County Executives Mangano And Levy Announce Landmark Bi-County Agreement To Cut Spending And Provide Property Tax Relief

Long Island Purchasing Council Combines Spending Power of Long Island Municipalities to Achieve Millions in Potential Savings for Taxpayers

Nassau and Suffolk County Executives Ed Mangano and Steve Levy, joined by elected officials from the Village of Mineola, the Town of Oyster Bay and Brookhaven Town, today announced the implementation of a landmark bi-county agreement forming the Long Island Purchasing Council (LIPC) to achieve spending reductions and eliminate duplicative administrative cost.

“Measures like these are crucial in restoring fiscal health to this County,” said Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. “Through joint purchasing agreements such as this one, my administration will continue to seek out plans to bring relief to the taxpayers.”

“The Long Island Purchasing Council provides local governments an instrument to save taxpayer money,” said Levy. “Because local governments can put out bids that are collectively much larger than a standalone bid vendors can fill a much larger order, and savings can be achieved through economies of scale. It is the sheer size of our purchases that will yield potential savings.”

The population of Nassau and Suffolk counties combined is 2.8 million, or larger than 19 states, and the combination of Suffolk and Nassau County budgets allows the Council to leverage spending associated with a combined budget of $5.3 billion; a combined budget that is larger than at least six states.

The Council issued its first bid this week for 24,000 cases of multi-purpose office paper. Had Suffolk alone issued the bid its potential usage would have been approximately 15,000 cases, Nassau 8,000, Oyster Bay 750 and Brookhaven 700, but because the Council is issuing the bid on behalf of all members the usage will be in excess of 24,000 cases per year.

Both county purchasing departments have recommended additional commodities for consideration in the early stages of this joint purchasing proposal, including: water, wastewater chemicals, lumber, paint and fencing.

Though in its infancy many of Long Island's largest municipalities already recognize the savings achievable from Long Island's most comprehensive combined municipal purchasing effort, as a result Brookhaven Town - Suffolk's largest - the Town of Oyster Bay and the Village of Mineola have already adopted legislation to join the LIPC.

John Venditto, Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor, went on to state, “The formation of the LIPC will help the Town keep purchasing costs down and give us more leverage in getting the best possible price for the goods and services we need. I am very excited about the potential of this cost-saving initiative and look forward to working with the other members of the cooperative.”

Mayor Jack Martins, Village of Mineola, was also on hand to support the efforts of the LIPC, “In this tough economy, any time we can bring various levels of government together to provide real savings to our taxpayers; we're doing the right thing.”

Representing Brookhaven Town, and a sponsor of Brookhaven's resolution to join the Council, Councilwoman Jane Bonner noted, “The Long Island Purchasing Council lends its member buying power that cannot be achieved on a standalone basis. We believe this will translate into potential savings for all members of the Council and their local taxpayers.”

Brookhaven Town Deputy Supervisor Kathleen Walsh seconded the notion that “by acting as a region to buy in bulk the Council's efforts will save taxpayers money.”

The Long Island Purchasing Council is open to all Long Island municipalities who adopt a resolution approving membership and agree to the organizations by-laws. The Council will be managed by a seven member Board of Directors consisting of two purchasing directors from the organizing local governments (Nassau and Suffolk), one Nassau County representative, one Suffolk County representative, and three purchasing managers from other member municipalities.

Operationally, the Board of the Purchasing Council will compile the purchasing needs of the members, decide which items to bid, collect usage data, draft and review bid documents, and then solicit and evaluate the bids received before approving a bid award.

The LIPC created a website for vendors to see the bids and for other municipalities to possibly join in on bids: www.LIPurchasingCoucil.org.

To welcome other municipalities into the Council a formal invitation will be extended to every local government on Long Island (in Nassau and Suffolk Counties), and presentations will be made available upon request.