Mangano Announces New Additions To Bi-County Purchasing Consortium

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced that two special districts in the County have joined the Long Island Intergovernmental Purchasing Council (LIPC) to help cut taxpayer costs and execute bulk purchases for common goods and services.

The Jericho Water District and the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District have joined other Nassau County municipalities in the consortium, which pools the purchasing power of several local governments in order to receive significant discounts on common products.

The LIPC was created in August by joint resolution signed by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.

“I am pleased to welcome the Jericho Water District and the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District as they join our efforts to protect taxpayers from wasteful spending,” said Mangano. “The invitation stands for all municipalities to join us in this cost-cutting initiative.”

Officials from the Jericho Water District said, “The District joined the LIPC in the interest of reducing the cost of water supply chemicals and other consumable goods and is hopeful that the regional buying power of the LIPC will foster more competitive pricing on the local level and streamline the purchasing process for the members of the LIPC.”

In addition to Nassau and Suffolk County governments, the two districts have joined more than a dozen towns, villages and cities, including the Towns of Oyster Bay and Brookhaven, City of Glen Cove and the Villages of Kings Point, Laurel Hollow, Mineola, Northport and Patchogue in the Long Island Purchasing Consortium.

Mangano has sent an invitation to all of Nassau’s local governments and school districts to be a part of the LIPC. The mission of the LIPC is to reduce costs by achieving economies of scale created through volume purchasing and reduced or eliminated duplicative administrative costs. The LIPC operates at no cost to participating members and the daily operations of the LIPC are performed by Council members, with Nassau and Suffolk counties rotating responsibility for individual bids.

Unfortunately, no school districts in either county have joined the LIPC, and many districts have chosen not to join the consortium as it plans to explore consolidating services as well as goods. School districts are urged to reconsider this decision.

Membership in the LIPC is open to all municipal corporations within the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, who would be able to utilize any of the contracts competitively bid and awarded by the LIPC. A municipality can opt in to or out of any cooperative bid request. The LIPC recently awarded its first bid for multipurpose office paper, and Nassau County is expected to save $57,000 this year on its paper purchases. Suffolk County expects to save $50,000.

“This is really a win-win for local governments and vendors. I am encouraged by the support shown thus far and have confidence that the efforts of this group will help eliminate the waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Mangano.