Fayetteville moves to raise competitive bidding threshold to $40,000

The Fayetteville City Council on June 3 passed an ordinance to increase the competitive bidding threshold for city purchases and contracts from $35,000 to $40,000.

Staff explained the change follows state law provisions and a Department of Finance and Administration update to the consumer price index. A staff memo cited Arkansas Code Annotated 14-58-303(b) and a state adjustment that would raise the threshold to $42,921; staff recommended a rounded local threshold of $40,000 to streamline operations and improve procurement efficiency.

Councilmember Stafford moved to suspend the rules and move the ordinance to third and final reading; the council approved the procedure and later approved the ordinance by roll-call vote. The ordinance replaces references to the previous $35,000 figure in section 34.23 of the Fayetteville Code of Ordinances with $40,000 and updates departmental titles (purchasing manager to procurement director) as part of the code revision.

Staff described the change as a routine alignment with state guidance intended to reduce administrative delays for routine purchases; no public comment was recorded on the item at the June 3 meeting.