New Jersey § 40a:11-5

§ 40a:11-5.

Any contract the amount of which exceeds the bid threshold, may be negotiated and

awarded by the governing body without public advertising for bids and bidding therefor

and shall be awarded by resolution of the governing body if: (1) The subject matter thereof consists of: (a)(i) Professional services. The governing body shall in each instance state supporting reasons for its action

in the resolution awarding each contract and shall forthwith cause to be printed once,

in the official newspaper, a brief notice stating the nature, duration, service and

amount of the contract, and that the resolution and contract are on file and available

for public inspection in the office of the clerk of the county or municipality, or,

in the case of a contracting unit created by more than one county or municipality,

of the counties or municipalities creating the contracting unit; or (ii) Extraordinary

unspecifiable services. The application of this exception shall be construed narrowly in favor of open competitive

bidding, whenever possible, and the Division of Local Government Services is authorized

to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations after consultation with the Commissioner

of Education limiting the use of this exception in accordance with the intention herein

expressed. The governing body shall in each instance state supporting reasons for its action

in the resolution awarding each contract and shall forthwith cause to be printed,

in the manner set forth in subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section, a brief notice of

the award of the contract; (b) The doing of any work by employees of the contracting unit; (c) The printing of legal briefs, records, and appendices to be used in any legal

proceeding in which the contracting unit may be a party; (d) The furnishing of a tax map or maps for the contracting unit; (e) The purchase of perishable foods as a subsistence supply; (f) The supplying of any product or the rendering of any service by a public utility,

which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utilities or the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission or its successor, in accordance with tariffs and schedules

of charges made, charged or exacted, filed with the board or commission; (g) The acquisition, subject to prior approval of the Attorney General, of special

equipment for confidential investigation; (h) The printing of bonds and documents necessary to the issuance and sale thereof

by a contracting unit; (i) Equipment repair service if in the nature of an extraordinary unspecifiable service

and necessary parts furnished in connection with the service, which exception shall

be in accordance with the requirements for extraordinary unspecifiable services; (j) The publishing of legal notices in newspapers as required by law; (k) The acquisition of artifacts or other items of unique intrinsic, artistic or historical

character; ( l ) Those goods and services necessary or required to prepare and conduct an election; (m) Insurance, including the purchase of insurance coverage and consultant services,

which exception shall be in accordance with the requirements for extraordinary unspecifiable

services; (n) The doing of any work by persons with disabilities employed by a sheltered workshop; ( o ) The provision of any goods or services including those of a commercial nature, attendant

upon the operation of a restaurant by any nonprofit, duly incorporated, historical

society at or on any historical preservation site; (p) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c. 440 .) (q) Library and educational goods and services; (r) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2005, c. 212 ). (s) The marketing of recyclable materials recovered through a recycling program, or

the marketing of any product intentionally produced or derived from solid waste received

at a resource recovery facility or recovered through a resource recovery program,

including, but not limited to, refuse-derived fuel, compost materials, methane gas,

and other similar products; (t) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c. 440 .) (u) Contracting unit towing and storage contracts, provided that all of the contracts

shall be pursuant to reasonable non-exclusionary and non-discriminatory terms and

conditions, which may include the provision of the services on a rotating basis, at

the rates and charges set by the municipality pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1979, c.

101 ( C.40:48-2.49 ). All contracting unit towing and storage contracts for services to be provided at

rates and charges other than those established pursuant to the terms of this paragraph

shall only be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with the provisions

of the “Local Public Contracts Law , ” P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-1 et seq. ) and without regard for the value of the contract therefor; (v) The purchase of steam or electricity from, or the rendering of services directly

related to the purchase of steam or electricity from a qualifying small power production

facility or a qualifying cogeneration facility as defined pursuant to 16 U.S.C. s.796 ; (w) The purchase of electricity or administrative or dispatching services directly

related to the transmission of purchased electricity by a contracting unit engaged

