CAN YOU BEAT THE PRICES THE TOWN PAYS ON PURCHASES?

A new weekly feature: CAN YOU BEAT THE PRICES WE PAY?
The Town of Greenburgh, like every municipality & government entity, purchases many items –paper goods, chemicals for our pools and water system, furniture for buildings, tires for our vehicles, books for the library ---and much, much more.
We have a purchasing department—headed by Mark McCrum. He tries very hard to get the best prices for each of the purchases we make. Starting today – I will be posting a few purchases on our website weekly. Our goal: to confirm whether we are getting the best price possible for our purchase.
Here is how you can help?
1) Share the weekly purchase that we highlight with the purchasing department where you work. Ask them to compare our prices with the prices your business pays.
If we could do better – please provide me with the name/contact information of the vendor you purchase from. We will add the company to our bid list and invite them to submit bids the next time we bid the product.
2) If you are not on our bid list –and want to be advised of bidding opportunities, please advise. We recently started posting all RFPs (requests for proposals on our bid list). We want to promote competition. Contractors who deal with the town are PROHIBITED from contributing to re-election campaigns of town officials under our ethics laws so no one gets favorite treatment.
3) If the price we pay is lower than the price you or your company spends for similar products –we will be happy to share the contact information with you. Perhaps, you could save money.
This is a win—win for everyone. If we are overpaying you can help us save money in the future by introducing us to new vendors. If we are underpaying we can help you save money—and learn from us.
If you have any questions about why we are purchasing specific items you can also feel free to e mail me. If you would like me to highlight a specific purchase on a future update please advise.
I will also be contacting the school districts, fire districts in the town and county government and will invite them to compare our purchases with the purchases they make.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor
________________________________________
From: Mark McCrum
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 11:31 AM
To: Paul Feiner
Subject: pricing
FOR ALL DEPT./COOP BID/JOINT BID WITH OTHER AGENCIES IN AREA
85 cartons,
5000/carton
COPY PAPER, HI-SPEED
8 1/2" X 11", 20# WHITE
$26.88/carton
Delivered

FOR POOLS, BID ITEMS
(10) Calcium chloride 50lb bag, delivered, $14.50/bag

(80)Diatomaceous Earth 50lb. bag, delivered $24/bag