New Jersey State Library

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EDITORIAL NOTE

The following statutes refer to the purchase of library materials without advertising for bid by various types of libraries.

N.J.S.A.
18A:18A-5. Exceptions to requirement for advertising

Any purchase, contract or agreement of the character described in N.J.S. 18A:18A-4 may be made, negotiated or awarded by the board of education by resolution at a public meeting without public advertising for bids and bidding therefor if

a. The subject matter thereof consists of:

(1) Professional services;
(2) Extraordinary unspecifiable services which cannot reasonably be described by written specifications, which exception as to extraordinary unspecifiable services shall be construed narrowly in favor of open competitive bidding where possible and the State Board of Education is authorized to establish rules and regulations limiting its use in accordance with the intention herein expressed; and the board of education shall in each instance state supporting reasons for its action in the resolution awarding the contract for extraordinary unspecifiable services;
(3) The doing of any work by employees of the contracting unit;
(4) The printing of all legal notices; and legal briefs, records and appendices to be used in any legal proceeding in which the contracting party may be a party;
(5) Textbooks, copyrighted materials, kindergarten supplies, and student produced publications and services incidental thereto;
(6) Food services and supplies, including food supplies for home economic classes, when purchased pursuant to rules and regulations of the State board and in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S. 18A:18A-6;
(7) 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, in accordance with the tariffs and schedules of charges made, charged and exacted, filed with said board;
(8) The printing of bonds and documents necessary to the issuance and sale thereof by a board of education;
(9) Equipment repair service if in the nature of an extraordinary unspecifiable service and necessary parts furnished in connection with such services;
(10) Insurance, including the purchase of insurance coverage and consultant services;
(11) Publishing of legal notices in newspapers as required by law;
(12) The acquisition of artifacts or other items of unique intrinsic, artistic or historic character;
(13) Election expenses, including advertising expenses incidental thereto;
(14) Electronic data processing service obtained from another board of education;
(15) Driver education courses provided by licensed driver education schools;
(16) Performance of work or services or the furnishing of materials, supplies or equipment for the purpose of conserving energy in buildings owned by any local board of education, the entire price of which shall be established as a percentage of the resultant savings in energy costs;
(17) The doing of any work by persons with disabilities employed by a sheltered workshop.

b. 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 or any other state or subdivision thereof.

c. The board of education has advertised for bids pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:18A-4 on two occasions and has received no bids in response to its advertisement and, after reasonable inquiry, it is determined that no board, body, officer, agency or authority of the United States, or of the State of New Jersey or of any county or municipality in which the board of education is located is willing and able to perform any work or furnish or hire any materials or supplies in conformity with the specifications of the board of education. Any such contract or agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection c. may be made, negotiated or awarded only upon adoption of a resolution by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the full membership of the board of education at a meeting thereof authorizing such a contract or agreement. Any amendment or modification of the terms, conditions, restrictions and specifications which were the subject of the competitive bidding pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:18A-4 shall be stated in the resolution awarding the contract.

d. The board of education has advertised for bids pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:18A-4 on two occasions and has rejected such bids on each occasion because the board of education has determined that they are not reasonable as to price on the basis of cost estimates prepared for the board of education prior to the advertising therefor or have not been independently arrived at in open competition, but no such contract or agreement may be entered into after such rejection of bids, unless:

(1) Notification of the intention to negotiate and a reasonable opportunity to negotiate shall have been given by the board of education to each responsible bidder;

(2) The negotiated price is lower than the lowest rejected bid price of a responsible bidder who bid thereon and is the lowest negotiated price offered by any responsible supplier and is a reasonable price for such work, materials, supplies or services;

(3) Any amendment or modification of the terms, conditions, restrictions and specifications which were the subject of competitive bidding pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:18A-4 shall be stated in the resolution awarding the contract; and

(4) The negotiated price is lower than the price of the same or equivalent materials or supplies available from the State, county or municipality in which the board of education is located.