in the generation of electricity; (x) The printing of municipal ordinances or other services necessarily incurred in

connection with the revision and codification of municipal ordinances; (y) An agreement for the purchase of an equitable interest in a water supply facility

or for the provision of water supply services entered into pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1993, c. 381 ( C.58:28-2 ), or an agreement entered into pursuant to N.J.S.40A:31-1 et al. , so long as the agreement is entered into no later than six months after the effective

date of P.L.1993, c. 381 ; (z) A contract for the provision of water supply services entered into pursuant to P.L.1995, c. 101 ( C.58:26-19 et al.); (aa) The cooperative marketing of recyclable materials recovered through a recycling

program; (bb) A contract for the provision of wastewater treatment services entered into pursuant

to P.L.1995, c. 216 ( C.58:27-19 et al.); (cc) Expenses for travel and conferences; (dd) The provision or performance of goods or services for the support or maintenance

of proprietary computer hardware and software, except that this provision shall not

be utilized to acquire or upgrade non-proprietary hardware or to acquire or update

non-proprietary software; (ee) The management or operation of an airport owned by the contracting unit pursuant

to R.S.40:8-1 et seq. ; (ff) Purchases of goods and services at rates set by the Universal Service Fund administered

by the Federal Communications Commission; (gg) A contract for the provision of water supply services or wastewater treatment

services entered into pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2002, c. 47 ( C.40A:11-5.1 ), or the designing, financing, construction, operation, or maintenance, or any combination

thereof, of a water supply facility as defined in subsection (16) of section 15 of

P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-15 ) or a wastewater treatment system as defined in subsection (19) of section 15 of

P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-15 ), or any component part or parts thereof, including a water filtration system as

defined in subsection (16) of section 15 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-15 ); or (hh) The purchase of electricity generated from a power production facility that is

fueled by methane gas extracted from a landfill in the county of the contracting unit. (2) It is to be made or entered into with the United States of America, the State

of New Jersey, county, or municipality, or any board, body, officer, agency, or authority

thereof, or any other state or subdivision thereof. (3) Bids have been advertised pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-4 ) on two occasions and (a) no bids have been received on both occasions in response

to the advertisement, or (b) the governing body has rejected the bids on two occasions

because it has determined that they are not reasonable as to price, on the basis of

cost estimates prepared for or by the contracting agent prior to the advertising therefor,

or have not been independently arrived at in open competition, or (c) on one occasion

no bids were received pursuant to (a) and on one occasion all bids were rejected pursuant

to (b), in whatever sequence; a contract may then be negotiated and may be awarded

upon adoption of a resolution by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the authorized membership

of the governing body authorizing the contract; provided, however, that: (i) A reasonable effort is first made by the contracting agent to determine that the

same or equivalent goods or services, at a cost which is lower than the negotiated

price, are not available from an agency or authority of the United States, the State

of New Jersey or of the county in which the contracting unit is located, or any municipality

in close proximity to the contracting unit; (ii) The terms, conditions, restrictions, and specifications set forth in the negotiated

contract are not substantially different from those which were the subject of competitive

bidding pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-4 ); and (iii) Any minor amendment or modification of any of the terms, conditions, restrictions,

and specifications, which were the subject of competitive bidding pursuant to section

4 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-4 ), shall be stated in the resolution awarding the contract; provided further, however,

that if on the second occasion the bids received are rejected as unreasonable as to

price, the contracting agent shall notify each responsible bidder submitting bids

on the second occasion of its intention to negotiate, and afford each bidder a reasonable

opportunity to negotiate, but the governing body shall not award the contract unless

the negotiated price is lower than the lowest rejected bid price submitted on the

second occasion by a responsible bidder, is the lowest negotiated price offered by

any responsible vendor, and is a reasonable price for goods or services. Whenever a contracting unit shall determine that a bid was not arrived at independently

in open competition pursuant to subsection (3) of this section it shall thereupon

notify the county prosecutor of the county in which the contracting unit is located

and the Attorney General of the facts upon which its determination is based, and when

appropriate, it may institute appropriate proceedings in any State or federal court

of competent jurisdiction for a violation of any State or federal antitrust law or

laws relating to the unlawful restraint of trade. (4) The contracting unit has solicited and received at least three quotations on materials,

supplies, or equipment for which a State contract has been issued pursuant to section

