The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently raised the thresholds for two categories of procurements – micro-purchases and small purchases – that impose the least restrictive procurement requirements on federal grantees.  The new thresholds are effective as of June 20, 2018, the date OMB issued its memorandum.

OMB issued new requirements related to procurements by grantees that were effective for grantee fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2017.  Different procurement requirements apply depending on the amount of the procurement.  Procurements for higher dollar amounts have stricter requirements than those for lower dollar amounts.  The requirements for micro-purchases and small purchases are the most lenient as they do not require grantees to conduct a cost or price analysis.

In a memorandum issued last week, OMB raised the threshold for micro-purchases from $3,500 to $10,000.  Under this category, if the grantee considers the price to be reasonable, the grantee may award micro-purchases without soliciting competitive quotations.  OMB also raised the threshold for small purchases, also called the “Simplified Acquisition Threshold,” from $150,000 to $250,000.  Grantees making small purchases must obtain price or rate quotations from an “adequate number of qualified sources” but are not required to issue a formal request for proposals.