NEW HAVEN, CT — New Haven's purchasing office wants to rewrite parts of the rules the city follows when it buys goods and services, and the Board of Alders Finance Committee will hear from the public on the proposal Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. in Aldermanic Chambers, 165 Church St.
The ordinance, OR-2026-0028, was introduced Aug. 27 at the Finance Department's request. It amends four sections of the purchasing code, 2-451, 2-482, 2-483 and 2-488, and Legistar lists it as in committee. In a Sept. 8 letter to the alders, Controller Michael Gormany and Purchasing Agent Malinda Figueroa wrote that the changes would modernize the city's procurement framework, bring local procedures in line with state law and keep the board's oversight in place. They are "designed to reduce avoidable administrative delays without weakening competition, transparency, documentation, fiscal controls, or required legislative approvals," the letter says.
What the amendments would change
The sealed-bid limit. The code now lets the city skip sealed bids on purchases of up to $25,000, according to the marked-up draft filed with the ordinance. The amendment drops that fixed figure and points instead to the most a town may spend without sealed bids under Connecticut General Statutes § 7-148v. The statute sets that maximum at $25,000 today, so the limit would not change now; it would follow the statute if lawmakers raise it.
Contractors who owe the city. The code bars an award to a contractor that is behind on taxes or another debt to the city, or whose owner, officer or director is. The amendment would let the purchasing agent award a contract and let the work start anyway during a declared emergency or an authorized emergency purchase. The agent would have to find in writing that holding up the work to collect the debt would endanger public health or safety, interrupt an essential service or badly damage public property. The agent would first consult the corporation counsel and the official the debt is owed to, such as the tax collector or controller. The debt would not be forgiven, and the city could subtract what it is owed from payments on the emergency contract.
Technology renewals. Once software or hardware has been bought through the required process, the purchasing agent could approve the yearly renewal of its maintenance, licenses, subscriptions, upgrades and technical support. Those services would renew each year unless the city cancels them.
Local preference and bonds. The letter says the changes also spell out when the preference for New Haven-based businesses may be used on grant-funded purchases; the draft adds that the preference does not apply where it would violate federal or state law. The purchasing agent could also require contractors' payment and performance bonds to be signed and delivered electronically, through a system the agent approves, and could still accept a paper bond when electronic filing is impractical.