With state and local governments struggling to balance their books, it might seem crazy for Sacramento County to choose the most expensive of four companies offering to handle an important drug-testing contract.

In this case, a controversial bid from the incumbent contractor is $7.5 million higher than the lowest proposal over the maximum five-year life of the contract.

Government contracts don't always go to the lowest bidder. Factors such as reliability, track record and experience are also important when determining "best value," said Michael Morse, the county's director of general services.

Given the impact of a positive or negative test result on county parolees, or parents fighting for custody of their children, choosing a time-tested performer makes perfect sense, officials said.

"In this case, the services required are very sensitive in terms of privacy, chain of custody, and other technical and legal ramifications if the process is not strictly controlled. Therefore, price was not as highly weighted as it usually is," Morse said.

Not everyone, however, buys the county's reasoning.

"That sounds to me like a lot of money for the same service," said Evan Calas, owner of a Tacoma, Wash., toxicology laboratory that didn't bid on the Sacramento contract.

Calas said he's won contracts as low bidder and high bidder, but seldom with such a price discrepancy.

Morse agreed that selecting the high bid is unusual.

"It is not all that rare to award to other than the lowest bidder, but not often to the highest," Morse said.

On Sept. 10, Morse's office issued an official "Notice of Intent to Award" the contract to Valley Toxicology of West Sacramento, which has provided the service to Sacramento County for the past decade, through a series of uncontested contracts.

The final decision is left to the county Board of Supervisors, which is expected to consider the new contract in December.

The staff recommendation came after the original bidding process was canceled at the last minute and restarted with new contract specifications.

Morse said restarting a bid process is very unusual, but his staff was caught off-guard when labs from outside the region bid on the job.

He said he remembers canceling only two bid processes in his 2 1/2 years with the county.

"We just didn't expect to get any other interested parties," Morse said.

The unexpected competition, he added, forced his staff to restart the bidding to ensure that more than price was considered.

When bids came back the second time, Valley was the high bidder – just as it was in the canceled bidding.

Valley offered to do the work for $3.4 million annually. The three other firms bid $2.2 million, $2 million and $1.9 million per year to be drug screener for the Probation Department and Child Protective Services.

The low bidder was Global Drug Testing Labs Inc. of Idaho.

According to the county's bid scoring sheet, proximity of Valley's main lab, its four existing Sacramento field offices and its experience with the county helped tip scales in the company's favor.

Despite its experience with court-ordered drug testing elsewhere, Global received the lowest possible score from Sacramento County. Valley received the highest.

In the county's scoring, Global got 300 points on cost and 359 points for meeting other criteria. Valley scored 165 points on price and the maximum allowable – 700 points – on other criteria.

Ken Smith, Global's chief executive officer, said his company has similar contracts with Salt Lake County in Utah and with the state of Idaho, and is "every bit as qualified" to do the job.

Morse said Global's application didn't provide needed details of its work elsewhere.

Smith said Global was prepared to open local offices, as the contract required. With local offices already open, Valley scored maximum points in that category.

Valley works as a forensic lab and crime lab for several California cities and counties.

Jon Knapp, Valley's owner, said his lab does good work and couldn't afford to lower the price much.

Morse reiterated that more than price mattered.

"Although price was a consideration," Morse said, "because of the unique nature of the services, price was not the sole determining factor."

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.