Whenever a board of education shall determine that a bid was not arrived at independently in open competition pursuant to this subsection d. of N.J.S. 18A:18A-5, it shall thereupon notify the county prosecutor of the county in which the board of education 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.

e. The board of education has solicited and received at least three quotations on materials, supplies or equipment for which a State contract has been issued pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:18A-10, and the lowest responsible quotation is at least 10% less than the price the board would be charged for the identical materials, supplies or equipment, in the same quantities, under the State contract.

Any such contract or agreement entered into pursuant to subsection d. or subsection e. may be made, negotiated or awarded only upon adoption of a resolution by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the full membership of the board of education at a meeting thereof authorizing such a contract or agreement.

L.1977, c. 114, § 1. Amended by L.1982, c. 161, § 5; L.1983, c. 48, § 1; L.1983, c. 281, § 2; L.1984, c. 49, § 2; L.1985, c. 527, § 1p; L.1995, c. 265, § 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

Please be advised that the entire text of this law (N.J.S.A. 18A:64-56) has not been reprinted.

N.J.S.A.
18A:64-56. Purchases, contracts or agreements exceeding threshold amount; conditions allowing the making, negotiating, and awarding by resolution of board without bidding.

Any purchase, contract or agreement of the character described in section 4¹ of P.L.1986, c. 43 (C. 18A:64-55) may be made, negotiated or awarded by the State college by resolution at a public meeting of its board of trustees without public advertising for bids or bidding therefor if:

a. The subject matter thereof consists of:

(6) Textbooks, copyrighted materials, student produced publications and services incidental thereto, library materials including without limitation books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature, necessary binding or rebinding of library materials and specialized library services.

L.l986, c. 43, §5. Amended by L.1994, c. 48, § 111.

¹Section 18A:64-55.

N.J.S.A.
18A:64A-25.5. Exceptions to requirement for advertising

Any purchase, contract or agreement of the character described in section 4¹ may be made, negotiated or awarded by the county college by resolution at a public meeting of its board of trustees without public advertising for bids or bidding therefor if:

a. The subject matter thereof consists of:

(1) Professional services; or
(2) Extraordinary unspecifiable services and products which cannot reasonably be described by written specifications, subject however, to procedures consistent with open public bidding whenever possible; or
(3) Materials or supplies which are not available from more than one potential bidder, including without limitation materials or supplies which are patented or copyrighted; or
(4) The doing of any work by employees of the county college; or
(5) The printing of all legal notices and legal briefs, records and appendices to be used in any legal proceeding to which the county college may be a party; or
(6) Textbooks, copyrighted materials, student produced publications and services incidental thereto, library materials including without limitation books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature, necessary binding or rebinding of library materials and specialized library services; or
(7) Food supplies and services including food supplies and management contracts for student centers, dining rooms and cafeterias; or
(8) The supplying of any product or the rendering of any service by the public utility which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utilities in accordance with tariffs and schedules of charges made, charged and exacted, filed with said board; or
(9) Equipment repair service if in the nature of an extraordinary unspecifiable service and necessary parts furnished in connection with such services; or
(10) Specialized machinery or equipment of a technical nature which will not reasonably permit the drawing of specifications, and the procurement thereof without advertising is in the public interest; or
(11) Insurance, including the purchase of insurance coverage and consulting services, which exceptions shall be in accordance with the requirements for extraordinary unspecifiable services; or
(12) Publishing of legal notices in newspapers, as required by law; or
(13) The acquisition of artifacts or other items of unique intrinsic, artistic or historic character; or
(14) The collection of amounts due on student loans, including without limitation loans guaranteed by or made with funds of the United States of America; or
(15) Professional consulting services; or
(16) Entertainment, including without limitation theatrical presentations, band and other concerts, movies and other audiovisual productions; or
(17) Contracts employing funds created by student activities fees charged to students or otherwise raised by students, not under the direct control of the college and expended by student organizations; or
(18) Printing, including without limitation catalogs, yearbooks and course announcements; or
(19) Data processing, software programs, systems and service and the rental or lease of data processing equipment; or
(20) Personnel recruitment and advertising, including without limitation, advertising seeking student enrollment; or
(21) Educational supplies, books, articles of clothing and other miscellaneous articles purchased by a county college bookstore, or by a service or management company under contract with a county college to operate a county college book store for resale to college students and employees; or
(22) Purchase or rental of graduation caps and gowns and award certificates or plaques.