12 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-12 ), and the lowest responsible quotation is at least 10 percent less than the price

the contracting unit would be charged for the identical materials, supplies, or equipment,

in the same quantities, under the State contract. A contract entered into pursuant to this subsection may be awarded only upon adoption

of a resolution by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the full membership of the

governing body of the contracting unit at a meeting thereof authorizing the contract. A copy of the purchase order relating to the contract, the requisition for purchase

order, if applicable, and documentation identifying the price of the materials, supplies

or equipment under the State contract and the State contract number shall be filed

with the director within five working days of the award of the contract by the contracting

unit. The director shall notify the contracting unit of receipt of the material and shall

make the material available to the State Treasurer. The contracting unit shall make available to the director upon request any other

documents relating to the solicitation and award of the contract, including, but not

limited to, quotations, requests for quotations, and resolutions. The director periodically shall review material submitted by contracting units to

determine the impact of the contracts on local contracting and shall consult with

the State Treasurer on the impact of the contracts on the State procurement process. The director may, after consultation with the State Treasurer, adopt rules in accordance

with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c. 410 ( C.52:14B-1 et seq. ) to limit the use of this subsection, after considering the impact of contracts awarded

under this subsection on State and local contracting, or after considering the extent

to which the award of contracts pursuant to this subsection is consistent with and

in furtherance of the purposes of the public contracting laws. (5) Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the

subject matter consists of the combined collection and marketing, or the cooperative

combined collection and marketing of recycled material recovered through a recycling

program, or any product intentionally produced or derived from solid waste received

at a resource recovery facility or recovered through a resource recovery program including,

but not limited to, refuse-derived fuel, compost materials, methane gas, and other

similar products, provided that in lieu of engaging in public advertising for bids

and the bidding therefor, the contracting unit shall, prior to commencing the procurement

process, submit for approval to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services,

a written detailed description of the process to be followed in securing the services. Within 30 days after receipt of the written description the director shall, if the

director finds that the process provides for fair competition and integrity in the

negotiation process, approve, in writing, the description submitted by the contracting

unit. If the director finds that the process does not provide for fair competition and

integrity in the negotiation process, the director shall advise the contracting unit

of the deficiencies that must be remedied. If the director fails to respond in writing to the contracting unit within 30 days,

the procurement process as described shall be deemed approved. As used in this section, “ collection ” means the physical removal of recyclable materials from curbside or any other location

selected by the contracting unit. (6) Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the

contract is for the provision of electricity by a contracting unit engaged in the

distribution of electricity for retail sale, for the provision of wholesale electricity

by a municipal shared services energy authority as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2015, c. 129 ( C.40A:66-3 ), or for the provision of administrative or dispatching services related to the transmission

of electricity, provided that in lieu of engaging in public advertising for bids and

the bidding therefor, the contracting unit shall, prior to commencing the procurement

process, submit for approval to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services,

a written detailed description of the process to be followed in securing these services. The process shall be designed in a way that is appropriate to and commensurate with

industry practices, and the integrity of the government contracting process. Within 30 days after receipt of the written description, the director shall, if

the director finds that the process provides for fair competition and integrity in

the negotiation process, approve, in writing, the description submitted by the contracting

unit. If the director finds that the process does not provide for fair competition and

integrity in the negotiation process, the director shall advise the contracting unit

of the deficiencies that must be remedied. If the director fails to respond in writing to the contracting unit within 30 days,

the procurement process, as submitted to the director pursuant to this section, shall

be deemed approved.