Council raises acting city manager’s purchasing threshold to $150,000

The West Covina City Council on Jan. 6 voted to increase the acting city manager’s purchasing threshold from $50,000 to $150,000, a change staff said will allow the city manager to bind the city on contracts and amendments under the new limit.

Finance Director Karen Ogawa presented the proposal (Resolution Number cited in staff materials) and explained that under the change the acting city manager or city manager could enter contracts, purchase orders or contract amendments up to $150,000 without separate council approval. Councilman Gutierrez and others questioned what safeguards and oversight would accompany the higher threshold for special events or single large purchases; Acting City Manager Mylan said he works closely with finance staff and will ensure budgetary authority and transparency, returning to council if an item is not budgeted.

The motion to amend purchasing thresholds was approved (four ayes, one abstention). Council asked staff to include procedures that protect against unbudgeted spending and to route larger or non-budgeted items back to the council for approval.