A change in state law prompted the Union County Quorum Court this month to update the county's requirements for soliciting bids for planned purchases.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature voted to require counties to solicit bids for any purchase of $35,000 or more. Previously, the county had to solicit bids for purchases of $20,000 or more.
"We have an ordinance that says anything over $20,000 has to be put out for bid, but state law has changed," said District 1 Justice of the Peace Mike Dumas, who chairs the Quorum Court's Finance Committee. "So what we're doing here just updates Union County ordinance from $20,000 to $35,000."
A few commodities are exempt from the new law, including some new motor vehicles, depending on their cost, and some after-market equipment for vehicles.
The county's new ordinance, #1619, notes that county officials are not allowed to split up a commodity they plan to purchase in order to avoid subjecting the purchase to the bid requirements.
Additionally, the ordinance calls for the minimum purchase cost to be subject to adjustments every five years based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as published by the United States Department of Labor, or any standard that succeeds it.
All present members of the Quorum Court voted to pass the ordinance updating the purchase rules without discussion.
Also last month, JPs voted to add 16 new budget lines to the American Rescue Plan Fund that was created earlier this year to hold COVID relief funds. One cent was appropriated into each of the new budget lines.
"New things are thought of as we progress," Dumas explained the day before the Quorum Court met last month.
The ordinance to make the new budget lines and appropriate the 16 cents passed unanimously without discussion.
JPs also made good last month on the county's obligation to the local University of Arkansas Extension office, to which they owed $13,125. According to the memorandum of agreement between the Extension Service and Union County, such a payment is due each quarter.
"Last year, the second payment of the year, the second quarter payment, was sent to the wrong address. It was sent back to us and we never re-wrote the check," Dumas said. "So we're going back now and making the last year's second quarter payment."