MITA members are starting to share examples of local and county agencies performing work that, to be quite honest, should be put out to bid! However, tracking and reporting requirements are neither straightforward nor standardized, and this will become part of MITA’s legislative focus going forward. To get the ball rolling now that the Neighborhood Roads Fund (NRF) dollars are beginning to enter the system, we need your help. MITA is building an electronic bucket to house projects the industry learns about that are happening outside the bid process, to demonstrate to lawmakers that NRFs are not being competitively bid. Which is not in the best interest of our taxpayers.
Beginning this year, MITA will maintain an active annual list of projects and expenditures in which local agencies use state transportation funding that should otherwise have been competitively bid to contractors. MITA will also seek to ascertain the percentage of work self-performed by local and county agencies to determine whether those entities are complying with the spirit of the NRF.
Because of the limited state-level monitoring of how these additional dollars are ultimately spent, we believe it is important for industry to understand where the money is going and to identify trends that reduce opportunities.
Under Michigan law, any road construction project where costs exceed $100,000 must be put out for competitive bidding. If you hear of a county, municipality, road commission, or other local agency using state funding to self-perform work, purchase equipment instead of contracting work, or fund other activities that you believe should be on our radar, please fill out the form below:
We will continue to add to and review the list throughout the year. The goal is to develop a clearer picture of how these new state transportation dollars are being used and where work that could have gone out for a competitive bid is not!
If you have any questions, please contact any member of the MITA engineering team:
Rachelle VanDeventer | rachellevandeventer@thinkmita.org
Jeremiah Leyba | jeremiahleyba@thinkmita.org
They can also be reached by phone at the MITA office: 517-347-8336.
