(a) The city manager may cause public projects of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) or less to be performed or let to contract by informal procedures as set forth in this chapter and the Act.
(b) Except as set forth in Section 2.21.020(f), the following limits and procedures apply to contracting for public projects in the city:
(1) Public projects of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) or less may be performed by the employees of the city, by force account, by negotiated contract, or by purchase order;
(2) Public projects of greater than forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) but less than one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) may be let to contract through informal procedures as set forth in this chapter and the Act; and
(3) Public projects of more than one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter or in the Public Contract Code, be let to contract by the formal bidding procedure set forth in this chapter and the Public Contract Code.
(c) The dollar thresholds in this section refer to the city engineer’s written estimate of the cost of any public project.
(d) It shall be unlawful to split or separate into smaller work orders or projects any public project for the purpose of evading the provisions of this chapter requiring work to be done by contract after informal or formal competitive bidding.
(e) The term “public project” shall have the definition set forth in Public Contracts Code Section 22002.
(f) The dollar thresholds set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall increase or decrease automatically as necessary to comply with any adjustment mandated by the State Controller pursuant to the authority granted by Public Contract Code Section 22020.
(Ord. 18-954 § 3 (part), 2018)