Frequently Asked Questions

Has FTA incorporated and flowed down to its regional offices the instructions as outlined by OMB in OM-18-18 dated June 20, 2018, increasing the micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds?

On June 20, 2018, OMB issued memorandum OM-18-18, “Implementing Statutory Changes to the Micro-Purchase and the Simplified Acquisition Thresholds for Financial Assistance.”  In accordance with recent statutory changes set forth in the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) for fiscal years 2017 and 2018, this memorandum raises the threshold for micro-purchases under Federal financial assistance awards to $10,000, and raises the threshold for simplified acquisitions to $250,000 for all recipients. The increases for micro-purchases and the simplified acquisition threshold apply to FTA-funded procurements made on or after June 20, 2018. 

However, please be advised that the increase in the simplified acquisition threshold to $250,000 does not apply for Buy America purposes, as the small purchase amount is established at $150,000 in FTA’s statute at 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(13) and is no longer tied to the simplified acquisition threshold.  See FTA’s September 2016 policy letter for an explanation.

Can small transit properties establish a small purchase threshold of $100,000?

Yes, unless further restricted by State or local laws and procedures. The $100,000 simplified acquisition threshold was raised to $150,000 by the OMB Super-Circular (2 CFR Part 200, adopted by the USDOT via 2 CFR Part 1201), which had an effective date of December 26, 2015. But the change only applies to "new" money -- in other words, for grants issued by FTA after Christmas 2014, the new ceiling applies, but for grants released by FTA prior to that date, the $100,000 threshold remains. (Revised: May 2017)

Our organization is now responsible for administering our own FTA Grants and needs guidance to ensure we comply with FTA guidelines. I am concerned with small purchases under $100,000 for commodities and everyday items (not construction contracts) i.e. motor oil, tires, bus repair parts, office supplies, copy machines, etc., anything that we need to run our day to day operations. I have studied the printed material regarding the Micro purchase threshold and Small purchase threshold and our County and State purchasing guidelines are stricter and will take precedence. A purchase over $500 requires three price quotes, over $1,000 requires written quote responses and over $10,000 requires a formal bid.

If we purchase tires (or anything else) on a regular basis and the annual total is under $10,000 are we required to prepare a formal quote that includes all the FTA clauses or are they only applicable when we exceed $100,000 annually in that commodity?

If we purchase tires (or anything else) on a regular basis and the annual total exceeds $10,000 but is still under $100,000 NY State law requires we prepare a formal bid. Are we required to include and attach all the FTA clauses to the bid?

If we purchase tires (or anything else) on a regular basis and the annual total exceeds $10,000 but is still under $100,000 but NYS OGS has a competitive bid in place that State law allows us to purchase from can we continue to use that bid or must be prepare and issue our own bid for the same specifications so that we can attach all the FTA clauses?

We wish to set up our procurement procedures so they meet FTA requirements but don’t want to make the process any more cumbersome than necessary.

The $100,000 simplified acquisition threshold was raised to $150,000 by the OMB Super-Circular (2 CFR Part 200, adopted by the USDOT via 2 CFR Part 1201), which had an effective date of December 26, 2015. But the change only applies to "new" money -- in other words, for grants issued by FTA after Christmas 2014, the new ceiling applies, but for grants released by FTA prior to that date, the $100,000 threshold remains.

Your agency may have several purchases during the year for commodities that are less than $150,000 each but more than $150,000 for the entire year. The threshold applies to each individual contract. We would caution you that if you award a contract to a supplier that is below $150,000 but add to it later so that it grows to more than $150,000, you must add the FTA required clauses for contracts above $150,000 once you cross that threshold. Thus, if you suspect this may happen, you should include the above $150,000 clauses initially. Of course, you should plan your purchases annually and consolidate where feasible to get the best prices and quality available, but limitations such as inventory space or program uncertainties may make it infeasible to consolidate into larger procurement packages. You should make those program/business judgments.

The FTA clauses required are determined by the value of each procurement using FTA’s dollar criteria, not your state or local criteria. The BPPM discusses the various clauses and instructions for each, including dollar criteria, in Appendix A.1.

If the non-construction procurements are under the federal micro-purchase threshold of $3,500, then there are no FTA clauses required. The FTA Best Practices Procurement Manual (BPPM) discusses Micro-purchases in section 3.4.1.

The question of using a state GSA – type contract is discussed in the BPPM section 3.3.5 – State Cooperative Purchasing Contracts. FTA takes the position that grantees may add the required federal clauses in their first purchase orders against these State contracts if those contracts did not include the federal requirements initially.  Joint procurements are discussed in section 3.3.2 – Joint Procurements.  “Piggybacking” is discussed in section 3.3.4. - Acquisition Through Assigned Contract Rights/Piggybacking.  The BPPM is available online:  https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/funding/procurement/8286/fta-best-practices-procurement-and-lessons-learned-manual-2016.pdf

(Revised:  May 2017)

Reading the FTA Required Clauses section in the Best Practices Manual it says, "As part of their applications each year, recipients are required to submit a certification to the effect that they will not enter into contracts over $100,000 with suspended or debarred contractors and that they will require their contractors (and their subcontractors) to make the same certification to them." Am I required to include language in my RFPs and IFBs for procurements which may be less than $100,000?

