Explanation
BACKGROUND
Columbus City Council and various City Departments contracting with not-for-profit organizations serving vulnerable populations have a need to authorize food and/or non-alcoholic beverage expenditures incurred during defined contract period terms. Previously, food and non-alcoholic beverage expenses, included as part of the contracted operating costs for these non-profit organizations, have been permitted from the date of original legislation adoption. Due to a lack of alignment between City budgeting and grant award schedules, for some of these agreements, the current practice presents a gap in expenditure coverage for expenses incurred after the date of grant award but prior to legislation adoption, creating hardships for non-profit organizations serving City residents. This ordinance is intended to conform to the guidance issued by the Ohio Attorney General in Opinion No. 82-006 and Ohio Auditor of State Bulletin No. 2003-005 that expenditures for food and beverage must be approved prospectively by a legislative authority in a duly enacted ordinance thereby addressing the gap in funding for these non-profit organizations.
On December 12, 2022, ordinance 3197-2022 amended the City Purchasing Code by adding section 329.35. Section 329.35 included code language regarding the purchase of food and beverages for a public purpose. Pursuant to this change to City Purchasing Code, the Department of Finance and Management promulgated a Food and Beverage Rule that provided guidelines to City Departments for the processing of related expenditures.
On February 12, 2024, ordinance 0394-2024 amended Section 329.35 to align with best practices and to conform to the intent of the original code language.
It is necessary to amend Section 329.35 again to ensure that food and/or non-alcoholic beverage expenditures incurred by not-for-profit organizations, as part of their operating costs to serve the City’s vulnerable residents, are permitted during...
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