Council approves procurement amendment to align federal grant rules and raise capital threshold to $5,000

The City Council approved an amendment to Title 6 (procurement procedures) on March 18 to add language required when the city administers federally funded projects and to update the capital‑expenditure accounting threshold from $3,000 to $5,000.

Staff (S6 and S9) explained the federal requirement is needed so the city’s ordinances expressly reflect procurement obligations that accompany federal water grants the city is pursuing. The code change also updates the city’s accounting threshold for capital expenditures to better match depreciation schedules and inflation since the prior threshold was set.

Council members asked who qualifies as “upper management” in the ordinance’s federal‑funds oversight language. The council amended the motion to clarify that phrase to specify the city administrator, the city recorder, or the mayor as the applicable officials. Emily (S2) moved to adopt the ordinance with that clarification; the motion passed by voice vote.

The ordinance change is procedural but affects how grant‑funded procurements will be administered and slightly alters the city’s internal accounting classification for capital purchases.