City officials briefed the Dallas City Council on Oct. 1 about recent state changes and proposed local adjustments to how the city buys goods and services, with council members sharply debating whether to raise contract‑signature thresholds that would allow the city manager to approve more deals without council action.

The briefing centered on Senate Bill 1173, which raised the state competitive‑bidding threshold from $50,000 to $100,000, and on staff recommendations to consider increasing the city manager’s administrative contract‑approval authority above the current $100,000. City Manager Kimberly Beiser Tolbert said the changes “shorten procurement timelines, deliver goods and services faster, and make Dallas more competitive,” while promising more reporting and audits if thresholds are raised.

City Manager’s office and Procurement Director Juanita Ortiz told council SB1173 is permissive — Dallas is allowed, but not required, to update local code to match the $100,000 competitive threshold. Ortiz said formal solicitations would only be required above $100,000 under state law, and that for procurements between $3,000 and $100,000 the city would still require three quotes and meet small‑business requirements. Tolbert and staff also described internal process improvements: new drafting tools, enterprise contract management, and monthly transparency reporting as safeguards if administrative authority grows.

Why it matters
Raising administrative thresholds would reduce the number of council agenda items and speed awards for routine purchases and mid‑sized projects, staff said, but it would also move some contract approvals out of public council review. At current thresholds council reviews most contracts by count but a small share by value; staff presented scenarios showing that higher thresholds drop the number of items on council agendas while preserving oversight of most dollars spent.

What council members asked and suggested
Council members debated several tradeoffs. Supporters said raising administrative authority would reduce routine delay, help small businesses compete by awarding contracts more quickly, and let staff focus council time on high‑impact procurements. Critics said the council’s and public’s transparency and oversight would be diminished if too many awards bypassed the horseshoe.

Specific threshold ideas discussed included:
- Aligning the competitive‑bidding threshold with the state at $100,000 (general support for adopting the state level).
- Raising the city‑manager administrative authorization to $500,000 for construction and architecture/engineering contracts, while setting a lower threshold (suggested $200,000–$300,000) for goods, professional and other services. Several council members voiced support for a test increase (for example, $500,000 construction / $300,000 goods & services) coupled with formal reporting and committee review.

Council members repeatedly asked for procedural safeguards if thresholds are increased: an advance “forecast” of upcoming administrative awards so council can request items be pulled for full review, a standing procurement accountability report to the finance committee (monthly or quarterly), audits and sampling of administrative actions, and stronger post‑award transparency showing which small/local businesses won work. Staff agreed and proposed a procurement accountability report and a forecast memo that would be circulated to council ahead of final administrative awards.

Process details and timeline
Staff said administrative awards currently post to the city’s financial transparency site and that change orders over existing change‑order thresholds would continue to require council approval. They also said they will bring code amendments to align the competitive threshold with state law (to $100,000) for council consideration on Oct. 8. Any decision to increase the city manager’s contract authorization above the current $100,000 would be presented separately (staff suggested Oct. 22 or later) after council guidance and further committee briefing.

Council reaction and next steps
Discussion produced no final ordinance or vote on raising administrative thresholds at the Oct. 1 meeting. Multiple council members said they would support raising the state competitive threshold to $100,000 and asked staff to return with a proposal that: separates construction/A&E from goods/professional services, includes a forecast/reporting mechanism for administrative awards, contains specific criteria to keep novel or high‑visibility procurements in front of council, and sets a short evaluation window (six months to one year) to review effects. Chair Chad West circulated a one‑page suggestion during the meeting urging a 500k/300k split as a potential starting point for committee discussion.

Ending
Councilmembers asked staff to prepare more detailed options and agreed that any increase should include explicit reporting, audit and forecast tools so council and the public retain meaningful oversight while the city seeks faster procurements and better small‑business participation.