Posted on January 2, 2018 by Matthew Moriarty – Senior Associate Attorney – Koprince Law LLC
The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed by President Donald Trump on December 12, 2017 increases the standard micro-purchase threshold applicable to civilian agencies from $3,000 to $10,000. Last year, the NDAA increased the Department of Defense (DoD) micro-purchase threshold to $5,000. This larger jump for civilian agencies is likely to have large impact on government purchasing.
A micro-purchase is one for goods or services that, due to its relatively low value, does not require the government to abide by many of its ordinary competitive procedures, including small business set asides. Because the contract is, theoretically, such a low amount, the contracting officer can pick virtually whatever company and product he or she wants to satisfy the procurement, so long as the price is reasonable.
Our guess is, in practice, this change will take some time to implement. We believe most contracting officers will stick to what the FAR says until they are told otherwise.
Nevertheless, whether it happens today or a year from now, this change is likely to have a big impact on some federal procurements. The 233% increase in the threshold for civilian agencies (a 186% increase if you count from $3,500) will open the door for many more products to be purchased without competition: FAR 13.203 specifies that “micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive quotations” so long as the contracting officer (or similar authority) considers the price to be reasonable. Just think about the different types of things you can buy with $10,000 as opposed to $3,000, or $3,500.
Please contact Doug Bolender (406)257-7711 X5 to discuss how these changes may affect your business and/or government credit card sales.