REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Introduce Ordinances to Amend the Sunnyvale Municipal Code by Adding Section 2.09.220 to Comply with New State Law for the Payment of Prevailing Wages for Infrastructure Work, and by Modifying Chapter 2.08 to Increase the City Manager's Bid Rejection Threshold
Report
BACKGROUND
Chapters 2.08 and 2.09 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code ("SMC") establish the procedures for the purchase of goods and services and for public works contracting, respectively. Recent changes in State law necessitate a modification to Chapter 2.09 to comply with prevailing wage requirements in order for charter cities such as Sunnyvale to be eligible for State funding for construction projects, effective January 1, 2015.
A revision to Chapter 2.08 is also recommended to synchronize the Council and City Manager approval thresholds to award contracts and reject competitive bids or proposals. Currently, the City Manager is the awarding authority for contracts of $100,000 or less, but only has authority to reject bids or proposals that are $50,000 or less. Council approval is required to reject bids or proposals greater than $50,000. When the SMC was last updated in 2008 to increase the City Manager's award authority from $50,000 to $100,000, the rejection level was left at $50,000. This discrepancy between approval and rejection thresholds causes confusion and is inconsistent with the companion section in Chapter 2.09, which sets both approval and rejection amounts for the City Manager at $100,000 or less.
Though the subject matter is different for each code change, the proposed revisions are recommended under one Report to Council for efficiency purposes.
EXISTING POLICY
There are no formally adopted written Council policies or SMC provisions relative to prevailing wages, but the City has required prevailing wages on public works construction contracts since at least 1970, and probably much earlier. The most recent documented action...
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