AURORA | City officials are considering moving away from a lowest-bid policy for construction projects over $500,000 to allow for a broader range of considerations.
Currently, the city’s policy for capital improvements of more than $500,000 is to accept bids on the project and then select the lowest-cost option, but Councilmember Curtis Gardner is leading the switch to a “best value” contracting approach.
Under best-value contracting, city officials would score project proposals on a number of criteria, including cost, experience, workforce practices, safety record, employee wage and health benefits and the proposed project approach. Then the best score would then be awarded the project.
Gardner said he thinks the approach will be better for the city’s fiscal health over the long-term, though it’s hard to estimate how best value contracting would impact the budget.
“There will be instances where the initial procurement cost is higher, but I think by utilizing a more highly skilled workforce and looking at more than just price in the long run, oftentimes we can keep our costs down for a couple different reasons,” Gardner said. “One is the work gets done correctly the first time, and secondly, it gets done on time and within budget.”
Gardner compared best value contracting to the kinds of factors homeowners often weigh beyond cost, noting that it’s easy for contractors to underbid and then underperform.
“In a lot of cases you don’t go with the cheapest bids, you go with the one that’s going to get the work done in the time that you want and at the quality and level that you respect,” he said.
Another perk of best value contracting in Gardner’s eyes is that it aims to increase opportunities for local workers and unions.
“The construction trades have done a lot of work in hiring workforce here in Aurora and by allowing more opportunity for those folks to work on projects within our city, it keeps those dollars local,” he said.
Potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of construction contracts are at stake linked to the change. The 2026 capital spending budget for Aurora was more than $384 million.
The best value contracting would not apply to projects with state or federal grant funding because those projects typically have specific financial requirements.
At a finance committee meeting on Thursday, Councilmember Ruben Medina also lended his support to the proposal.
“I always say that you get what you pay for and some projects require a little more to get it done better and without us having to redo it and pay double,” Medina said.
City staff are still working on defining the kinds of public works projects the best-value contracting would apply to, as well as a timeline for implementation.
The finance committee moved the proposal forward to a future council study session and regular meetings.