Issue 5: Purchasing Amendment
City of Sandusky
Official Ballot Language
This is the exact text that will appear on your ballot
Amend Section 25 of the Charter of the City of Sandusky to increase the minimum required for competitive quotations from one thousand dollars ($1,000) to five thousand dollars ($5,000) and to allow the Commission of the City of Sandusky to set the threshold for City expenditures to an amount no more than allowed under state law.
Proposed Change
Currently competitive quotes are required for any city purchase over $1,000. The change raises this to $5,000.
A more complex and time-intensive bidding process is required for purchases over $10,000. The change updates this to match state law ($77,250 today). The City Commission could set a lower number by ordinance.
It's important to note the difference in language between Issue 5 and the similar 2020 Issue 3, which was ultimately voted down:
"Shall Section 25 of the City Charter be amended to adjust the expenditure threshold for competitive bidding and specific approval of the City Commission from $10,000 to $25,000?" (2020 Issue 3).
Issue 3 in 2020 presented two changes: increasing the threshold for (1) competitive bidding and (2) specific approval of the City Commission.
Although not explicit in the 2025 Issue 5 ballot language or the official summary published by the City, Issue 5 would change both the bidding and Commission approval threshold to the state minimum, which is currently $77,250.
Arguments For
- $1,000 and $10,000 limits were set decades ago and don't reflect today's costs.
- By tying the Charter to state rules, the thresholds will adjust over time as costs rise, without the City needing to change the Charter every time.
- The current rules create delays. For example, the City has missed out on buying police cruisers that were available because the bidding process was too slow.
- Requiring a bidding process for anything over $10,000 often excludes small local businesses, since the paperwork, bonding, and insurance requirements can be too burdensome.
- Updating the thresholds will save staff time, reduce costs, and keep strong checks and balances in place.
Arguments Against
- The ballot language omits the actual dollar amounts involved ($10,000 current limit and proposed $77,250 limit), which makes it difficult for voters to clearly understand the scale of the change.
- Raising the threshold from $10,000 to $77,250 removes oversight from elected commissioners and transfers spending authority to unelected city employees, reducing direct accountability to residents.
- The change would enable city employees to decide both how money is spent and which fund it comes from, increasing the risk of inappropriate fund usage (e.g., sewer and water funds used for unrelated projects).
- Past purchases under employee authority have resulted in wasteful spending (examples: boom truck paid entirely from sewer funds despite limited use by that department; illegal brew bike purchase), which could worsen under a higher threshold.
- Eliminating commission review up to the state maximum allows unchecked, ongoing increases in spending caps without voter approval, bypassing the public's will as expressed in 2020 when they rejected a smaller proposed increase.
Quick Facts
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