GRANITE FALLS — State auditors have asked city officials here to improve the way they handle large purchases.
Cities are required to go through a competitive bidding process for purchases or work that exceed certain cost thresholds. One way to do so is through a cooperative that handles the bidding. Cooperatives must meet specific requirements. Granite Falls purchased $145,256 worth of equipment and supplies for local parks but did not make sure the cooperatives it worked with met all those requirements, according to a management letter from auditors.
The city also purchased new meters for more than $67,000 total and had city workers install them. That kind of labor is permitted without a bidding process if it costs $65,000 or less. Since the meter replacements exceeded that amount, the project should have been put out for bids.
The idea behind bidding is to encourage fairness, competition and efficiency for public projects, according to the state auditor’s office.
The concerns were addressed in the management letter. The overall audit for Granite Falls did not find any issues with the city’s financial management or accountability.
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