Public Bidding and Contracts

• Author: Raymond S. DiRaddo
• Pages: 457-530

Chapter 8

Public Bidding and Contracts

New York Fire District Officers’ Guide

§8:10 8-2

§8:10 PUBLIC POLICY

The board of fire commissioners has the responsibility of purchasing items which are required for the operation

of the fire district, including purchasing the apparatus and equipment necessary to protect district residents as well

as providing for the care and upkeep of its fire stations. It is the policy of the State of New York that contracts

for the purchase of equipment or apparatus and contracts for public works—defined as the erection, construction,

reconstruction or alteration of buildings of the district—be governed by certain requirements. The reason for the

requirements is to assure the taxpayers of the prudent and economical use of public money and to ensure that

the products purchased or the facility being built achieves maximum quality at the lowest possible cost. General

Municipal Law §100-a. The type of project and the cost of the purchase or project determine the procedures that

are followed. General Municipal Law §103.

§8:20 MONETARY LIMITS

§8:20.1 PUBLIC WORK THRESHOLDS

Currently, all contracts for public works involving an expenditure of more than $35,000 must be awarded to

the lowest responsible bidder, after an advertisement for sealed bids. A contract for public works is defined as

agreements for the erection, construction, reconstruction or alteration of buildings. What is or is not a public work

and payment of prevailing wages and how it impacts volunteers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

§8:20.2 MATERIAL AND APPARATUS PURCHASES AND SERVICE WORK

Any purchase of materials involving an expenditure of more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) must be

awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after advertisement for sealed bids. Purchase contracts include contracts for

service work, but do not include any purchase contracts necessary for the completion of a public works contract under

Labor Law Article 8. Such purchase contracts shall be awarded to a responsive and responsible bidder or offerer on

the basis of best value.

The purchase by a fire district of a fire-fighting vehicle from its fire department at a cost in excess of $20,000

is subject to the competitive bidding. General Municipal Law §103; Opinion of the State Comptroller 86-67.

Even though the fire district used money specifically bequeathed for the purchase of a fire-fighting vehicle,

the purchase is subject to competitive bidding requirements. Opinion of the State Comptroller 81-187.

When a fire district acquires new equipment from a fire company in exchange for old equipment, this

transaction is to be viewed as a purchase by the fire district, subject to competitive bidding requirements. 26

Opinion of the State Comptroller 17, 1970.

§8:20.2.1 BEST VALUE

Best value is the basis for awarding contracts for services to the offerer which optimizes quality, cost, and

efficiency, among responsive and responsible offerers. Such basis shall reflect, wherever possible, objective and

quantifiable analysis. Such basis may also identify a quantitative factor for offerers that are small businesses

or certified minority- or women-owned business enterprises. In evaluation of offers of awarding contracts for

services, the Board of Fire Commissioners may make use of best value for awarding a purchase contract provided

that best value must be authorized, in the case of a fire district by rule, regulation, or resolution adopted at a public

meeting.

Public Bidding and Contracts

8-3 §8:20.2.1.4

In any case where a responsible bidder’s or responsible offerer’s gross price is reducible by an allowance for

the value of used machinery, equipment, apparatus or tools to be traded in by the fire district the gross price shall

be reduced by the amount of such allowance, for the purpose of determining the best value.

§8:20.2.1.1 CERTIFIED BUSINESS

“Certified business” shall mean a business verified as a minority- or women-owned business enterprise under

the Executive law §314.

§8:20.2.1.2 MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

A minority-owned business enterprise means a business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership

or corporation that is:

(a) At least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority group members;

(b) An enterprise in which such minority ownership is real, substantial, and continuing;

(c) An enterprise in which such minority ownership has and exercises the authority to control independently

the day-to-day business decisions of the enterprise;

(d) An enterprise authorized to do business in this state and independently owned and operated;

(e) an enterprise owned by an individual or individuals, whose ownership, control, and operation are relied

upon for certification, with a personal net worth that does not exceed three million five hundred thousand

dollars, as adjusted annually on the first of January for inflation according to the consumer price index of

the previous year; and

(f) An enterprise that is a small business pursuant to subdivision twenty of this section. Executive Law

§310(7).

§8:20.2.1.3 WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

A women-owned business enterprise means a business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership,

or corporation that is:

(a) At least fifty-one percent owned by one or more United States citizens or permanent resident aliens who are

women;

(b) An enterprise in which the ownership interest of such women is real, substantial, and continuing;

(c) An enterprise in which such women ownership has and exercises the authority to control independently

the day-to-day business decisions of the enterprise;

(d) An enterprise authorized to do business in this state and independently owned and operated;

(e) an enterprise owned by an individual or individuals, whose ownership, control, and operation are relied

upon for certification, with a personal net worth that does not exceed three million five hundred thousand

dollars, as adjusted annually on the first of January for inflation according to the consumer price index of

the previous year; and

(f) An enterprise that is a small business pursuant to subdivision twenty of this section.

§8:20.2.1.4 CERTIFIED AS BOTH A MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE AND A

WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

A firm owned by a minority group member who is also a woman may be certified as a minority-owned

business enterprise, a women-owned business enterprise, or both, and may be counted towards either a minority-

owned business enterprise goal or a women-owned business enterprise goal, in regard to any contract or any

goal, set by an agency or authority, but such participation may not be counted towards both such goals. Such an