The city under law must accomplish competitive bids when the
expense exceeds $50,000. That being said
we also have an obligation to receive the best price possible by shopping
around. This is done on most purchases. There are units of government and organizations
that assist in this effort realizing that volume sales help us get better
pricing. Governments in general, have
tried to cooperate in this manner with joint purchasing, state bidding and with
the use of Cooperatives.
The State of Minnesota does state bidding on all types of
products and items to secure the best price.
They also need to meet competitive bid requirements but they to want to achieve
the best price possible. They allow
other governmental units to benefit from state bidding. Through the state’s bidding effort cities and
counties can purchase things like police cars at a substantial discount. There are other organizations called Cooperatives
that group entities together to achieve discounted prices for items that are
competitively bid to meet statutory requirements. The city uses a cooperative to acquire health
insurance for its employees as an example.
This saves governmental units money not only with the price but also
saves time in the soliciting of bids or quotes for various products or services.
Recently the city was approached by the National Joint
Powers Alliance (NJPA). This
organization is a Cooperative that does competitive bidding on some supplies
and services. They primarily provide
competitive bidding on equipment. They
work with 17 states, providing their competitive bid requirements for them, and
have a host of members who use their services.
The city has approved the membership with the NJPA as
another option for purchasing. This
membership is free so there is no financial obligation. They are located in Staples, MN and provide
additional benefits to those jurisdictions located in the Region 5 development area,
of which the city is part of. They additionally
provide a 1% rebate credit to be used on future purchases from previous purchases
made. This also adds to the possible
savings that can be achieved with this type of arrangement.
Whether we purchase through them or not, they are another
competitive vehicle to compare pricing, helping the city get the best price available. Hopefully this arrangement will reap some savings
for the city in the future.
