Last week, the Rand Corporation, which just completed an analysis of the federal bid-protest system, announced that one thing the federal government has been doing particularly well is resolving bid protests quickly–the majority within 30 days.
As we’ve explained in a prior post, a bid protest is a proceeding where a bidder for a government contract can challenge the government’s selection process or decision. Bid protests generally take place before the contract has been officially awarded by the government agency in order to give the government the opportunity to consider the issues raised and correct its course if required. Although the government sometimes has the ability to award a contract before resolving the protest–such as in the case of a public emergency–in general, the protest must be resolved first. That means that a prolonged protest delays the award, execution, and performance of the contract.
Unfortunately, delays in the award decision can be fatal to the final contract. Because the cost of labor, materials, etc., can fluctuate, a bidder may not be able to hold its price firm for a prolonged period. In the public-private partnership (P3) context, the risk of a prolonged bid protest is even more severe, as the winning proposer will have financial commitments with firm expiration dates. In the event that the financial commitment expires before the contract is awarded, the deal could fall apart. As a recent example, the P3 procurement for the I-395/Signature Bridge project required private financing commitments, but the state took nearly a full year to resolve the protest filed by the second-place proposer. The hearing examiner ultimately upheld the agency’s decision, but renewing the financial commitments after the lengthy delay will surely be a challenge. Continue Reading
Regional mass-transit systems are often plagued by the permitting challenges associated with construction in multiple cities, each with its own priorities, regulations, and permitting processes. For example, the cost of the first leg of the Los Angeles light rail system skyrocketed due to the design changes demanded by each of the several municipalities the system was required to traverse. Because the recently proposed expansion of Miami-Dade County’s transit system (the 
For many years we have sought to address the problems faced by mixed-use developments where different uses in a single structure are carved up into separate fee simple parcels. The main problem has been the inability to obtain separate tax folio numbers for the separate parcels. This has resulted in a situation where it is either difficult or impossible to finance the separate parcels since they all share one tax folio number and there is only a single tax bill issued for multiple parcels. For reasons not clear, the Tax Assessor’s Office has refused to provide separate tax ID numbers arguing that a separation for tax billing can be achieved by creating a condominium structure. However, anyone knowledgeable in the condominium arena recognizes that using a condominium regime may frequently create more serious problems than the tax issue.
Yesterday, the City of Chicago selected
In a significant ruling, 
Cities across America are 
We have previously written about the need for new funding solutions for public transportation, including mechanisms that capture the added value of mass transit on 
A bid protest is a method for a bidder for a government contract to formally challenge the government’s selection process or decision. Bid-protest procedures vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but there is generally an opportunity to submit a written petition that explains why the protestor believes the government made an unfair or unlawful decision, following by a hearing before an official authorized to decide the dispute (sometimes a judge or equivalent and sometimes an administrator). In some situations, a bid protest resembles a civil trial and can take weeks or months to resolve, and in other situations it is far less formal and can be resolved rapidly. The expense of a bid protest often increases with the formality and length of the proceedings.
We previously wrote about Miami-Dade County’s 