N.E.R.I. Corp. v. New Jersey Highway Authority

In a class with motherhood and apple pie, the mandate that governmental contracts be subject to public bidding is almost sacrosanct. Its purpose is “to secure competition and to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance and corruption.” Hillside Township v. Sternin, 25 N.J. 317, 322, 136 A.2d 265 (1957). Statutes mandating public bidding should be “construed *246with sole reference to the public good ... [and] should be rigidly adhered to by the courts.” Ibid. But on occasion, insistence on competitive public bidding can be impractical, formalistic, and inconsistent with the public…