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ORANGE COUNTY <br /> P.O. BOX 8151 <br /> Office of the County � ; r <br /> 200 S. CAMERON STREET ,r <br /> Attorney <br /> HILLSBOROUGH,NC 27278 <br /> To: orange County Commissioners <br /> Valerie P. Foushee, Chair <br /> Bernadette Pelissier, Vice Chair <br /> Alice M. Gordon <br /> Pam Hemminger <br /> Barry Jacobs <br /> Mike Nelson <br /> Steve Yuhasz <br /> From: John Roberts <br /> Date: February 26, 2010 <br /> Re: Manager's Contracting Authority <br /> Prior to the employ of the current county manager the County Commissioners indicated to me that <br /> the monetary limits on the manager's contracting authority, being up to $25,000.00 for all contracts <br /> except Board Consultants, should remain in effect during the probationary period of whomever the <br /> County Commissioners hired as the county manager. I was further directed that the manager's <br /> authority to sign contracts should be brought back before the County Commissioners for discussion <br /> when the new manager's probationary employment period expired. <br /> The reasoning behind a recommendation that the county manager have greater authority to sign <br /> contracts is primarily for increased efficiency. The County Commissioners have requested that I <br /> implement changes to orange County's contract review process to improve efficiency. To <br /> accomplish that task I have developed a contract routing sheet to accompany all contracts and a <br /> contract routing process through which contracts are submitted for signature and review in a <br /> predetermined order. I have also drafted contract form templates for various types of contracts, <br /> which allow departments to fill in dates, amounts and other information, while leaving the general <br /> terms protected from alteration by vendors. The final method that may be employed to improve <br /> efficiency in the contract routing process is to increase the signature authority of the manager. <br /> I have requested and received several responses regarding the signature authority of county managers <br /> in various counties as it relates to the dollar amount of contracts. Additionally, the Finance <br /> Department conducted some research on this issue. The results are as follows: <br /> Cabarrus County Manager may sign contracts with a dollar value up to $90,000. <br /> Durham County Manager may sign contracts for services with a dollar value up to $90,000 and <br /> contracts for goods with a dollar value up to $40,000. <br />