City Manager Dickstein said the spending limits had not increased in more than 15 years, and the change will bring Dayton’s policies in line with other local jurisdictions and some of Ohio’s largest cities.
“The city of Dayton is now a $1 billion enterprise,” she said. “We haven’t raised spending authority since 2007.”
But a couple of community members said the new rules will reduce government transparency. They say more purchases, contracts and real estate deals will not face the same level of public scrutiny.
The Dayton City Commission recently approved an ordinance amending and repealing some sections of city code related to the city manager’s authority to act and spend money without commission review and approval.
The city manager now will be able to award contracts and accept, donate, sell and transfer property with valuations of $50,000 or less. The city manager also will be able to apply for grants, loans and advances that do not exceed that amount.
Some of these limits were last changed by ordinance in late 2007 and mid-2008.
Dickstein said the higher spending limits will expedite approval processes. She said this will help city staff, plus improve services provided to the community.
“This is also is consistent with best practices across the state,” Dickstein said. “This is about updating processes so we can work quicker, we can be more effective for routine and recurring services and goods. And there are no changes to our internal controls.”
Dickstein said some suburban communities in the region that have city manager forms of government already have $50,000 spending authority limits. She said some jurisdictions are raising their thresholds to $75,000.
The Dayton Daily News was unable to immediately confirm spending authority thresholds for most other local communities or Ohio’s largest cities.
But the city of Xenia just recently approved increasing its threshold to $75,000 from $50,000.
Spokespersons for Kettering and Fairborn said their spending limits that do not require city council review are $25,000, unless the items were approved in the budget.
A spokesperson for Montgomery County said the county administrator cannot approve any contracts, spending or real estate deals without the approval of the county board of commissioners.
The state of Ohio last year raised the competitive bid threshold for some Ohio political subdivisions to $75,000 from $50,000. This includes counties, townships and libraries.
Dickstein said about 95% of the city’s purchase orders and contracts will still come before the city commission for approval.
Before the vote on Dayton’s ordinance, former Dayton mayor Gary Leitzell asked the elected body to table the proposed measure.
Leitzell said there were about 27 spending items on the city commission’s March 27 agenda for consideration and approval, but a dozen items would not have appeared on the agenda under the new rules, since they were under the $50,000 threshold.
Some of the purchase orders under $50,000 were for a new electric utility vehicle, new office furniture, police training services and temporary staffing services.
“This ordinance permits current and former city managers to hide spending from you and the public that may be beneficial to city operations but detrimental to the public at large,” Leitzell told the city commission. “This is bad legislation.”
Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild said he wanted the city commission to table the measure until city staff could determine how many city contracts cost between $10,000 to $50,000.
He said he’s concerned the city commission no longer will get to review many individual contracts, which means they won’t be able to see how well the contracts are doing to meet procurement enhancement program diversity goals.
However, Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. and commissioners Matt Joseph and Chris Shaw said they felt comfortable with the changes and decided to move forward with a vote. Fairchild cast the lone “no” vote. Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss was absent from the meeting.
Commissioner Joseph said all of the city’s spending activities are public record. He said the city’s online transparency portal allows the public to see how it spends its money.
Commissioner Shaw said, “This puts us in alignment with the state, the county, and builds efficiency into the organization.”
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