[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Ramapo as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-24-2015 by L.L. No. 2-2015]
This article shall be known as the "Ramapo Best Value Contract Award Law"
A. 
General Municipal Law § 103 provides local governments greater flexibility in awarding contracts, including contracts for service work on the basis of best value. The state legislation requires municipalities with a population of less than $1,000,000 to pass a local law authorizing the use of the best value award process.
B. 
Enactment of this legislation provides additional procurement options to localities in ways that may expedite the procurement process and result in cost savings. The best value standard for selecting goods and service vendors, including janitorial and security contracts, is critical to efforts to use strategic sourcing principles to modernize the supply chain and ensure that taxpayers obtain the highest quality goods and services at the lowest potential cost, while also ensuring fairness to all competitors.
C. 
With the increased complexity of the goods and services that municipalities must obtain in order to serve taxpayers, it is critical to consider selection and evaluation criteria that measure factors other than cost in the strictest sense.
D. 
Taxpayers are not well served when a public procurement results in low unit costs at the outset, but ultimately engenders cost escalations due to factors such as inferior quality, poor reliability and difficulty of maintenance. Best value procurement links the procurement process directly to the municipality's performance requirements, incorporating selection factors such as useful lifespan, quality and options to incentives for more timely performance and/or additional services.
E. 
Even if the initial expenditure is higher, considering the total value over the life of the procurement may result in a better value and long-term investment of public funds. Best value procurement also encourages competition and, in turn, often results in better pricing, quality and customer service. Fostering healthy competition ensures that bidders will continue to strive for excellence in identifying and meeting municipalities' needs, including such important goals as the participation of small, minority and women-owned businesses, and the development of environmentally preferable goods and service delivery methods. Best value procurement will provide much-needed flexibility in obtaining important goods and services at favorable prices, and will reduce the time to procure such goods and services.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BEST VALUE
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.
A. 
Where the basis for award is the best value offer, the Director of Purchasing shall document, in the procurement record and in advance of the initial receipt of offers, the determination of evaluation criteria which, whenever possible, shall be quantifiable, and the process to be used in the determination of best value and the manner in which the evaluation process and selection shall be conducted.
B. 
The Director of Purchasing shall select a formal competitive procurement process in accordance with guidelines established by the Town's purchasing policy and document its determination in the procurement record. The process shall include, but is not limited to, a clear statement of need; a description of the required specifications governing performance and related factors; a reasonable process for ensuring a competitive field; a fair and equal opportunity for offerers to submit responsive offers; and a balanced and fair method of award. Where the basis for the award is best value, documentation in the procurement record shall, where practicable, include quantification of the application of criteria to the rating of proposals and the evaluation results or, where not practicable, such other justification which demonstrates that best value will be achieved.
C. 
The solicitation shall prescribe the minimum specifications or requirements that must be met in order to be considered responsive and shall describe and disclose the general manner in which the evaluation and selection shall be conducted. Where appropriate, the solicitation shall identify the relative importance and/or weight of cost and the overall technical criterion to be considered by the Town in its determination of best value.
D. 
The Director of Purchasing shall develop procedures that will govern the award of contracts on the basis of best value. These procedures shall be included in the Town's purchasing policy and reviewed annually by the Town board in conjunction with its annual review and approval of the Town's purchasing policy.