Hartford approves best value bids

By Derek Liebig

The Town of Hartford passed a law last week that enables it to forego a requirement to accept the lowest bids for goods or services and instead accept the “best value” offered by bidders.

The law applies to purchases of more than $20,000, but does not include Department of Public Works projects.

Prior to the change, the town was required to award any competitive bid to the lowest bidder so long as it met the specifications for the project/purchase. State law requires that municipalities utilize competitive bidding for goods and services.

But that requirement didn’t necessarily take into consideration whether the lowest bid was also cost-efficient, officials said.

Supervisor Dana Haff pointed out last month that there are instances, such as when purchasing a truck, that a municipality may save money over the long term if it opted for a more expensive truck that was built better or offered better gas mileage.

He said municipalities are increasingly turning to “best value” policies for purchasing goods.

Under the new law, officials will consider the cost of maintenance, durability, availability of replacement parts or maintenance contractors, product life, product performance and quality of craftsmanship when determining whether a product should be purchased on the basis of best value.

In any instance when a contract is awarded based on best value instead of the lowest bid, the rationale for that decision must be documented.

The law was approved by a 4-0 margin. Councilwoman Elizabeth Foote was absent.