Rockland Legislature Backs New Best Value Law

From the Rockland County Legislature

The Rockland County Legislature has adopted a new law to help improve both the efficiency of the procurement process and the quality of goods and services purchased by County government.

“The law is designed to provide additional procurement options to the County that could both expedite the purchasing process and result in a cost savings, as well as improve the overall quality of goods and services that are purchased,” Legislative Chairman Alden H. Wolfe said.

Importantly, the new Best Value approach will allow certain criteria to be considered in the decision-making and award process, potentially boosting the participation of small businesses, minority and women-owned businesses, and nonprofits.

“This process was arrived at after careful consideration,” Legislator Wolfe said. “One thing we didn’t want to do was adopt a change in procurement that could end up unintentionally hurting Rockland-based for-profit and nonprofit businesses.

“We also wanted to address any concerns about liberalizing the procurement process without sufficient oversight by the County Legislature,” Legislator Wolfe said. “If the criteria are going to be more subjective, there needs to be a clear process with clear explanations about how Best Value will function – the methodology, the transparency, and the actual awarding of purchase and service contracts. Given the support the resolution garnered, I believe legislators’ concerns and questions have been answered.”

Legislator Wolfe noted that the new law sunsets in three years unless a new resolution is adopted to extend it.

According to County Purchasing Director Paul Brennan, the most important benefit in utilizing Best Value will be the ability for the County to use National Cooperative Purchasing Contracts, which can cross municipal and even state lines, and typically have higher “purchasing power” resulting in lower bid award costs.

The use of NCP contracts is also needed due to the delay in awarding and the reduction/elimination of New York State Contracts by the New York State Office of General Services, Brennan said.

In assessing “Best Value,” non-price factors can be considered, including the reliability of a product, efficiency of operation, difficulty/ease of maintenance, useful lifespan, ability to meet needs regarding timeliness of performance, and experience of a service provider with similar contracts.

Under the current system, it is the lowest responsible bidder who is awarded a purchase or service contract. But taxpayers are not necessarily well served by buying what appears to be cheapest if it costs more in the end due to inferior quality, poor reliability,and difficulty of maintenance, among other factors.

Contracts for public works projects, such as building construction and renovation, are excluded from Best Value and will continue to be awarded by low bid and in accordance with State law.

The decision to award a contract on the basis of Best Value will include a cost-benefit analysis to show quantifiable value or savings from non-price factors that offset the price differential of the lower price offers.

Notification to the County Legislature of a Best Value award, regardless of the dollar value of the contract, is required.

Counties with population of under one million people need to adopt a law authorizing the use of the Best Value process, to be followed by a County Legislative resolution implementing Best Value as part of the County’s procurement policy. The County Legislature voted 16-0 on Dec. 15 to adopt the law and expects to adopt the resolution implementing it in January.