On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Under the $787 billion Act, the Federal Government proposes to spend over $100 billion on construction. According to current estimates, Arizona will receive over $700 million for construction projects. Click here for the Democratic Policy Committee current estimates for Arizona’s share of the $787 billion.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its annual report concerning bid protests for fiscal year 2008. According to the report, there were 1652 protests filed in 2008, which was an increase of 17% from 2007. It appears that protesting is effective. According to the report, protesters were “effective” (meaning a protester received “some form of relief from the agency”) in 42% of the cases.
The Arizona Department of Transportation has issued a warning that “materially unbalanced” bids may be rejected. Pursuant to Section 102.10 of the Department’s 2008 Standard Specifications, it may reject “irregular proposals.” Irregular bids include those that are “mathematically unbalanced” or “materially unbalanced.” A Materially Unbalanced Bid means ” A bid that generates a reasonable doubt that award to the bidder submitting a mathematically unbalanced bid will result in the lowest ultimate cost to the Department.” A Mathematically Unbalanced Bid means “A bid containing lump sum or unit bid prices that do not reflect reasonably anticipated actual costs plus a reasonable proportionate share of the bidder’s anticipated profit, overhead costs, and other indirect costs.” Unbalanced bids are detrimental to the Department and may be rejected. Click here to see the entire notice.
The Maricopa County, Arizona Association of Governments (MAG) has issued its member’s proposed project list and funding amounts to participate in the Federal economic stimulus bill. MAG has identified a total of 725 potential projects totaling almost $7 billion. Click here for the 52 page listing of proposed projects and amounts.