SF Updates Rule on Purchasing Authority
February 23, 2023
February 23, 2023-At Tuesday's District Board of Trustees meeting, the Board finalized changes to Rule 5.2 Purchasing and Contract Authority. Highlights of the changes include:
- The quote threshold has changed from $5,000 to $10,000. Therefore, quotes are now required for non-exempt purchases over $10,000. We encourage quotes for *any* purchase in order to get the best value, but they are only required for purchases over $10,000. Categories of purchases that are exempt from the quote requirement (such as purchases piggybacking off of a state contract, sole source purchases, and others) have not changed.
- The rule changes the number of quotes needed to 2 or more. We still recommend you to get as many quotes as practical to get the best price, but the requirement has changed to at least 2.
- The threshold for blanket purchase orders is now $10,000. As with the previous threshold, the purchase of capital items with a unit price over $200 are not permitted on blankets. [A number of you have expressed an interest in raising the $200 threshold and it is being discussed, but no decision has been made at this time.]
- The bid threshold has changed from $35,000 to $65,000, so formal bids and RFPs are now required for purchases costing $65,000+. (Thus, the range when written quotes are needed is now $10,000 - $65,000.)
These changes are effective immediately.
Rule 5.2 and all college rules are available on the Rules Manual webpage.
