Best Value in Recommendation for Award

Statement of Basis and Purpose

Prior to recent amendments to New York State General Municipal Law § 103, contracts for public work and contracts for purchase contracts (i.e., contracts for the purchase of goods and standard services) had to be procured, as a general matter, by publicly advertised, low sealed bid. The recent changes to GML § 103 (the “Best Value Law”) give the City the option to procure purchase contracts based on best value to the City, as that phrase is defined in State Finance Law § 163. Under that section, best value is defined in terms of the optimization of quality, cost and efficiency.

PPB Rule 2-09 sets forth the requirements for the Recommendation for Award prepared by the agency’s contracting officer. In light of recent amendments to PPB Rules, 9 RCNY §§ 3-02 and 3-03, which give agencies the option to award goods and standard services based on best value to the City instead of lowest bidder, the proposed amendment to Rule 2-09 adds the requirement that the Recommendation for Award set forth the criteria used in determining best value if an award is made to a bidder whose bid represents the best value to the City.