Chapter 30B sets how Massachusetts cities and towns, including Worcester and Shrewsbury, buy technology. Purchases under $10,000 use sound business practices, purchases from $10,000 to $50,000 require written quotes from at least three vendors, and above $50,000 the town must use sealed bids or proposals. School districts have had a $100,000 quote ceiling since November 2022.

This is the public-sector companion to what to ask your vendors about security, which is widely used as a source of RFP security questions. Chapter 30B is the framework those questions get asked inside when the buyer is a Massachusetts municipality.

A classical government building facade at night with columns edged in hot pink light, Chapter 30B technology procurement in Massachusetts towns — Every Massachusetts city and town buys supplies and services under the same Uniform Procurement Act.

What are the Chapter 30B thresholds?

The Office of the Inspector General publishes the thresholds in its 2026 Chapter 30B Manual and its procurement charts. For supplies and services:

Under $10,000: sound business practices, meaning periodically soliciting price lists or quotes to ensure favorable prices.
$10,000 to $50,000: a written purchase description sent to at least three vendors who customarily provide the supply or service, soliciting written quotes.
Over $50,000: competitive sealed bids or competitive sealed proposals, which are requests for proposals.

Since November 25, 2022, school districts can use written quotes up to $100,000. Cities and towns remain at $50,000. OIG training materials also note that contracts of $10,000 or more must be in writing, and that a town must solicit at least three quotes but is not required to receive three.

Is the $50,000 threshold about to change?

It may. The Healey-Driscoll administration's Municipal Empowerment Act would raise the threshold for advertised procurements from $50,000 to $100,000 for all municipal purchasing, not only schools, as the Massachusetts Municipal Association has reported. The bill was refiled in January 2025 and its procurement sections were reported favorably by committee, but as of this writing it has not been enacted.

Until it is, the $50,000 figure governs town purchasing in Worcester, Shrewsbury, and every other Massachusetts municipality. Vendors and town staff should plan around current law, not the pending bill.

Ascending steps carved from dark stone with each step edge lit hot pink, the Chapter 30B procurement thresholds — Under $10,000, $10,000 to $50,000, and over $50,000. Each step changes the process a town must follow.

When does a town use an RFP instead of a bid?

Above $50,000, the default is competitive sealed bidding, where price decides. A town can use competitive sealed proposals, an RFP, where quality factors matter alongside price, which is usually the right fit for technology services where capability and security are as important as cost.

An RFP lets a town define comparative evaluation criteria in advance and weigh them. For a technology purchase, those criteria are where security questions belong: how the vendor protects data, what happens at the end of the contract, and how access is controlled. The question set in what to ask your vendors about security and the federal guidance in CISA secure by demand vendor questions both translate directly into evaluation criteria.

What should a town ask technology vendors?

Where the data lives and who can reach it. Town systems hold resident information. The vendor's hosting, sub-processors, and administrative access all belong in the evaluation. The structure for asking is in the sub-processor problem.

What happens at the end of the contract. Municipal contracts end on fixed terms, and the transition to the next vendor is where data and access problems surface. Exit terms belong in the RFP, not in a later negotiation. See technology vendor contract exit terms.

How the vendor's own security is maintained. A vendor with administrative access to town systems extends the town's attack surface. The questions are covered in what your vendor's security posture means for you.

A person silhouetted reviewing documents at a dark desk under a single hot pink lamp, evaluating technology proposals under Chapter 30B — An RFP lets a town weigh security and exit terms alongside price, which is what technology purchases need.

What should vendors know about selling to Massachusetts towns?

The process is structured and public by design. Above the quote threshold, the town cannot simply pick the vendor it prefers. It must follow the advertised process, evaluate against the published criteria, and document the decision. Vendors who read the criteria closely and answer them directly do better than those who submit a standard pitch.

Price cannot be negotiated during the quote process, according to OIG training materials. That makes the first written quote the real one. Vendors should price what they can actually deliver, including the transition and support costs that tend to get discovered later.

It also means the evaluation criteria are knowable in advance. A vendor who cannot answer basic security and exit questions in writing will score poorly in any well-designed technology RFP, which is how it should work.

Who decides between a bid and an RFP?

According to OIG training materials, for contracts over $50,000 a jurisdiction uses competitive sealed bids unless its appointed Chief Procurement Officer decides that a request for proposals is the better method. That decision should be documented, because it shapes everything that follows.

For technology, the case for an RFP is usually strong. Two vendors can quote the same price for systems with very different security, support, and exit terms. A sealed bid evaluated on price alone cannot distinguish them. An RFP with weighted criteria can, and it gives the town a written record of why it chose what it chose.

The Inspector General has also signaled support for raising the smaller thresholds. Its March 27, 2026 letter to the House Ways and Means Committee on the pending bill supports increasing price thresholds for smaller procurements and equalizing them across governmental bodies. Until the legislature acts, current law governs.

Three sealed envelopes laid side by side on a dark table, one edged in hot pink light, competing quotes under Chapter 30B — Price alone cannot tell two technology proposals apart. Weighted criteria can.

Where this fits

We work across Worcester and Shrewsbury at Kief Studio, and the vendor evaluation work in this cluster applies equally to public and private buyers. The method is at ltfi.ai. Town procurement officers should rely on the Inspector General's guidance and town counsel for specific purchases. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Chapter 30B procurement thresholds in Massachusetts?

Under $10,000, sound business practices. From $10,000 to $50,000, written quotes solicited from at least three vendors. Over $50,000, competitive sealed bids or proposals. School districts can use quotes up to $100,000.

Has the Chapter 30B threshold been raised to $100,000 for towns?

Not as of this writing. The proposed Municipal Empowerment Act would raise it from $50,000 to $100,000 for all municipal purchasing, but the bill had not been enacted. School districts have had a $100,000 quote ceiling since November 2022.

Can a Massachusetts town use an RFP for technology?

Yes. Above $50,000 a town can use competitive sealed proposals, which allow quality criteria such as security and exit terms to be weighed alongside price.

Do Massachusetts towns have to get three quotes?

For purchases from $10,000 to $50,000, the town must solicit written quotes from at least three vendors, though it is not required to receive three.

Can price be negotiated in a Chapter 30B quote process?

No. Inspector General training materials state that price cannot be negotiated during the quote process, so vendors should treat their first written quote as final.

Procurement

Chapter 30B: How Massachusetts Towns Buy Technology