Oxnard —The Purchase Agreement Story, Tuesday, March 18, continues with the City’s 15 Purchasing System, focusing on its aggregate value.
"IT creates some confusion about when certain authority thresholds required City Manager or City Council approval,” Assistant City Attorney Michelle McCarron said. “This levels the playing field and makes it equal for every single solicitation throughout the City; it’s based on aggregate value and will make it more efficient and have better time management.”
She said the City’s contracting authority appeared in a single section and retains the intention of ordinance 3016, so the signature authority will be consistent with the City’s Tyler Munis ERP System.
“Those have specified authority levels as well,” she said. “The current purchasing authority remains at the same levels. There is no increase in the dollar amount.”
She said there is now a prohibition on project splitting and its compliance with purchasing guidelines; such guidelines can now be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.
“It allows the City some enforcement mechanisms to make sure that our purchasing system is strictly adhered to,” McCarron said. “We need every purchase to be made correctly and every dollar to be accounted for. It will assist us in enforcing these…