b. 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 or any other state or subdivision thereof.

c. The county college has advertised for bids pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1982, c. 189 (C. 18A:64A-25.4) on two occasions and (i) has received no bids on both occasions in response to its advertisement, or (ii) has rejected such bids on two occasions because the county college has determined that they are not reasonable as to price, on the basis of cost estimates prepared for or by the county college prior to the advertising therefor, or have not been independently arrived at in open competition, or (iii) on one occasion no bids were received pursuant to (i) and on one occasion all bids were rejected pursuant to (ii), in whatever sequence; any such contract or agreement may then be negotiated by a two-thirds affirmative vote of the authorized membership of the board of trustees authorizing such contract or agreement; provided, however, that:

(1) A reasonable effort is just made by the contracting agent to determine that the same or equivalent materials or supplies at a cost which is lower than the negotiated price are not available from any agency or authority of the United States, the State of New Jersey or of the county in which the county college is located, or any municipality in close proximity to the county college;

(2) The terms, conditions, restrictions and specifications set forth in the negotiated contract or agreement are not substantially different from those which were the subject of competitive bidding pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1982, c. 189 (C. 18A:64A-25.4); and

(3) 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.1982, c. 189 (C. 18A:64A-25.4), shall be stated in the resolution awarding such contract or agreement; provided, further, however, that if on the second occasion the bids received are rejected as unreasonable as to price, the county college shall notify each responsible bidder submitting bids on the second occasion of its intention to negotiate and afford each such bidder a reasonable opportunity to negotiate, but the county college shall not award such contract or agreement 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 such work, materials, supplies or services.

Whenever a county college shall determine that a bid was not arrived at independently in open competition pursuant to subsection c. (ii) of this section, it shall thereupon notify the county prosecutor of the county in which the county college 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.

L.1982, c. 189, § 5. Amended by L.1984, c. 241, § 3; L.1994, c. 48, §142.

¹Section 18A:64A-25.4.

N.J.S.A.
18A:73-35.1. Purchase of library materials without advertising for bids

The State Librarian may, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Division of the State Library, Archives and History, purchase the following without advertising for bids: library materials including books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter, and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature and necessary binding or rebinding of library materials.

L.1980, c. 149, § 1.

N.J.S.A.
40:33-8.1. Purchases not requiring advertisements for bids

The county library commission of any county or the board of trustees of any regional library established by 2 or more counties may, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission or board, purchase the following without advertising for bids therefor: (1) library materials including books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microforms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter, and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature; (2) necessary binding or rebinding of library materials; and (3) specialized library services.

L.1968, c. 227, § 1.

EDITORIAL NOTE

The following statute amends the Local Public Contracts Law and permits county law libraries to purchase materials and services without advertising for bids. Please be advised that the entire text of this law has not been reprinted.

N.J.S.A.
40A:11-5. Exceptions

Any purchase, contract or agreement of the character described in section 4 of P.L.1971, c. 198 (C. 40A:11-4) may be made, negotiated or awarded by the governing body without public advertising for bids and bidding therefor if:

(1) The subject matter thereof consists of:

(q) The purchase of materials and services for a law library established pursuant to R.S. 40:33-14, including books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microforms, pictorial or graphic works, copyright and patent materials, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmscripts, video and magnetic tapes, and other audiovisual, printed, or published material of a similar nature; necessary binding or rebinding of law library materials; and specialized library services.

Amended by L. 1982, c. 208, § 1; L. 1983, c. 209, § 1; L. 1983, c. 331, §2; L. 1985, c. 436, § 1; L. 1993, c. 381, §4.

N.J.S.A.
40:54-12.1. Purchases not requiring advertisements for bids

The board of trustees of the free public library of any municipality or of a joint free public library may, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the board, purchase the following without advertising for bids therefor: (1) library materials including books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter, and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature; (2) necessary binding or rebinding of library materials; and (3) specialized library services.

L.1968, c. 227, § 2.