OCEAN COUNTY OPPOSES STATE PROPOSALS;
FREEHOLDERS SAY CHANGES NOT NEEDED TO CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
TOMS RIVER - Getting quality work at the best price is how Ocean County likes to view its current practices when it goes
out to bid on capital projects.
However, two proposed state measures focusing on construction contracts could bring a negative change to the way Ocean
County currently does things.
"We would rather continue to meet the requirements of current contract laws then have the state begin to tamper with
measures that already work," said Freeholder Director John P. Kelly, who serves as Director of Law and Public Safety.
"State proposals to make changes to these laws will not improve what we do."
Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari said one piece of legislation being proposed could result in the county paying more than the
price agreed upon in an approved contract.
"This legislation is flawed and is not necessary," Vicari said. "It would impose regulatory measures that would only
increase the cost of the contract in addition to our administrative costs."
The legislation, Assembly Bill A-4384 and its companion Senate Bill, S-2955 would require every construction contract
entered into pursuant to the Local Public Contracts Law to contain a provision for renegotiation upon the fluctuation of
the price of a key construction material.
"If in the middle of a project the price of steel increases dramatically, under this law we would be obligated to
renegotiate what was the original contract," Vicari said. "This would have a significant adverse impact upon the public
contracting operations of county government statewide."
In addition, Vicari noted that counties would have a very difficult time balancing budgets if there was an open-ended
process to what a project could cost.
"If a budget called for a $200,000 appropriation for a project, where would counties find the money if that same project
turned out to be $500,000 because of this legislation," Vicari said. "This is just not a sensible measure and could cause
financial chaos for counties."
A second proposal, Assembly Bill A-4393 and its companion bill, Senate Bill S-2878, would require county governments to
publish projected cost estimate ranges in the construction bid, and also mandate that each published cost estimated range
be attested to by the individual or firm preparing the bid advertisement. In addition, the proposed legislation would
restrict the ability of county governments to reject bids.
"This is truly another case of attempting to fix something that is not broken," Vicari said. "Publishing the estimate of
a project undermines competition in the public bidding process.
"There is no benefit to county government should this legislation be implemented," he said.
Ocean County expects to adopt resolutions urging opposition to both measures.
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