The requirements regarding debarment and suspension apply to contracts that equal or exceed $25,000. You may refer to the Best Practices Procurement Manual, Appendix A, Clause #13 – Government-Wide Debarment and Suspension for guidance as to the various ways that these requirements may be met. The BPPM is available online: https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/funding/procurement/8286/fta-best-practices-procurement-and-lessons-learned-manual-2016.pdf (Revised:  May 2017)

If the small purchase procurement method is used applying the Brooks Act procedures, does a formal RFP have to go out, or can qualifications be requested informally from various firms without advertising in the newspaper?

Small purchase procedures do not require formal RFPs. All that is required is that you solicit price quotes from an "adequate number of qualified sources." The topic of Small Purchases is discussed in the Best Practices Procurement Manual, Section 3.4.2 – “Simplified Acquisition Thresholds or Small Purchases.”  The BPPM is available online: https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/funding/procurement/8286/fta-best-practices-procurement-and-lessons-learned-manual-2016.pdf (Revised:  May 2017)

We have an estimate from one vendor who produces HR administration software for a $7,000 end-user license agreement. The first year support agreement is $3,000. Subsequent annual maintenance support agreement costs are $3,000. We are not locking ourselves into anything more than a 1-year contract if this firm is awarded following a competitive solicitation (follow-on annual maintenance support agreements are not required to operate the software). Our agency's simplified acquisition threshold is $25,000. Is this still considered within the simplified acquisition (small purchase) guidelines under FTA Circular 4220.1F, or should formal procedures requiring an RFP be used?

The simplified acquisition threshold, which is currently $100,000 at the Federal level but typically less for individual grantees (based on their own procurement policies), is applicable to the expected value of the procurement action presently being processed. This should include any options in the current contract if exercising them will result in a larger contract value that would exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. We do not believe the grantee should look beyond the current contract value (including options) when making a determination of whether the threshold for small purchases should apply. In this case, for example, the current contract value for licensing the software for the first year is only $7,000–$10,000. The agency is making no contractual commitment for future years. We would also note that software technology is changing so rapidly that it is simply good business practice not to contract long-term for software that may become obsolete. Based on these facts we see no reason for you to assume now that your contract will grow to $25,000, and we would advise that this action should be processed as a small purchase under your simplified acquisition procedures. (Reviewed June 2010)

Is contacting one vendor for a price quote, by phone, FAX or email, and using a second vendor's price posted on the internet, without contacting the vendor, unequal access to information--since the second vendor doesn't have the same chance to offer a lower price? Background Information: A transit agency contacted two vendors by phone for price quotes, got three more vendor prices from the internet, and awarded to one of the first two vendors. We're discussing internally if this is unequal access to information.

If the procurement is above the micro purchase threshold of $3000, but less than the small purchase threshold of $100,000, the grantee is required to obtain competitive prices from an "adequate number of qualified sources" to ensure competition. We believe the grantee should solicit price proposals from an adequate number of qualified sources for the items it requires. This would include some form of solicitation that informed the vendors of the item's specifications, the quantities required, the delivery dates for the items, and any other relevant information needed to submit an informed bid. All prospective bidders must have access to the same information in order to ensure a fair competitive process and a public perception of fairness. (Posted: October, 2013)

Our agency spends approximately $150,000 to $200,000 per year on Maintenance, Repair & Operations (MRO) supplies from a variety of sources. Each of the individual purchases fall below the formal threshold and many are even below the micro threshold. We understand that the FTA does not support the use of intergovernmental purchasing schedules or purchasing contracts and we intend on being fully compliant. Our MRO purchases are below the formal threshold so we request informal quotes to satisfy the competitive requirements. Each of the MRO suppliers has been awarded intergovernmental agreements and they are proving quotes at or below the pricing published in their intergovernmental agreement. In the spirit of transparency, can we award a number of MRO agreements with these vendors based on our aggregate annual spend provided we obtain multiple quotes for each purchase?

We would encourage you to adopt your suggested approach; i.e., to aggregate the various procurements by type of item and compete for your anticipated annual needs with competitive solicitations for the various items using the estimated annual quantities. You could award indefinite quantity contracts with minimum and maximum quantities stated in the contracts. (Posted: October, 2013)

Will the threshold for small purchases be increased to $150,000 as per FAR regulations?

The $100,000 simplified acquisition threshold was raised to $150,000 by the OMB Super-Circular (2 CFR Part 200, adopted by the USDOT via 2 CFR Part 1201), which had an effective date of December 26, 2015. But the change only applies to "new" money -- in other words, for grants issued by FTA after Christmas 2014, the new ceiling applies, but for grants released by FTA prior to that date, the $100,000 threshold remains. (Revised: May 2017)

Has the Small Purchase threshold been changed from $100,000 to $150,000?

The $100,000 simplified acquisition threshold was raised to $150,000 by the OMB Super-Circular (2 CFR Part 200, adopted by the USDOT via 2 CFR Part 1201), which had an effective date of December 26, 2014. But the change only applies to "new" money -- in other words, for grants issued by FTA after Christmas 2014, the new ceiling applies, but for grants released by FTA prior to that date, the $100,000 threshold still remains. Note that the sum applies to the entire scope of the FTA-funded project, and not FTA's proportional share or to an individual line item or purchase item within that project.
(Posted: December, 2015)