Item #02
Date: June 4, 2024
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Amend Chapter 2.76 Marysville Municipal Code Entitled “Purchases” Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) adopt Ordinance No. 1452, that was presented and heard on May 21, 2024, and 2) waive second reading of the Ordinance authorizing portions of Chapter 2.76 of the Marysville Municipal Code entitled “Purchases”.
Rationale for Recommendation:
Staff recommend approving the amended Ordinance as it relates to the City of Marysville’s purchasing policy. The Ordinance modifies the Marysville Municipal Code to clarify purchasing levels and authority, better distinguish between non-public project purchases and public project purchases, add sole source option, update our dollar amounts to better reflect current levels for goods and services, update our public project dollar amounts to be in line with Public Contract Code 22032 (though we take exception to it), and add provisions when utilizing Federal grant funding.
Background:
Staff review of the City’s purchasing policy has determined that numerous revisions are in order to provide efficient purchases. It was also noted that purchasing thresholds for types of purchases (open market, three written quotes, informal bid process, formal bid process) had not been updated in several years and were comparatively low. Additionally, purchasing authorities were not well defined and caused confusion when determining the level of approval required. Further there was some lack of clarity between requirements for purchases of goods and services versus public project procurements.
Lastly there was no provision for sole source procurements, a lack of instruction for the use of cooperative bids and no requirements related to federally funded purchases.
Discussion & Analysis:
The current purchasing policy has made purchasing goods and services difficult because of the relatively low thresholds. This is due to the rising price of goods and services over the last 20 plus years (the last changes were in 2001). Review of comparable agencies limits were used to determine the limits recommended in the proposed changes. The limits for public projects were similarly outdated. Though the City of Marysville’s charter city status allows certain exemptions from the public contract code, staff developed limits for public projects similar to those set by the state. Additionally, it was not clear in the policy what level of approvals were required for various dollar amounts of any given purchase amount.
Item #02
Staff have therefore developed a table to provide guidance for procurement methods and approval level required for the various dollar amounts. Other items lacking in the policy were sole source procurement methods and additional requirements for procurement of items which utilize federal funds. Staff recommend these changes to streamline procurement while maintaining and clarifying spending authority when purchasing items for the City of Marysville.
Legal Review:
This amendment has been reviewed and approval by legal counsel.
Fiscal Analysis:
There is no direct fiscal impact on the General Fund. Staff expect time efficiencies due to expenditure flexibility and a more streamlined procurement process.
Attachments:
1) Proposed Ordinance No. 1452
2) Proposed Chapter 2.76, Purchases