Mendocino supervisors on Oct. 7 approved first‑reading changes to county purchasing rules that would increase the purchasing agent’s contract signature authority and simplify competitive bidding tiers and documentation. County staff said the changes are intended to increase efficiency for routine procurement while staying within state legal limits.

Key changes: Under the proposed ordinance amendment the board would raise the purchasing agent’s authority to sign contracts from $50,000 to $75,000. County counsel noted that state law sets a $50,000 baseline for counties under 200,000 population as of 2003, but that applying the California Consumer Price Index to the 2003 figure yields a substantially higher adjusted limit; the county sought a conservative increase to $75,000. The related revisions to County Policy 1 (Purchasing, Leasing and Contracting) clarify thresholds and formalize an informal procurement (two bids/quotes) requirement for transactions between $10,000 and $50,000 and a formal competitive bid process above $50,000; they also fold exception documentation into the initial contract‑routing workflow.

Why it matters: County staff said the change will reduce the number of routine items that must return to the board for signature and will help speed procurement of goods and services at scales the purchasing agent can reasonably manage. Supervisors said they preferred a conservative increase to $75,000, citing similar thresholds in neighboring counties.

Board action: The board approved the ordinance for first reading and set a second reading (and adoption of the related policy changes) for a future meeting. County counsel and staff said the second reading and final action will follow normal notice requirements. Supervisors thanked staff for multi‑year work on the policy modernization effort.

Ending: The procurement ordinance and policy changes are designed to cut administrative delay on routine contracts without removing board oversight of larger or higher‑risk procurements; final adoption is scheduled at the next meeting cycle.