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Page 3 of 10 REPORT ID: CELEG3 LEGISLATIVE TRACKING PAGE: 2 BILLS AND RESPONSE DETAIL RL DATRU~ TIME: 3:: PM BILLS SENT DUE DATE SUBJECT PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION COMMENTS: WHILE THIS BILL MAY BE INTENDED TO REMOVE AMBIGUITY IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE AS TO INTENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PREVAILING WAGE LAW, ESPECIALLY AS IT PERTAINS TO FLAGGERS, IT ADDS COMPLEXITY AND REDUNDANCY TO THE MANAGEMENT OF CONTRACTS MANAGED BY THE CITY OF EUGENE. IN MANY CASES THERE ARE DIFFERENCES (SOMETIMES SIGNIFICANT AND SOMETIMES NOT SIGNIFICANT) BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE PREVAILING WAGES. THIS WOULD REQUIRE THE CITY TO, IN ESSENCE, PUBLISH TWO SETS OF SPECIFICATIONS (BOLI AND DAVIS-BACON) FOR EVERY JOB. COSTS TO THE CITY INCLUDE INCREASED PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING REQUIREMENTS AND ADDITIONAL CONTRACT COSTS SINCE THE HIGHEST PREVAILING WAGE WOULD HAVE TO BE PAID SHOULD THERE BE A VARIANCE BETWEEN DAVIS-BACON AND BOLI. RECOMMEND AN OPPOSE POSITION IN FAVOR OF RETAINING THE CURRENT LAW, WHICH APPLIES DAVIS-BACON TO FEDERAL CONTRACTS AND BOLI TO STATE JOBS. GLEN GLEN CS-FAC 4/11/2005 PRI 3 YES IX.B. OPPOSE SVENDSEN SVENDSEN COMMENTS: THE BILL IS PRIMARILY ABOUT HAVING BOTH SYSTEMS OF PREVAILING WAGES APPLY TO DAVIS-BACON PROJECTS. A FIX TO AN ISSUE ON WAGE RATES FOR FLAGGERS IS A MINOR PART OF THIS BILL, AND IS ALSO ADDRESSED IN A SENATE BILL. THE PREVAILING WAGE REGULATIONS HAVE ABOUT 30 PAGES OF BOLI BUILDING-TRADES RELATED JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND WAGE RATES, AND ABOUT THE SA/ME NUMBER OF DAVIS-BACON JOB TYPES. IN SEVERAL CASES, THE DIFFERENCES ARE SUBSTANTIAL - $1 TO $2 DOLLARS PER HOUR PLUS DIFFERENCES IN THE FRINGE RATES. THERE IS NO RATIONALE THAT I CAN SEE IN THE PATTERN OF THE BOLI WAGE BEING HIGHER VERSUS THOSE CASES WHERE THE DAVIS-BACON WAGE IS HIGHER. THE IMPACT ON US WOULD BE ISSUING TWO SETS OF INFORMATION IN THE BID DOCUMENTS, INCREASING THE COST AND COMPLEXITY OF THE BID PROCESS. THEN MONITORING WOULD BE A REAL PAIN, AS EACH JOB TYPE WOULD NEED TO BE CROSS-REFERENCED ACROSS SYSTEMS, AND THERE ARE CASES IN WHICH THE DESCRIPTIONS AREN'T EXACTLY THE SAME. FINALLY, THE OVERALL COST OF CITY PROJECTS WOULD BE HIGHER, AS THE PREVAILING WAGE PAID WOULD ALWAYS BE THE HIGHEST OPTION. A LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKING UNDER A FEDERAL GRANT WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ENTIRE DIFFERENCE IN COSTS, AS FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT WOULD BE BASED ON THE FEDERAL PREVAILING WAGE. OVERALL, I'D RECOMMEND THAT THIS BILL HAVE AN OPPOSE RECOMMENDATION. IT IS MUCH EASIER TO USE DAVIS-BACON ON FEDERAL PROJECTS, AND BOLI ON STATE/LOCAL PROJECTS. http://ceonline/celeg/reports/BillsDetail.asp 5/12/2005