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City leaders remove expenditures from agenda to protect interests

Nov 05, 2019 04:39PM ● By Erin Dixon

West Jordan City no longer prints the dollars spent on specific projects on the biweekly council agenda.

By Erin Dixon | [email protected]

West Jordan City officials used to publish the dollars spent on each agenda. Now, the agenda shows where money is going but not how much. 

Councilmember Chris McConnehey pointed this out during a council meeting in late September. 

“I liked it better when it showed everything on the front page, what was a few thousand dollars versus a multi-million-dollar consent item for a new water tank or something like that,” he said.

In response, City Manager David Brickey cited there were legal reasons that the price could no longer be listed. 

Tauni Barker, communications officer for West Jordan said, “It’s a strategic move to ensure the city is able to execute contracts for a competitive price. When prices are listed on consent for an RFP (request for proposal), companies look to them as a base price for determining future response. While the information is no longer included on the agenda as a consent item providing easy access, it is still public information and can be requested via the GRAMA process.”

In other words, it is a way to make sure the city gets the lowest and most competitive price possible from potential providers. 

The City Journals previously reported on money previously printed on the agendas in March 2019: https://www.westjordanjournal.com/2019/03/25/191682/west-jordan-tax-dollars-at-work.