Senate Bill S275

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S275

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the
procurement of transit vehicles, supplies, equipment or services


 PURPOSE :
To authorize municipalities to participate in joint and/or piggyback
procurement arrangements by allowing a municipality to use an existing
contract between a vendor and another municipality, the State of New
York or regional public transportation authority, which has been
contracted through a competitive bid process.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1-adds a new subdivision 9-a to § 103 of the General Municipal
Law to allow a municipality to use an existing competitively-bid
contract of another municipality, the State of New York, or a public
transportation authority for procuring vehicles, supplies, equipment
or services to be used by the municipally owned, operated or sponsored
public transit system.

Section 2-contains the effective date.

 EXISTING LAW :
§ 103 of the General Municipal Law concerns the competitive bidding
              

requirements for public work contracts and limits the ability of a
county or any other political subdivision within a county to jointly
competitively bid for goods and services with another county or
political subdivision within the county unless such counties or
political subdivisions within a county are adjoining.

 JUSTIFICATION :
Regional public transportation authorities are currently able to
participate in joint and/or piggyback procurement arrangements without
geographic limitations and, as a result, are realizing significant
efficiencies and cost savings from this flexibility in purchasing
buses, equipment and other supplies that are unique to a public
transit operation. However, § 103 of the General Municipal Law
prohibits municipalities from participating in similar joint
procurement arrangements unless the municipalities are contiguous to
one another.

This proposal would allow a county or municipality to use an existing
contract between a vendor and another municipality or public
transportation system or the State of New York, located anywhere in
the state, which has been contracted through a competitive process, to
procure vehicles, supplies, equipment or services to be used by the
municipally owned or operated public transit system. The competitive
bidding requirements of § 103 are preserved in this proposal by
requiring that such other municipal public transportation sponsor or
authority or the State used a process of competitive bidding or a
process of competitive requests for proposals to award such contract.
The governing body of the municipality must also authorize by
resolution the county or other political subdivision to enter into
such procurement arrangements.

Enactment of this proposal would mitigate duplication of effort
between non-adjoining municipalities and result in savings to
municipal transit systems, and ultimately the traveling public. For
example, a small transit system, which may need to buy only one bus,
would be able to avoid having to research and develop specifications
for the bus. The bus manufacturer would be able to avoid the cost of
meeting the unique specifications for the one bus. While this
provision is expected to benefit municipal public transportation
sponsors anywhere in the state that provide or sponsor transit
services, it will have a profound effect on upstate small and rural
systems that currently do not possess the technical or financial
capability or the optimum contract quantity required to effect
procurement efficiencies. These systems, with often much smaller
budgets, may realize significant savings and greatly improve the
quality or usefulness of the procurement.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
2008:  S.1136 Local Government
2007:    S.1136 Passed Senate
2005/06: S.730 Passed Senate
2003/04: S.4360 Local Government

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
This proposal is revenue neutral to the State. It would result in
procurement savings, the amount not quantified at this time, for
counties and other municipal transit sponsors.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.