S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  4625

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 13, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. NOZZOLIO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in  relation  to  authorizing
  the city of Auburn to prefer businesses located in the county of Cayu-
  ga in awarding public contracts

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 103 of the general municipal  law,
as amended by section 1 of part FF of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is
amended to read as follows:
  1. Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature
or  by  a  local  law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred
fifty-three, all contracts for public work involving an  expenditure  of
more  than  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  and  all  purchase contracts
involving an expenditure of more than twenty thousand dollars, shall  be
awarded  by  the  appropriate  officer,  board  or agency of a political
subdivision or of any district therein including but not  limited  to  a
soil  conservation district, to the lowest responsible bidder furnishing
the required security after advertisement for sealed bids in the  manner
provided by this section; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IN THE CITY OF AUBURN,
FOR  PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  PURCHASE  CONTRACTS  UP TO ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND
DOLLARS, SUCH CONTRACTS MAY BE AWARDED TO THE RESPONSIBLE  BIDDER  WHOSE
BID  IS  WITHIN FIVE PERCENT OF THE BID OF THE LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER
AND IF THE PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS OF SUCH BIDDER IS LOCATED  WITHIN
THE  COUNTY  OF  CAYUGA.  In any case where a responsible bidder's gross
price is reducible by an allowance for  the  value  of  used  machinery,
equipment,  apparatus  or  tools to be traded in by a political subdivi-
sion, the gross price shall be reduced by the amount of such  allowance,
for  the  purpose of determining the low bid. In cases where two or more
responsible bidders furnishing the required  security  submit  identical
bids  as  to price, such officer, board or agency may award the contract

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01263-01-1
              

S. 4625                             2

to any of such bidders. Such officer, board or agency may, in his or her
or its discretion, reject all bids and readvertise for new bids  in  the
manner provided by this section. In determining whether a purchase is an
expenditure  within  the  discretionary threshold amounts established by
this subdivision, the officer, board or agency of a  political  subdivi-
sion  or  of any district therein shall consider the reasonably expected
aggregate amount of all purchases of the same commodities,  services  or
technology  to  be made within the twelve-month period commencing on the
date of purchase.   Purchases of  commodities,  services  or  technology
shall  not  be  artificially  divided  for the purpose of satisfying the
discretionary buying  thresholds  established  by  this  subdivision.  A
change  to or a renewal of a discretionary purchase shall not be permit-
ted if the change or renewal would bring the reasonably expected  aggre-
gate  amount of all purchases of the same commodities, services or tech-
nology from the same provider within the twelve-month period  commencing
on  the date of the first purchase to an amount greater than the discre-
tionary buying threshold amount. For purposes of this  section,  "sealed
bids",  as  that  term applies to purchase contracts, shall include bids
submitted in an electronic format including submission of the  statement
of  non-collusion  required by section one hundred three-d of this arti-
cle, provided that the governing board of the political  subdivision  or
district,  by  resolution,  has  authorized  the receipt of bids in such
format.  Submission in electronic format may, for  technology  contracts
only,  be  required  as the sole method for the submission of bids. Bids
submitted in an electronic format shall be transmitted by bidders to the
receiving device designated by the political  subdivision  or  district.
Any  method  used  to  receive electronic bids shall comply with article
three of the state technology law, and any rules and regulations promul-
gated and guidelines developed thereunder and, at a  minimum,  must  (a)
document  the  time  and  date of receipt of each bid received electron-
ically; (b) authenticate the identity of  the  sender;  (c)  ensure  the
security  of  the  information transmitted; and (d) ensure the confiden-
tiality of the bid until the time and date established for  the  opening
of  bids.  The timely submission of an electronic bid in compliance with
instructions provided for such submission in the advertisement for  bids
and/or  the  specifications  shall  be the responsibility solely of each
bidder or prospective bidder. No political subdivision or district ther-
ein shall incur any liability from delays of  or  interruptions  in  the
receiving device designated for the submission and receipt of electronic
bids.
  S  2.  Subdivision  1  of section 103 of the general municipal law, as
amended by section 2 of part FF of chapter 56 of the laws  of  2010,  is
amended to read as follows:
  1. Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature
or  by  a  local  law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred
fifty-three, all contracts for public work involving an  expenditure  of
more  than  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  and  all  purchase contracts
involving an expenditure of more than twenty thousand dollars, shall  be
awarded  by  the  appropriate  officer,  board  or agency of a political
subdivision or of any district therein including but not  limited  to  a
soil  conservation district, to the lowest responsible bidder furnishing
the required security after advertisement for sealed bids in the  manner
provided  by  this  section.  In  determining  whether  a purchase is an
expenditure within the discretionary threshold  amounts  established  by
this  subdivision,  the officer, board or agency of a political subdivi-
sion or of any district therein shall consider the  reasonably  expected

S. 4625                             3

aggregate  amount  of all purchases of the same commodities, services or
technology to be made within the twelve-month period commencing  on  the
date of purchase. Purchases of commodities, services or technology shall
not  be  artificially  divided for the purpose of satisfying the discre-
tionary buying thresholds established by this subdivision. A  change  to
or  a  renewal of a discretionary purchase shall not be permitted if the
change or renewal would bring the reasonably expected  aggregate  amount
of  all  purchases  of the same commodities, services or technology from
the same provider within the twelve-month period commencing on the  date
of the first purchase to an amount greater than the discretionary buying
threshold  amount.  In any case where a responsible bidder's gross price
is reducible by an allowance for the value of used machinery, equipment,
apparatus or tools to be traded in by a political subdivision, the gross
price shall be reduced by the amount of such allowance, for the  purpose
of  determining  the  low  bid.  In  cases where two or more responsible
bidders furnishing the required security submit  identical  bids  as  to
price,  such  officer,  board or agency may award the contract to any of
such bidders. Such officer, board or agency may,  in  his,  her  or  its
discretion,  reject  all bids and readvertise for new bids in the manner
provided by this section; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IN THE CITY OF AUBURN,
FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND PURCHASE  CONTRACTS  UP  TO  ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND
DOLLARS,  SUCH  CONTRACTS MAY BE AWARDED TO THE RESPONSIBLE BIDDER WHOSE
BID IS WITHIN FIVE PERCENT OF THE BID OF THE LOWEST  RESPONSIBLE  BIDDER
AND  IF THE PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS OF SUCH BIDDER IS LOCATED WITHIN
THE COUNTY OF CAYUGA.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the  amend-
ments  to subdivision 1 of section 103 of the general municipal law made
by section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration and rever-
sion of such subdivision pursuant to subdivision (a) of  section  41  of
part  X  of  chapter  62 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon such
date the provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.