Municipal Solicitors: We've been asked to comment on the use by local government, broadly defined, of reverse auction electronic bidding. Apparently, there is some marketing activity at the municipal level by an entity that provides this service. Reverse auction electronic bidding involves revisions (usually lowering) of the bidding prices during bidding. This is to be distinguished from the mere electronic submission of a single bid. Surprisingly enough, the General Assembly enacted the Local Government Unit Electronic Bidding Act, 62 Pa. C.S. section 4601 et seq. in 2006 which authorizes electronic bidding auctions by local government except for construction and design services solicitations. I gave a presentation on the Act to school districts in 2008. The statute defines local government very broadly and sets forth a procedure to be followed. I know of no instance where the statutory scheme for electronic reverse auction bidding has been used at the local level. There is one case at the state level involving electronic auction bidding I am aware of (I represented a disappointed bidder) under the equivalent statute for state agencies. This statute is for state agencies only. 62 Pa. C.S. section 512.1. The case is Supply Source, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of General Services and Steelcase, Inc. No. 127 M.D. 2000, March 16, 2000 (Judge Eunice Ross in a 2000 unpublished decision). The electronic reverse auction process is challenging to implement, is probably unfamiliar to many potential bidders, and may or may not result in savings. Issues that would need to be addressed include the potential for savings, the state agency experience with reverse auction electronic bidding, the willingness of prospective bidders to participate, the willingness of your administrators to tackle this project, and whether once established the process can be used for other procurements. Moreover, there may be other ways to secure better pricing than standard bidding. Please get back to me if your municipal clients have used the Local Government Unit Electronic Bidding Act. William W. Warren, Jr. Moderator PML Listserv Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP 2 North Second Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101 Office (717) 238-7698 | Cell (717) 979-5570 william.warren@saul.com<mailto:william.warren@saul.com> "Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP (saul.com) " made the following annotations: +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ This e-mail may contain privileged, confidential, copyrighted, or other legally protected information. If you are not the intended recipient (even if the e-mail address is yours), you may not use, copy, or retransmit it. If you have received this by mistake please notify us by return e-mail, then delete. +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+