Public contracts: county-owned buildings.

Senator Archuleta's proposal to modify public contracting requirements for California's largest counties would raise the threshold at which certain building repairs must undergo competitive bidding from $50,000 to $175,000. The legislation applies to counties with populations over 2 million and covers alteration and repair work on county-owned buildings.

The bill introduces an annual adjustment mechanism that would modify the $175,000 threshold based on changes in the California Consumer Price Index. This provision maintains the exemption's real value as construction and maintenance costs fluctuate over time. Under current law, these counties must follow standard public contracting procedures for repair projects exceeding $50,000, while the proposed changes would allow more flexibility for mid-sized maintenance and renovation work.

For counties meeting the population requirement, the measure modifies when standard competitive bidding processes apply to building repairs. The Department of Finance's Demographic Research Unit determines population figures through federal census data or validated estimates, maintaining consistent criteria for which jurisdictions qualify for the exemption.