BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1082|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1082
Author: McGuire (D)
Amended: 3/28/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/13/16
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen
SUBJECT: Regional park and open-space districts: general
manager: powers
SOURCE: Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open
Space District
DIGEST: This bill increases, from $25,000 to $50,000, the
maximum value of contracts which the Sonoma County Agricultural
Preservation and Open Space District (SCAPOSD) may enter into
without using a formal bid process.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires regional park and open space districts to advertise
contracts for supplies, materials, labor, and construction and
award them to the lowest responsible bidder.
2)Allows, with the board of directors' approval, a district's
general manager to award smaller jobs without advertising and
without written contracts and requires the manager to report
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this spending at the board's next regular meeting.
3)Allows regional park and open space districts can spend up to
$25,000 for non-construction supplies, materials, and labor,
and up to $25,000 on new construction projects without going
through a formal bidding process (AB 745, Levine, Chapter 42,
Statutes of 2014).
4)Allows the general manager of the East Bay Regional Park
District and the general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional
Open Space District (MROSD), with the approval of the
district's board, to bind the district, in accordance with
board policy, and without advertising, for the payment of
supplies, materials, labor, or other valuable consideration
for any purpose, including new construction of a building,
structure, or improvement, in amounts not exceeding $50,000
(AB 495, Gordon, Chapter 149, Statutes of 2015).
This bill:
1)Allows the general manager of SCAPOSD, with the approval of
its board of directors, to bind the district, in accordance
with board policy, and without advertising, for the payment of
supplies, materials, labor, or other valuable consideration
for any purpose, including new construction of a building,
structure, or improvement, in amounts not exceeding $50,000.
2)Requires that all expenditures must be reported to the board
of directors at its next regular meeting.
Background
The $25,000 threshold for construction contracts has applied to
all open space districts since 1983 (AB 746, Campbell, Chapter
48, Statutes of 1983). The bid threshold for non-construction
contracts was increased from $10,000 to $25,000 for the East Bay
Regional Park District in 1999 (AB 584, Aroner, Chapter 135,
Statutes of 1999) and for MROSD in 2002 (AB 953, Simitian,
Chapter 23, Statutes of 2002). In 2015, AB 495 (Gordon) allowed
those two districts to sign contracts for any purpose of up to
$50,000 without bidding. In addition to being subject to board
approval, AB 495 required any expenditures in this manner to be
reported to the board.
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Sonoma County voters authorized the creation of SCAPOSD in 1990
to permanently protect the greenbelts, scenic viewsheds, farms
and ranches and natural areas of Sonoma County. To date,
SCAPOSD has acquired or protected 106,000 acres of farmland and
open space. A quarter cent sales tax, authorized through 2031,
supports the majority of the district's roughly $36 million
annual budget. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors serves as
the governing board of SCAPOSD. The district's activities
include acquisition, protection, and maintenance of open space
and agricultural lands, conservation planning to identify
high-priority lands for protection or acquisition, and
administration of a grant program.
The formal bid process for public contracts can be
time-consuming and costly. Because inflation has eroded the
districts' buying power since their $25,000 bid thresholds were
enacted, SCAPOSD must go through the effort and expense of
seeking bids for relatively low-value contracts. Sonoma County
officials want the Legislature to raise the dollar threshold at
which the district must seek formal bids on contracts.
Comments
Purpose of the bill. SCAPOSD reports that in 2015, the district
went through a formal bidding process to award six contracts
with values that fell in the $25,000 to $50,000 range. At an
average administrative cost of $7,360 per contract, these
contracts cost the district over $44,000. Avoiding a formal bid
process for contracts worth less than $50,000 will allow SCAPOSD
to complete numerous projects more quickly and reduce staff time
and administrative costs associated with formal bidding.
Moreover, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors increased the
bid threshold for other departments and affiliated agencies
within the county on March 15, 2016. Since the Board of
Supervisors serves as the board of the district, they want to
also increase the threshold for SCAPOSD, but state law prevents
them from doing so. SB 1082 makes the necessary change to allow
this to occur, and the savings that the district will realize as
a result of the higher bid threshold in SB 1082 will allow the
district to devote more resources towards its core mission of
preserving open space and agricultural lands.
Accountability and efficiency. State law regulating local
contracting attempts to balance the goals of accountability and
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efficiency. For decisions to be accountable, public officials
must spend the public's money in full view. Inviting bids and
awarding contracts to the lowest possible bidder is an effective
method of ensuring transparency for the expenditures of public
funds. While increasing the limits on the amount for which
districts may contract without the formal bid process, allows
for greater efficiency in local government spending, it may also
result in a loss of accountability and transparency on the use
of public funds.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/14/16)
Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
(source)
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/14/16)
None received
Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
4/15/16 14:10:38
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