is hereby amended as follows:
“Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, purchases and contracts for supplies and equipment of estimated value greater than five fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) shall be by written contract with the lowest responsible bidder pursuant to the procedure prescribed in the section:”
SECTION 4. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are severable and if any provision, clause, sentence, word or part thereof is held illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or in applicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, clauses, sentences, section, words or parts thereof of the ordinance or their applicability to other provisions or circumstances.
SECTION 5. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect and be enforced thirty (30) days following its final adoption.
SECTION 6. CEQA. This Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a “project” within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines, since there is no potential for the Ordinance to result in direct or indirect physical change to the environment.
SECTION 7. Notice. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance and cause the full text of the ordinance or a summary thereof prepared by the City Attorney to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Soledad within fifteen days after its adoption.
INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a Regular Meeting of the Gonzales City Council on the 19
th day of August, 2024, and thereafter;
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Soledad on the ___ day of ___, 2024 by the following vote:
AYES, and in favor thereof, Councilmembers:
NOES, Councilmembers:
ABSENT, Councilmembers:
ABSTAIN, Councilmembers:
Jose L. Rios, The Honorable Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Mary Villegas, Deputy City Clerk