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Publicly advertised bids or fee proposals are currently required for purchases of more than $7,500 in Luzerne County government.

That threshold would increase to $25,000 under the proposed home rule charter.

The charter, which will be on the ballot Nov. 2, would replace the county’s current system of three elected commissioners with an 11-member council and an appointed manager.

The $17,500 difference in determining what work or products must be publicly advertised hasn’t escaped critics of the proposed charter. County officials and charter critics have argued the county’s extensive public bidding has saved money and opened up opportunity to county businesses.

Drafters of the charter determined the higher limit would reduce the time and money spent preparing and legally advertising purchase opportunities. The appointed manager would approve expenses under $25,000, and the county council has the power to remove this manager if poor decisions are made.

All contracts would require a “right-to-audit” clause allowing the county controller or manager to access vendor records related to the purchase of goods or services.

The county’s current purchasing policy was implemented in 2004 in an attempt to impose standards that are stricter than the state’s.

State law requires bidding for non-professional services more than $10,000 and no bidding for professional services, such as legal, architectural, engineering and accounting.

The county policy requires bids for non-professional services over $7,500 and public advertisements seeking qualifications and proposed fees for professional services over the same amount.

The proposed charter requires the same, but with the $25,000 threshold.

However, the charter notes that county insurance – a professional service – would be bid out under home rule, as opposed to the county’s securing of insurance through a public request for proposals from vendors.

The county does not have to accept the lowest price if proposals are used, because the selection may also be based on a company’s qualifications, experience and creativity. In comparison, work must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder when bids are involved.

Though the county uses proposals, as opposed to bids, for insurance, county officials have maintained they base their selection primarily on cost and have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on insurance since it was opened to competitive award in recent years.

The county’s current purchasing policy says the county must obtain at least three price quotes from suppliers for products and services between $3,000 and $7,500.

The proposed charter requires the same for purchases between $2,500 and $25,000.

Quotes are different from publicly advertised bids and proposals because the county may not seek price quotes from companies that would have been interested in the work.

Piecemealing, or illegally breaking large purchases into small groups to avoid bidding requirements, is banned under both the proposed charter and the county’s existing policy.

The county was embroiled in a controversy over the piecemealing of prison food purchases in 2008 that had gone undetected for several years. Commissioners cut the prior purchasing director’s pay by 10 percent and suspended him for a week, saying he should have identified the violation.

The appointed manager would approve expenses under $25,000.