2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 13 - Public Purchases and Property › Article 1 - Procurement › Section 13-1-125 - Small purchases.

A. A central purchasing office shall procure services, construction or items of tangible personal property having a value not exceeding sixty thousand dollars ($60,000), excluding applicable state and local gross receipts taxes, in accordance with the applicable small purchase rules adopted by the secretary, a local public body or a central purchasing office that has the authority to issue rules.
B. Notwithstanding the requirements of Subsection A of this section, a central purchasing office may procure professional services having a value not exceeding sixty thousand dollars ($60,000), excluding applicable state and local gross receipts taxes, except for the services of landscape architects or surveyors for state public works projects or local public works projects, in accordance with professional services procurement rules promulgated by the general services department or a central purchasing office with the authority to issue rules.
C. Notwithstanding the requirements of Subsection A of this section, a state agency or a local public body may procure services, construction or items of tangible personal property having a value not exceeding twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), excluding applicable state and local gross receipts taxes, by issuing a direct purchase order to a contractor based upon the best obtainable price.
D. Procurement requirements shall not be artificially divided so as to constitute a small purchase under this section.
History:
Laws 1984, ch. 65, § 98; 1987, ch. 348, § 8; 1988, ch. 54, § 1; 1989, ch. 69, § 16; 1995, ch. 139, § 1; 1997, ch. 69, § 1; 2001, ch. 292, § 6; 2005, ch. 214, § 2; 2007, ch. 315, § 3; 2013, ch. 70, § 7; 2019, ch. 153, § 3.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For adoption of rules and regulations by director of department of finance and administration,
see
9-6-5 NMSA 1978.
For adoption of rules and regulations by secretary of general services department,
see
9-17-5 NMSA 1978.
The 2019 amendment,
effective July 1, 2019, removed the department of finance and administration from the responsibility of promulgating rules for procuring certain professional services by a central purchasing office; in Subsection B, after "promulgated by", deleted "the department of finance and administration".
Temporary provisions.
— Laws 2019, ch. 153, § 6 provided:
A. On the effective date of this act, all personnel, functions, appropriations, money, records, furniture, equipment and other property of, or attributable to, the contracts review bureau of the administrative services division of the department of finance and administration are transferred to the purchasing division of the general services department.
B. On the effective date of this act, all contractual obligations of the contracts review bureau of the administrative services division of the department of finance and administration become binding on the purchasing division of the general services department.
C. On and after the effective date of this act, rules of the department of finance and administration pertaining to the approval of professional services contracts shall be deemed to be the rules of the general services department until amended or repealed by the general services department, and all references in those rules to the department of finance and administration shall be deemed to be references to the general services department.
The 2013 amendment,
effective July 1, 2013, increased the dollar amount of small purchases; in Subsection A, after "not exceeding", deleted "twenty thousand dollars ($20,000)" and added "sixty thousand dollars ($60,000), excluding applicable state and local gross receipts taxes", after "applicable small purchase", deleted "regulation" and added "rules", and after "authority to issue", deleted "regulation" and added "rules"; in Subsection B, after "not exceeding", deleted "fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)" and added "sixty thousand dollars ($60,000)", after "professional services procurement", deleted "regulation" and added "rules", and after "authority to issue", deleted "regulation" and added "rules"; and in Subsection C, after "not exceeding", deleted "ten thousand dollars ($10,000)" and added "twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), excluding applicable state and local gross receipts taxes".
The 2007 amendment,
effective June 15, 2007, increased the amount of small purchases of professional services from $30,000 to $50.000 and tangible personal property from $5,000 to $10,000.
The 2005 amendment,
effective July 1, 2005, increased the maximum value of small purchases from $10,000 to $20,000 in Subsection A; increased the maximum value of professional services from $20,000 to $30,000 in Subsection B; and increased the maximum value of purchases at best obtainable prices from $1,500 to $5,000 in Subsection C.
The 2001 amendment,
effective July 1, 2001, deleted "The state purchasing agent or" from the beginning of the first sentence of Subsection A; and substituted "one thousand five hundred dollars" for "five hundred dollars" in Subsection C.
The 1997 amendment,
effective June 20, 1997, substituted "ten thousand dollars" for "five thousand dollars" in Subsection A, deleted former Subsection C relating to school and educational institution purchases, and redesignated former Subsections D and E as Subsections C and D.
The 1995 amendment,
effective June 16, 1995, made a minor stylistic change in Subsection A and inserted "for a state two-year post-secondary institution or for a school district as defined in the Public School Code" in Subsection C.
School board's procurement of legal services without a competitive-sealed-proposal process did not violate the Procurement Code.
— A school district that procured legal services at a cost of approximately $40,000 from a law firm that was not awarded a contract through the school district's competitive sealed proposal process did not violate the Procurement Code, because under the Procurement Code, a local public body, which includes a school district, can procure professional legal services from a law firm without using a competitive sealed proposal process as long as the total contract amount does not exceed $60,000 and the procurement accords with the professional services procurement rules promulgated by the school district's central purchasing office, and in this case, the procurement at issue did not exceed $60,000 and did not violate the school district's professional services procurement rules. 2020 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2020-08.