Sen. Robbins Proposes Upping Bidding Threshold for Cities

Supports legislation to save money, provide municipal purchasing flexibility

Seventeen years ago, when Pennsylvania set a $10,000 limit for municipal government purchases without formal bidding, the average cost of gasoline was $1.16 a gallon.

While costs of most products and services have steadily increased over the years, Pennsylvania's threshold for formal bidding hasn't and that's something that must change, according to Senator Bob Robbins (R-50).

"The truth is state law as it stands now places a real burden on municipalities," said Senator Robbins, who also serves as Chairman of the Local Government Commission. "They are unable to make relatively minor purchases without the time and expense of the formal bidding process and that ends up costing the taxpayers."

Senator Robbins is strongly supporting a bipartisan 16-bill package and is the prime sponsor of one of the bills to update and increase the threshold for the formal bidding process. Currently, anytime a municipality plans to purchase an item or service costing $10,000 or more, it must go through the bidding process by advertising twice in a newspaper, receiving sealed bids by vendors, and voting at a public meeting on the lowest bid.

Senate Bills 1071 to 1086 would amend the various local government codes -- including those for counties, cities, townships, boroughs and school districts -- by raising from $10,000 to $25,000 the level at which local governments must go through the bidding process. Senator Robbins is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 1072, which would increase threshold for Pennsylvania's Third Class Cities, and is a co-sponsor of the other 15 bills in the legislative package.

"A dollar just doesn't goes as far today as it did in 1990, regardless of whether you're talking about a family budget or a municipal budget," Senator Robbins said. "Back then $10,000 represented a significant purchase on the part of a local government. That simply is not the case today. My bill, along with the other bills in this legislative package set a more reasonable threshold of $25,000 for the formal bidding process."

The bills would also increase the range requiring written or telephonic quotes from $4,000 to $10,000 to $7,000 to $25,000. Additionally, the bid limit thresholds would annually be adjusted by the Department of Labor and Industry based upon the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) -- thus negating the need to regularly address this issue.

The Senate Local Government Committee plans to meet on September 26th to take up the legislation.

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322